Upgrading & Migration

I recently installed 8.5 and found that a font (ENGRAVERS GOTHIC BT) was no longer aligned properly on the layout or fit in the fields it had fit in before. I then opend the same file in 8.0 and all was well. So Filemaker has changed something with 8.5, I'm assuming. Does anyone know what it is, and has there been any notice of it? Am concerned. Thanks in advance

Like many others I am moving from 5.5 to 8.5. We did make use of relationships in FM5.5 and now I need to take those related databases and combine them into a single database with multiple tables. Now I know FM Robot will move the field defs, data, scripts, and all that. What does it do with the layouts, relationships, and file references?? For example let's say I had a simple invoice solution. In FM5.5 you had an Invoice dataabse which had a portal showing records from the Line_Items database. I have 8.5 Advanced so I can easily import the field defs and all that. However, the relationships need to be rebuilt along with all my portals and anywhere I displa…

Hello, I have a problem with some of my scripts that were created in Filemaker 6. The problem occurs when one file opens another file and attempts to enter a value for a field. The field from the second file also has relationships with a field from the first file. The error I get when this script is executed in Filemaker 7 or 8 is "This record cannot be modified because it is already being modified in a different window." I did not recieve this error with the filemaker 5. Is this a priveledges issue? Or is there some field preference that needs to be able to modify the same field in multiple windows? Any help would be greatly appreciated

Hello, I want to open an fm datase on an pc with filemaker version 5.0 this message appears... "this is filemaker pro release 5.0 this database was created by version 4.01 and cannot be opened" The fm file from 4.01 was created on an mac. What can I do to open the 4.01 file on my pc with fm 5.0? Please advice.. Nico

We have been using FileMaker Server 7 for a while in-house on a Windows 2000 Server box. New box runs a fresh install of Windows 2003 Server but FileMaker Server 8 will not run. Installation gives no errors, says it is starting, then looking in the Service list, it shows as stopped. Trying to restart the service says ok, then it stops again. Re-installed W2k3 Server, patched, Re-installed FMS8, patched.. No change. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. - Stacey

i have two databases that i want to merge into one file. there are no duplicate / conflicting names of tables, fields, scripts, etc. can this be done easily?

I have a need to take three database files that I had created earlier under FMP 5.5 and combine them into one database, as three tables within that database. The three databases are now relational to one another, and for the most part things are working smoothly -- it would allow for more efficiency, though, if they were all part of the same file. It's my understanding that the more advanced Filemaker Pro can do this, but I have the standard FMP Version 8. Is this possible in my version, and if so can you point the way to how to do it? Many thanks. Incidentally, I have the wonderful book, Filemaker Pro 8: The Missing Manual, by Coffey and Prosser -- if the …

I am experienced with writing FM databases in the pre-FP7 world. I have a client that is upgrading their current database set (made up of 9 related dbs) from 5.5 to 8.0. I have assisted them with a conversion and the solution appears to be functional in 8.0. However, they are interested in doing a complete rewrite, as many of the old database features are non-functional and obsolete. I have never helped someone plan a "from-scratch" solution before. Are there any good roadmaps or plans for how to get from concept to final product? I don't even know where to start with this client, outside of asking him exactly what functionality he wants the database to provide.…

We recently upgraded to FMP 8, from FMP 6. I decided to just try the conversion and see what problems - if any - would pop-up. I'm not an expert at this program, but I'm fairly good, understand database architecture, and usually can solve every problem that comes my way. This time it's different. The conversion went seemingly well. The only change that needed to be made after a few days was a minor font change to make something more readable. Then, I went to add a new field in and I can't. I went to check the options and I am repeatedly told that I don't have the privelages to change anything but the spelling ones. With FMP 6 the database was protected with…

Right now I'm running a FM8 server advanced v3 and use FM8 Pro advanced to create apps. My users have FM8 Pro. 1. If I upgrade to 8.5 Pro Advanced and use the new features will my users be able to use those features without upgrading their indivudual copies of FM 8 Pro? The databases are running on the server. 2. If I upgrade the server to 8 Advanced v 4, will the users have to upgrade their individual copies to 8.5 or can they continue to use 8.0? Thanks.

I am about to do some work on a database for someone which was created and is used in Filemaker Pro 6. I will be completing the work in Filemaker Pro 8. Will I be able to reload this database once the changes are made back into Filemaker Pro 6?

I am reposting this problem. I had no replies in the previous posting. Maybe now? FMA8 updater v2 tells me that it cannot find a file called "Filemaker pro 8 advanced.msi". I checked, it is in the same folder as the other updater stuff. I have no way of browsing and indicating it manually. What am i doing wrong? Anybody?

