Upgrading & Migration

I would like to start doing some development in FM11. There are some things that I would like to experiment with and debug before moving them into the daily pipeline. The apple computers in my cabinetshop at this time are not compliant with FM11. They are running on OSX 4. They are also only currently licensed for FM 9. My question relates to backward compatibility. I would like to eventually upgrade the computers in my shop but this could be a while before it happens. What happens when I try to open a file that was create in FM11 but try to do so with a FM9 license? Will it open at all? Are the FM11 specific functions just truncated in f…

Hello to All, I have migrated Pre version of FMP7 into FMP9 vession but i have not any idea of how to migrate FMP7 files into FMP10.Please let me know the Process and steps for doing this. Thanks, :

FM11 is generally not compatible with Windows 7 64bit computers. Most computers being sold today are 64 bit machines. Users have to have Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate and then download and install an 'XP mode' virtual machine to use FM11 on their 64 bit computer. My prospective clients typically have their computer when they consider purchasing my software. In every case so far, they have Windows 7 Home Premium. I tell them they will have to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional and download the Windows XP virtual machine to use my product. I can't physically help them. I'm here and they could be anywhere in the world. I never hear from them agai…

Does anyone know if it's possible to install FileMaker Pro 6 and FileMaker Pro 11 simultaneously on a PC running Windows XP? I am in the process of (finally!) upgrading a database from 6 to 11, and I would like to check that everything works before removing FM 6. And I don't want to break my FM 6 installation as it's still being used daily while I check that the new database works. (I realize this is possible using virtualization software, but would prefer not to do this unless necessary). Thanks, Tom

Hi, I finally decided to update an old FP5 application to FM11. This application consists of 45 files (some interface files, rest data files). I have got most conversion bugs ironed out and the application works fine in FM11 except for start up. In FM6 it took about 1 minute to open the application (opening all files, transferring user ID). Now it takes about 3 minutes. I realize I am not using an ideal design by having 45 tables in 45 files. However, rewriting the application was not an option. I have used MetaDataMagic to clean up file references before conversion and also checked and cleaned up any remaining issues with file references. I use a startup s…

Does anyone know if filemaker pro version 7 will work with windows 7 I have filemaker pro 7 and need to change my computer but don't know if it will still work?? Thanks

Apologies if that has been covered a million times already but .... I have just installed Snow Leopard. Every time I open my FP7 files using FP9, the programme crashes. It's happened 10 times. Suggested solutions gratefully received! Thanks.

I noticed that both the version 10 and version 11 files both use .fp7 files. Where previous versions may have been .fp5 etc. If i was to upgrade to v11 on one PC on a network, but keep the others on v10, would that pose a problem? Does an existing file need to be converted for use with v11 from v10, or does it not matter if some PC have v10 or and others V11 when using the same DB file?

Hello, I couldnt find the answer anywhere for what I want to do, I tried googling, different search engines and yet, nothing that could help me... and I know that I will find the answer here. The company I am working on right now is using Filemaker 6 platform, they've been using it for years, now they want to upgrade into fmp11, What I basically have in mind is: can I convert 1 fp5 db that is already created into fp7 extension? the reason for me to doing this is to acelerate the process of creating the files, have the same field names so when the importing process from 1 db to another file comes out I dont have to worry about it too much, I dont care about the script…

Does anyone know whether FM 9 or 10 (not server versions) will be compatible with the final release version of Windows 7?

Hi there, I have a system I built a long time ago... Some things operate slowly because the main table has too many fields, and too many calculations.. I would like to move a lot of the fields over to a new 1:1 related table, but, I'm not sure how to approach the process, especially since scripts might be involved.. and I'm not sure how to most effectively move the data over... any suggestions??

I have a friend who upgraded filemaker from version 6 to version 10. When I open the file that was converted into version 10 it seems to take ages to open. The file is not that big (10mgb). Is there any sugestions.

In my agency, OmniForm was used for practically everything. Since then the simple 'filler' version of the program is no longer being offered, and licenses for a full version are being offered at 99$ a pop. We've called and asked them questions about purchasing a site license (twice) and they never called back. The last program update was issued in 2005. The writing is on the wall: OmniForm is being dropped. So now I have about 15 divisions and about 100+ OmniForm files to convert to FileMaker. To make things worse, each OmniForm file can have multiple pages. Each page can take upwards of about 2+ hours to convert (and thats not including porting all the saved …

We have just upgraded to v11 mainly because v10 had a serious bug where it wouldn't open unless the Filemaker Preferences folder was deleted, but I am starting to wonder whether we will need to upgrade again. Conditionals and Script Triggers are reasonably useful features from v9 and v10 but our business doesn't need anything much more complex than what we've got right now. Upgrading means spending money on the software and paying our contract IT guy to install it. I just wonder if the technology should fit the business or the business should just keep on buying the technology. Our IT guy says we have to keep upgrading because older versions cease to be suppor…

