Upgrading & Migration

I have a multi file solution originally built in FM6. When opening the solution there is a script that opens all the neccissary tables at the begining, when the user first logs in. This was done for a number of reasons. One of which is to make sure you didn't see that annoying 'Opening xxx.fp5 as a guest of server' message. Now I am converting into 8 and I notice that there is no longer a message when opening files. My solution still has multiple files, partly for busness reasons, partly because there is no need right now to consolidate everything. So my question is, is there any utility for preserving this opening sequence anymore? I can get the dat…

Well, I bought a VLA from filemaker about a year ago and finally decided to take a look at the migration from FM 5 to FM 7. I would like to combine tables into one DB but I do not want to type in all the fields and scripts. Has anybody made a third party solution for that yet that can be used without developer? I really would love to have the functionality of 7 without redoing all of our databases.

I just attempted to jump into converting an 18 file solution to Filemaker 8. All the files converted and saved, however the linking of the passwords has been messed up. In FM6, you would open the main file with the master password and the script would open the remaining files with the master password. with the new files (and I did a batch convert), the account name / password seems to give major problems. I open the main file leaving account name blank and entering the Master password. The script then opens the remaining files, but most of them open with guest privleges so I cannot edit or access them at all. Any thoughts?

First of all let me say I have never used Filemaker but am experienced in many other database platforms. I was called in to help a client recover data lost during an upgrade. The data was in a .CTS file. When the upgrade was performed all data was lost so the client manually re-entered data for the past few months. I was able to recover a version of the data from a backup. We now have data (2001 -> May 2005) in one .CTS file and (March 2005 -> present) in another CTS file (of the same name, eg transact.cts) I do not have access to a Filemaker IDE and the application has the import menu option greyed out. is there any way to merge these two files …

I'm a newbie, so please be gentle! I'm not sure this is the correct place to post this but it seemed appropriate. I'd appreciate opinions from the wise. I'm not a computer wiz but I managed to write a database for my business (property) in FMPro4 about 7 years ago. It has evolved over the years into about 20 related files and is vital to the running of my business. It does not (yet) tackle accounts for which I currently use an off the shelf package and I'm now considering trying to write an accounting database. I'm very familiar with accounting practice but have never tried to do anything about it in FMPro. Has anyone done this and if so, is it a mammoth ta…

I'm looking for tips on how to get a SQL server migrated to FM Pro. Actually, I've already got the FM Pro solution 90% built, but I need to get data exported from SQL Server in some form I can import into FM Pro. Anybody been there done that?

Hey there, I have a database that is not relational which I would like to be relational. I have started to create a new database that is relational (this might have been the bad move). I've transferred the main records over and that is fine. I have a bunch of layouts in the old one that contain fields I still need to transfer. I understand that you cannot transfer a layout, but is it possible to transfer fields? Will I just have to re-create all of the fields in my new database? Is there a faster solution to this problem?

How do I restrict the ability of the user to create databases? TIA Daibhead

this is all being done in fm 8 advanced, despite what the profile says. i have a file with a conditional value list. it is working fine, however, i have set the layout to auto save and still when i exit the field that the condition is based on which is the client field, the matter field will not show the correct matters until i click out of all the fields, sometimes it takes several clicks outside the field. the way the condition works is this: there is a calculation field that automatically names a record based on the type of client entered. if it equals that in a matter database, then those corresponding matters show up in a matter field on the main table. thi…

I have my v6 solution basically migrated to v8 now (albeit needs a final bug test run through). My next step is to consolidate the 45 files to one. With v8 there is some nice import functions but is there either 1. A definitive guide to the consolidation approach in v8 ? 2. Something that will automate the process? Any help would be great

I'm migrating from one mac to another, each running FMP Dev 7 and everything seems to be working fine except in Preview mode. On one computer fonts displayed in Preview mode are wonderfully crisp. On the new computer the fonts in Preview mode are horribly pixelated and blurry. I've verified that this is the case with multiple databases, including just choosing "New" and "Timecards" from the templates and immediately previewing that. The fonts seem to be installed correctly, as no other application seems to be having font issues. As I mentioned, it's not just a single DB or typeface, it seems to be a FMP thing. Is there a display preference that I'm not seeing? …

I am trying to assist someone who recently upgraded their database from FM4.3 to FM7v3 with server 7. Their server uses Windows 2003. Since the conversion, they have numerous issues. 1) Reports that contain both a portal field and regular fields that were set to slide up and reduce space both preview and print incorrectly. Partway through each page, the fields overlap and are unreadable. They called FM support and the answer given was "portals never were made to be printable". Really??? 2)Screens come up slow and pop-out lists appear much slower than in V4.3. There is sometimes a delay of up to 15 seconds waiting for a value list to appear. 3) Scripts …

Hello, I am a developing a runtime database with several fields with drop down value lists. The user will need be able to define and alter those value lists (data includes “Customer type” and “dep. to which account.”) In FM 6, it was easy enough to put the fields in a separate file where all the values could be stored, separated by carraige returns, in a single record, and have the main file refer to the fields to determine the value lists. In FM 8 Advanced, I do not see how to do this and have been unbable to come up with any alternatives. Also, After I link the table that holds the source fields for the value lists to the destination table (relations…

Can someone please help me out?? I have fairly small networked multiple file FileMaker 6 solution. All the files originally had the same password, and when I opened my menu file, all the other files opened without a problem. I've since converted the system to FileMaker Pro 7, and now when I open my menu file, some files open automatically and other files bring up the login dialog. When I type in the password, it doesn't work. Do you know why this is happening? Super Thanks!