Apologies if this has already been discussed, I have been unable to find an answer for this in my search. I am in the process of moving our current system from FileMaker 5 to 8 and because of the amount of data in some files, 50+ files with as much as 300,000 records in some files, I will be converting the files with no data. However my concern now is getting the data from the v5 files into the new v8 files in the correct fields and in the quickest way possible, as I will only have a weekend to changeover the system. What is the best way to go about this? Thanks for your help. Orlando

I'm having an odd problem. Probably something stupid and small. I had a list in FM6 that will not work in FM7 or FM8. Explanation: Address Book.fp7 has a field called "calcName" which is concatenation of "Name_Surname & Name_First & Name_Last" Then, in my main Data.fp7 database, there was a contact field with a dropdown menu using a list derived from "Address Book.fp7::calcName" --- the problem is I am not getting the list to work in FP7 or FP8. It worked fine creating a list from the calcName before in FM6... Is this some small checkbox new to FM7/8 or does FM7/8 treat lists different so that a list from a calc field is not possible? Hope this…

I'm curious as to how many of you have chosen to upgrade existing databases, and how many chose to re-write them in FM 7/8? Any advice on deciding which direction to go? (I'm looking at an FM 4 database going to 8, multi-platform). Thanks to all

Please help. I have recently upgraded to Filemaker 8 from Filemaker 7 and have several scripts no longer functioning. This is the second time I have posted this question and am really hoping someone can point me in the right direction. It appears that using the setField[x] on a repeating field with global storage is not functioning as it did in 7. I have searched this forum and several others as well as the Filemaker knowledge base and have found nothing that describes this issue. The scripts simply place values into the repetitions of a globally stored repeating field and attempt to access the values later in the script using getRepetition. During testing I ha…

I am trying to install the Filemaker Advanced 8 updaters to get to version 3. On my laptop it worked fine, so the files are okay, I guess. But on my desktop I get an error message about a missing .msi file. Is there something I am doing wrong? Where can I check for errors? Both machines have the exact same configuration, by the way. I am working on Windows XP, SP2.

Hello All! I work for a school district that is happily running on FileMaker 6 Server. This summer we’ve decided that it’s time to convert to 8, we don’t want to get too behind and there NEVER seems to be a “good” time to make the jump. I’m not nervous about the conversion part, even though we haven’t been running 8, I have been working in it and already have FM8 Server running. My issue is that I’m so unsure of the best way to roll it out. See I’m not just converting the existing databases, I’m merging a lot of it together once it’s converted. For example, there is a staff roster database that I now want to make the core of it all. Then there are confere…

Hiya, I'm looking to move from version 5 to 7 and I'm wondering how much trouble I'm likely to run into. I've read a bit through the forum and other websites but it's tough to dig through all the version 8 transitions, which I hear can be a real pain. My database can be described as extremely complicated and it uses right around 12 separate databases in different relationships. I've read several times that going to version 8 is probably going to be tough for me, but how about version 7? Is it going to be a simple automatic filemaker conversion and all is well, or is there going to be some heavy work involved? That's my main question, but I'm also curious ab…

I am converting a Filemaker 6 Pro database over to Filemaker 8. I initially dragged and dropped my FM6 files into FM8. All converted fine, but I noticed that I still had separate files. So that means that I have to setup Accounts and Privileges for every file/table. So, is it possible for me to combine all FM6 tables/files into one nice FM8 database/file. Thanks!!

I've got a older database that I'm going to be moving to 8. But they have lots of reptition files that I hate. What I would like to do it move the first line of the reptition to it's on field, the 2nd to it's own field and so forth. many of the reptitions are blank. Can this be done? Thanks. Devin

I'm getting the following Windows error message when trying to open a converted file: # # An unexpected error has been detected by HotSpot Virtual Machine: # # EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION (0xc0000005) at pc=0x77f87fc6, pid=1084, tid=2088 # # Java VM: Java HotSpot Client VM (1.5.0_04-b05 mixed mode, sharing) # Problematic frame: # C [ntdll.dll+0x7fc6] # There a long thread after this with much more detail. Can anyone help with this much of the error message? I'm doing the conversion on a Win2000SP4 PC. Thanks.

