Converting Access to Filemaker 16

[Kevin Pledger]

Hi All,

(Hopefully the right place to post)

Background

We have an engineering database that was built in Access, consisting of 3 seperate Access MDB, which are all linked. My immediate Manager is looking at if possible  converting this over to FM16, with the view of using this online for uses / contractors to login and update the information, seen as we already have other applications running on this platform, and also Access is not all that bright over WLAN.

With all the hype at present with FM pushing to convert users from Access to Filemaker, just how easy is this, because after all my research, this doesnt see to be a very easy conversion. I have come across some tools which can convert the table structures and retain the schema, BUT, the issue will be converting the existing VB code to FM Coding, as there are lot of Sub-Routines being called. 

I read this article by Wim Decorte called Filemaker vs Access, which was based on Filemaker 5.5 and Access 2002, so not sure how relevant that is now.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated as to whether persuing this conversion.

 

Kevin.

[Wim Decorte]

5 hours ago, Kevin Pledger said:

I read this article by Wim Decorte called Filemaker vs Access, which was based on Filemaker 5.5 and Access 2002, so not sure how relevant that is now.

It's still relevant in all its conclusions (except that we a bunch of event triggers now in FM

You won't find any good conversion tools to convert your VBA code and forms into the FM equivalent.  So if you are looking for a quick conversion, there isn't.

My suggestion would be to start building the FM bit based on what you know the Access solution does, that allows you to make it do just what it needs to do and not carry over any deadwood.  If you are new to FM then find a good developer in your area that can mentor you and guide you through that process.  You'll find it very rewarding, frustrating at times but it is a quick learning curve.

[Lee Smith]

This product, FmPro Migrator might be helpful.

Lee 

[Kevin Pledger]

2 hours ago, Wim Decorte said:

It's still relevant in all its conclusions (except that we a bunch of event triggers now in FM

You won't find any good conversion tools to convert your VBA code and forms into the FM equivalent.  So if you are looking for a quick conversion, there isn't.

My suggestion would be to start building the FM bit based on what you know the Access solution does, that allows you to make it do just what it needs to do and not carry over any deadwood.  If you are new to FM then find a good developer in your area that can mentor you and guide you through that process.  You'll find it very rewarding, frustrating at times but it is a quick learning curve.

Wim,

Appreciate the reply, and there are not many good developers for FM in my area Singapore and yes I am very new to FM.

12 minutes ago, Lee Smith said:

This product, FmPro Migrator might be helpful.

Lee 

Lee, 

I am aware of this program and have spoken with the Author, basically it will convert the schema and tables over, keep the relationships, but will tag the VB code and then its a matter of redoing it all line by line.

Appreciate the responses.

Kevin.

[David Simpson]

On 6/8/2017 at 7:42 AM, Kevin Pledger said:

Wim,

Appreciate the reply, and there are not many good developers for FM in my area Singapore and yes I am very new to FM.

Lee, 

I am aware of this program and have spoken with the Author, basically it will convert the schema and tables over, keep the relationships, but will tag the VB code and then its a matter of redoing it all line by line.

Appreciate the responses.

Kevin.

 

On 6/8/2017 at 7:24 AM, Lee Smith said:

This product, FmPro Migrator might be helpful.

Lee 

Readers of this post may be interested to know that the AI Accelerated version of FmPro Migrator Platinum Edition 10.01 now converts Microsoft Access VBA code into FileMaker scripts. These converted scripts are close to being runnable code but will still require further development since they are intended to be used as a template for the finished script. This is a significant improvement over the previous functionality in which FmPro Migrator would only copy the original commented VBA scripts into the new FileMaker database file.

The text returned by the AI model is rendered as commented text copied via the clipboard into the Script Workspace from the Code Conversion Workbench window. This means that each script step will need to be created in the Script Workspace in the usual manner. Text from the AI generated script can easily be copied and pasted into calculation dialogs instead requiring manual typing.

AI produced hallucinations are kept to a minium thru the use of system messages and the configuration of various parameters sent to the models. But it can still occur. For instance, I notice that the AI models sometimes make up FileMaker Get() functions which they wish existed, but don't really exist!

On the other hand, I have also seen the AI models create custom function code, and then run that code directly afterward. In this example, it didn't document that a custom function was being defined as in-line code, but as experienced developers we would recognize it as such.

More info is available on the FmPro Migrator website:
https://www.fmpromigrator.com/services/access_to_fmpro_service.html