Hi Guys, I've almost finished migrating one of my FMP 5 solutions to an FMP 8 format. I've even imported a couple of tables togther to see how the import table feature works, and now I have a solution with 18 files instead of 22. One of the things I've noticed with regards to External FP7 Files, it takes a while, almost 2-3 minutes to open up the related files. Comparing this to FMP 5 which opens the original set of files in 30 seconds. FMP8 seems to open up the files quicker if I'm a guest(i.e. network) environment than standalone...but then again it could be the way I've configured the files. Probably go ro FMP Knowledgebase and see if there are any articles o…

I have completed a solution designed on a Mac. I have sucessfully transitioned it to a PC environment, but I have some problems. First, the FMP files were copied onto a CD and transfered to the PC hard drive where they appear as generic documents. I can open them by right clicking and using the "Open With" option. This shows the file, and my scripts, relationships, etc. all work as expected. But, when I close the files, they go back to being generic documents (so they cannot be opened by double clicking them.) How can I get these files to become true PC FMP files? Second, I had to adjust all of my layouts (I expected that). But, although I have them so that the…

Hi there. I'm trying to convert the company's current FM5 solution, to now, FM8. So far it's going pretty smoothly, except for the fact that I'm having to break some flatfile parts down into a proper relational system. Again, that's not so much of a problem, except for the number of fields I have to go through. Basically I'm making copies of the flat file, relating them, and then deleting the unused fields in each. So yeah, I'm just looking to know... is there an easier way to do this?

With Version 8 does Filemaker update relationships that in previous versions would be broken if you renamed a file. I know you used to be able to do this thru developer, do you have to do it now using FM 8 Advanced? Thanks Ron.

In an application which has been converted to FM7 from FM6 how do I ensure that the data files are properly opened so that the correct machine hosts them? Is Open File (hidden) sufficient? The reason I ask is that the user of FM6 was told that just opening the files was not sufficient and had a whole procedure for clicking on every layout to ensure that all files were hosted correctly. I have read elsewhere that in FM7 locking does not happen just by opening a file (it requires entering data into a field on a table), so I want to be sure that I have the correct procedure (especially since I have modified the application to use the separation model.)

Hi guys We use FM5.5/6 at the moment Quick question about the FM8 file format, is it the same format as FM7? Glad I didn't bother upgrading to 7 now this has been released : Thanks Ben

We are currently using FileMaker to track our production information and time/materials. We are using Version 6 and hosting it in a workgroup type fashion. I have been proposing moving to version 7 and we were planning to do so in the next week or two. Then on Monday I hear that version 8 has been released. It looks like a great upgrade so we will be going from version 6 to version 8. My proposal for moving to 7 included purchasing a copy of Developer, Advanced Server to move away from the workgroup type hosting and upgrades to 7 for all workstations. I am not sure how to proceed now since the Server edn. hasn't been released yet. Can I use FMP 8 and host it i…

I've just d/l the Trial version of FMP8 and converted a multi-file db from v5.5 which contains a lot of fields in Greek (I live and work in Athens, Greece). Now, I know that since v7, FMP has been Unicode, so I don't understand the following problem: Some of the greek fields appear fine, some others show gobbledeygook. All fields in greek share exactly the same settings, so why the difference? Any ideas/tips? Thanks, people.

This is an amazing Forum. My sincere appreciation and thanks in advance to anyone who can assist me. They say the only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask... well... A few years back, I was a semi-serious user (8 hrs a day for 10 months) of FM4. I haven't touched it since then and have forgotten pretty much everything I knew. But I still regularly use a Contacts db I created - in fact, I can't get rid of that old Mac until I figure out what to do with that db. The idea of hand-typing all of the info into something else is daunting and, besides, I like the way I designed it. It's nothing fancy at all, just a non-relational flat-file solution with a whole …

I am quite experienced in FMP5.5, but an FMP7 newbie. I realize that multi-file dbs in 5.5 become multi-table dbs in 7. My question is: is there a quick way to import/convert a relational database system of about 20 files from 5.5 to a v7 file, and somehow to import into each new table of the single file all the field definitions, relationships and scripts? Or do I just import one of the 5.5 files, and then basically sit down for days and re-write all the remaining 5.5 files as additional tables within the newly created v7 db? Many thanks, people.