I have upgraded several files from 6 to 7 and noticed that all the colors are muted. This makes the data entered difficult to read. This was not a problem when I converted from 6 to 8. Any suggestions? Bob Sherman

Today I downloaded 8v3 (Mac OS X 10.4.6, Power Book G4, 80G, no network or external disks mounted) and ran per instructions. It hangs, telling me it is "searching." I gave it over an hour while I mowed the lawn. Forced quit and tried again, same result. So, I deleted FMPA8v2, reinstalled from CD, redownloaded 8v2 updater, and it hangs too!. In January (or so) it worked fine. So now what? Any ideas?

Currently the company I work for uses FileMaker 4.1 (egads!) on 3 PC computers with the data stored on a networked server. The company was just sold and the new owner uses a Macintosh. He will need access to the database as well. I have a couple questions. First, my suggestion to him would be to upgrade all the software, but is it even possible to upgrade from 4.1 to current and have all the data work well? Also, with his Mac, will he need to run a PC version off of the his Mac, or will a Macintosh version of Filemaker play nice with the PC's in the shop? Thanks so much for any suggestions! Linda

Is there a way to disable the Language box from popping up when I do an Assisted Install? I've reviewed my txt file and the ini. They seem to be correct. Ideas Please?

I work in allied health and sometime ago, half-convinced my boss that his excel spreadsheet to collect data was getting out of hand and clunky and Filemaker would be the solution for him. I am only a beginner FM end-user but have been impressed by the capabililities of FM (due to an ex-husband). So he told me to do something abt it, I met up with a local developer who did only an on-job with my requirements, and 2.5K later, we have a product that is incomplete and buggy. My boss needs more convincing that it is going to be worthwhile monetary investment and I need to keep my job. One big point that I overlooked to ask the developer was "Is it possible to open, access and …

We have a very large complicated database that was developed for us awhile back, it took years to fine tune but we are happy with it now. We have a network of iMac's running OS 9.2 and database access is very slow. The fewer people using it the faster it is but it's still slow. We need to fix it. What are the possibilities of getting something more modern like Filemaker 7 or 8 and running it on OS X? Will our database work with it and how do we find out? The computers in use on our network range from 5-10 at a time accessing the database all day long. I understand that OS9 may have some networking issues that make it slow? Thanks!

Hi everybody, Does anyone know if there is a version of FileMaker that I can upgrade to that will bypass the limitation that lets you only view 5 records at a time when you are viewing them thru a web browser from a locally web published FileMaker Pro 7 database? That 5 record limitation is killing all my web publishing plans. I'm about to put in a recommendation for some FileMaker Pro upgrades and if either Advanced or Server can do this, then I'll get one of those added on. I tried getting an answer from FileMaker, but they replied and asked me to call their technical support. I just don't have the time or the patience today to sit and listen to musak for 20 …

I have an old Aircraft Pilot Log program written for FM5.5. It is a "run only" type of file that does not allow me to make any changes in layouts, custom reports, etc. All those options are grayed out in the FM interface. Unfortunately, it is no longer supported. I want to upgrade to a better log book program, but I really don't want to re-enter several thousand flights worth of data! However the EXPORT function is one of the features that is grayed out and unavailable. Is there any way I can "unlock" the files so I can gain access to the export feature?

I'm having an issue with Filemaker 8 and global storage on a date field. I am using a repeating global date field to accept two inputs from a custom dialog. I then use those two values to populate a date field with a range of dates in a find request. The problem is the second repetition is no longer accepting the input. This was working in FMP 7. Any suggestions?

I'm changing the question alittle... My company is running Filemaker 5 Server and Pro. We have talked about upgrading to version 8 on both server and pro. We were hoping to do an Upgrade, however we see that Filemaker only discusses upgrades version 5.5. Any one know why? Why was 5.5 such a big change from 5? Lets assume that we do not upgrade to 5.5 before upgrading to version 8. Has anyone had any problem with this upgrade? Thanks.

In the older version of FMP, I had individual files that I opened andclose with scripts as needed. In FMP8 the opening process appears very slow when clicking on a record in a portal and opening that record. Can I restructure the file and data to be a table within the new FMP8 file? Or, how do I get quicker access to records in another file?

I just setup a my new macbook and transferred my data & apps from my older powerbook G4. When I try to start FM8 advanced it crashes. I also downloaded a trial version of fm8 to see if that would work, but it quit also. any ideas what might be causing this? Thanks, werner

I upgraded to filemaker pro version 2 and later version 3. After upgrading to v2, one of my relational calculations changed from a zero to "?". The relationship is back to the current table using a secondary key. When a record is found it displays its value properly. If not found, I get the "?". This makes all my other calculations that use this value, invalid. I tried using an "IsEmpty" and "IsValid" in the calculation. The results were the same. I reinstalled 8.0v1 and everything is fine again. Any suggestions?