Hi I am running a basic invoice database and another contact database, which open on both FM 3 and 4 running on my old Mac under classic. Now I have a newer mac which runs 10.5.8 and I would quite like to migrate my databases so I can boot them up on this machine - which doesn't run classic. Having them on two machines is becoming a pain! If I buy the lowest version of FM that runs on OSX (I don't think I need the latest bells and whistles), could I then open these files and convert them to that version of FM successfully? O Or do I, as I have heard, need to go via an intermediate version of FM - and if so, which version(s)? Could someone kindly advise my upgra…

I got a call from someone who upgraded from 6 to 11 (dunno what procedure they used to upgrade) and is encountering "problems." I don't know what the problems are yet, I'm going over there tomorrow afternoon. I know I've seen upgrade/migration guides and "gotchas" around, but can't find them. What comes to mind are auto-resorting, null matches on relationships, and login account names. Anything else?

I have a client that is using FMP 5.5. He refuses to upgrade, but wants to transfer the existing database to a new machine (OS9 to Tiger). He only has an FMP 5.5 upgrade disk. I can't install that without an earlier version of FMP to upgrade from, the disk and key of which have been lost in time. Anyone have a pre-5.5 install available for transfer?

Hi all. I have recently developed a massive upgrade to an existing database. This includes dozens of new scripts, new tables, new relationships, new layouts and tons of new fields. We have completed system and user acceptance testing and are ready to move the changes into production. I am not sure of the best method to do this? Would it make more sense to save a clone of the updated database and copy all of the data from the current database into the new file? I would want to eliminate all auto-update options, i believe. Are there big risks involved in doing this? I was originally considering copying all of the changes over to the current file, but since th…

I have a client whose hard drive crashed. The client has two users, both single license users, not a volume license. They have been running FMP on a PC since 7 and are on 10, upgrading along the way. They no longer have the install files for 7 or for 8 or for 10 (though I have 10). But they have license keys for those versions. I know the an upgrade installer license key checks for previous versions, but does anyone know what it's looking for? I'm wondering if I can copy the installed version of FMP7 and 8 from the other machine onto the new machine and that will be recognized by the installer. Otherwise I'm wondering if anyone has PC installers for …

One of our desktop application was developed in FileMaker 5 (i.e it is multi-file application). Three years back we converted it to fp7 (multi-files) and is hosted on Fm server 8 and is accessed by user in FileMaker Pro 8. FileMaker Inc, is going to stop support for Filemaker 8, since sept 2010. Two questions here are 1. Should we upgrade to FM server 11 and FileMaker Pro 11? 2. Any modifcations are required in fp7 files to host the application using FM 11? Thanks in advance.

I'm running FM 5.5 pro currently in XP Pro and will be getting a new Windows 7 Pro machine. Any ideas if FM 5.5 will run in Windows 7? Now you might be asking, why am I still running 5.5? I built a pretty extensive DB setup and it works just fine in 5.5 and I don't make any major changes to the DB that require the advanced features of the newer versions. If it works, don't screw with it. Plus I already have all the required licenses, etc. And if I recall, there was some change around version 7 that would have made me do some extensive surgery to my DB to update it to the latest version.

Sorry, this is a bit off-topic but I couldn't find a category that this problem seemed to fit... When I try to open FMP9 Advanced, I see the initial "loading" screen briefly, and then suddenly the program isn't running anymore. No crash report notice appears. It was working fine earlier today, I haven't installed or updated anything since the last time it opened successfully. I tried removing my extensions and trashing all the com.filemaker prefs in ~/Library/Preferences. That didn't help. Tried reinstalling FMP9A, still doesn't work. Restarting did no good. Tried opening other FMPs I have installed (85.A, 9, and 10A) and they all opened normally. Switched to an…

I'm still in the process of upgrading these systems to 10, and I'm still a n00b, so... I've been asked to find out - if the email facility withing FMS10 is usable via IWP (I.e. does it work via a web published database) -If it uses SMTP W/ TLS/SSL or is it strictly an Exchange/MAPI connection (Please say SMTP! ) -If it looks for a default mail client, or is it strictly Outlook (please say it works with other mail clients, PLEASE! : ) I know this stuff is in the docs somewhere, but I"m not being given time to read the docs, so I'm hoping that very specific questions that require only almost boolean answers will be simple enough to answer that I won…

I just integrated three multi-table files into one multi-table file that contains all the tables from the originals, including scripts, VL's, etc. and insured all the relationships and portals worked on my MacBook Pro running OSX 10.6.2 and FM10. However, the solution now hosted with client software on a separate Mac (Mini) running OSX 10.5.x for a small network, upon opening the new file, it appears to be asking for the old files/tables. If I cancel out, the layouts say table missing, even though it is there -- if I reopen the files and as the requests are made to locate the tables by selecting the new file, all is well. And the same goes for the clients, …

If I'm currently running on FM9 server, pro and advanced, can I migrate right to 11 without installing 10?