I migrated from 6 to 7, the solution contains 6 files. I have a script, which has worked for about 6 years, exporting selected records into a tab delimited text file, for uploading to online databases. Now, in 7, some records which have one field wherein there are several paragraphs of text (when written a carriage return was used to create the paragraph separations), get extra tabs, and are rejected by the online databases, because they appear to contain more fields than they should, because of the paragraph separations appearing as tab markers. When I look at the textfile in BBEdit I can clearly see the "extra" tab markers. How can I deal with this? thanks, …

Hi I have done quite a bit of database developement in fmp5 & 6, but have just gotten around to looking properly at fmp7. One solution I am converting over is a technical call logging system comprising of a number of fmp5 files: Contract Call Log Customers etc I have managed to convert this solution over in a working state (apart from a couple of silly script glitches), but am curious as to which is the best way forward. My understanding was that among other features fmp7 can have multiple tables per db file (as aposed to my seperate fmp5 files above). During the conversion I was expecting an option to 'flatten' my solution into one data…

I am working on upgrading our database from FM6 to FM7. The old database needs a lot of work to make it efficient, reliable, and attractive. I am working on a copy of the data, making the necessary improvements and enhancements in FM7. Meanwhile, however, the old database is still being used. I will need to identify and import to the new version the records changed or added between the time I created my working copy (already a couple of weeks ago) and the time the new version is ready. What is the best means of doing this? At present there is no field in the old database which reliably identifies the day on which a record is added or modified. Should I add such a f…

I have upgraded an FM6 file to FM7, and I find that everything--field labels and field content--appears dimmed and fuzzy. I thought at first it might have something to do with default accounts and permissions, but I've looked into all that without success. I have full access to do what I want with the data, the layouts, whatever. I have a very hard time reading the data on the screen--even if I set font style to bold everywhere!--and I know my colleagues will be unhappy with this "upgrade" if I unleash it on them. Any suggestions?

I uninstalled the trial version of 7.0 and now when I try and install the actual version I get a message upon install that says "Error Applying transforms. Verify that the specified transforms path are valid." Then the installer closes. I am unable to install this program. I also have removed the old version in the add/remove programs so I dont' know what else needs to be done. Any help would be great.

Hey All, My first post to this forum. I recently reloaded my computer with FileMaker 5.5 but am having problems opening all of my files and the error that comes up is: "This is FileMaker Pro Release 5.5. "[FILENAME]" was created by version 4.01 of FileMaker and cannot be opened by this version. Please call FileMaker Inc. Technical Support." I've called Technical Support but have been on hold for 20 minutes. Anyone have any solutions to this? Many thanks, Weblancer

After converting to v7 my sum field doesn't work unless: I enter an number into the "quantity" field (part of the calculation leading to "sum"; or, all the repeating fields are filled. All the appropiate "do not evaluate if referenced fields are empty" boxes are checked. It seems that the calculation fields are trying to work because I see question marks in those fields ahead of where I am currently working. It worked in 6 just fine. I'm stumped. Any suggestions?

Please help - I am going nuts!! Filemaker Developer 7.0.3.320 Intermediate User Moving from 5.5 to 7.0 and can longer import a found set. I have two tables in my Special Ed File. One table is student/teacher schedule. Second table is the entry table where grades, behavior etc is stored (along with the student/teacher information). Each week, a teacher needs to create a new set of empty records in the entry file to update student progress. In FM 5.5 I had a button that would find that teachers schedule in the related file, and then in the entry file, it would import that found set of teacher/student records, Therefore creating an empty set of records for dat…

6 to 7 went pretty good. except 55 searches change the wrong records sometimes. They used to work. These scripts each checks if no records found. simple. But instead they continue sometimes using records from same layout but last find instead. I can posts scripts if necessary. But they all do it and worked in 6. checked windows, layouts, commit records. Last piece to figure out before going live. Thank you for considering helping.

Our current filmaker solution is on server 5.5 (Windows 2000 Server) with fm 6 pro clients. My question is, can I have filemaker .fp7 files sitting on my computer and not have to worry about people connecting to those files (same file name aside from the file exetention, case_note.fp5 vs case_note.fp7)? I'm assuming I won't have any issues since they are .fp7 files. I know if I have .fp5 files on my computer that are the same name as the ones on the server everything goes ape$hit. Right now I'm working on converting our solution to a single-file FM7 solution. It's a very long process, but I'm making some headway. I'd much rather be able to do this on my main…

Hi all Seems like this is a simple problem but I'm not sure how to solve it. I have a file which was at one time a FM5 file its dates were formatted 2004 01 01. Now the file has been updated to FM7 where dates are formatted 2004/01/01. The problem is when I search for records in a particular range e.g. <2004/01/01 only the records that match this format will come up in searches. Is there a way to update all of these old records to a format that will be recognizable by FM7?