This has already been asked, but the suggested solution (use Admin and the password) has not been successful. The Situation: .fp5 db needs to be upgraded to .fp7. fp5 has no 'account name' field, and fp7 dbs require one. I have tried the following 'Account Name/Password' combinations: /(password) Admin/(password) (password)/(password) (password)/ admin/(password) /(password) All to no avail. The various iterations of the Account Name and Password were based on possible interpretations of suggestions posted on help forums and sites I've been searching. Any assistance is appreciated, because to rebuild these databases would be........nightmarish. …

Hello, I haven't yet been able to test... or move permanently to FM10 and have surely not been able to move to Win7 yet neither too... I have this PC only based FM9pro version runtime application with MMscript ZiffScript Troi (load not using it) I tried FM10 trail version... and my application runs fine... its trail didn't allow making my runtime so could test that.. Now I have these prospects asking if my application will run in Win7?? Scarry I read somewhere.. FM10 only runs in Win7 or there was some earlier FM10 pre version problems.. don know/ I like to assume my application will run, its not a webbase or have sql call…

Hi, Just wanted you guys know that the new XP Mode feature in Windows 7 let you run two instances of FM at the same time and seemlessly. This is great for testing rights or doing long time running jobs (eg Script looping through 100 000 records), etc. Be sure to have two separate licenses, otherwise you might not conform to the EULA. NB

Hi All, I've just noticed a strange problem with Filemaker 10, container fields and Snow Leopard (Mac os 10.6). Before I could drag a page or several from the sidebar in the built in PDF viewer ("Preview") into a container field. Saves saving to disk when you are going from email or a web page. In snow leopard, this appears to be broken. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

I maintain a very large, complex solution that has been used for many years. I have a couple of files left that were org created in filemaker 2 and have had many differant developers working on them. What I would like to know is if there is a tool that can tell me what the internal field id's are. (not sure this term is right.) What I would like to be able to do is create a new file with only what is needed and simply replace the old one. Problem being that I have over 30 files and at least half of them referance it. To avoid rewriting the entire solution, I would like to have the fields that I am currently using set to the same Field ID as the old file so when I repla…

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of FileMaker 6.0, or a licence (I already have two copies, but would like to use it on a network with more than two computers). I've contacted FileMaker, but they don't supprt FileMaker 6.0, and I've tried ebay but there seem to be few copies available. Thanks, Tom

Hi, I have an old database running on FileMaker Pro 6. I am in the process of rewriting the whole thins in MySQL but I would like to be able to continue to use the old database for a few months at least, without upgrading the whole database to a newer version of FileMaker which I have little experience with. I only have two copies of FM6, so I can only use it on two computers (networked). I'm finding it difficult to get hold of further copies of FM6. Does anyone know whether other versions of FileMaker (e.g. 5 or 7) can be used to connect to my server (which is running FileMaker 6 client version). Thanks, Tom

I have a client who created a Filemaker database back in the early 90s having over 12,000 records in one table (“Master”) that she populated with patients having a unique account number (actually a text field) consisting of numbers beginning with 100 and increasing incrementally by 1. Each account number is followed by a letter suffix. The first time a patient came to the clinic he/she was assigned an account number, e.g., 2476 a The next visit by the same patient was identified with the account number 2476 b, the third visit 2476 c, and so on. Each of these records duplicated the same demographic data, i.e., name, address, telephone number, etc, instead of the curren…

I am building a new version of my rental & production business database in FMP 8. I will be importing data from my current FMP4 database and I would like to make some widely recommended changes in the relationship linking structure. I currently have separate files for Orders, Purchase Orders, Companies ( be they customers or vendors ), Venues ( where orders such as concerts or meetings take place or are delivered to ) and People ( who can work at either Companies or Venues ). Orders, People and Purchase orders relate to Companies and Venues by a link that is hand entered when that Company or Venue is created and is a contraction of the entities' name. I would …

I have avoided upgrading my FMD6 runtime app for a long time because I have a number of users on older operating systems, but now I must upgrade. Does anyone have hints about how to script a solution so that it makes it simple to import the FM6 data? Right now the only thing I can think of doing is creation a FM6 runtime that will go through each file, export the data to an Excel or TXT file and then import the data into the newer application but the data is extremely sensitive and I don't want to risk having unsecured data. Thanks, JEAG