is it possible to take a database that was created on a mac and open it on a pc?

I don't mean open it on a network. I mean can you copy the database from a mac to a pc and have the pc now run the database?

When I try this the pc can't see the database and acts like it is a file that it does not recognize.

thanks

wade

Macs use an attribute stored in the file called a "Creator Type" to identify the kind of file it is, Windows uses the filename's extension. It is most likely that your Mac created files are not named with an extension (i.e. database.FP5) and so Filemaker on Windows has no way to identify the kind of file it is.

What you can do is to either rename the file (to the Mac the ext is just part of the name) or first launch Filemaker and then open the files using the Open File command in the File menu.

Things that are helpful when transferring from Mac to PC:

1) ALWAYS make sure your file suffixes have .fp5 (or .fp3) on them. I use that as standard now on all Mac work

2) If you are actually transferring the files over to a Win box then zip the files beforehand. Mac to Win translation (and vice versa) can occasionally do odd things to your database.

3) Don't forget to make allowances for Applescript/DDE actions on both Mac and PC. Using a Script with if Abs(Status(CurrentPlatform),2) helps with this.

4) Always use GIF/JPEG for layout-embedded images. BMP/PICT graphics will just show up as white squares depending on the platform.

One more caveat...

Font sizes are larger in Windows, so you may have to allot more room for text fields, especially checkbox and radio button fields. Additionally, Windows isn't WYSIWYG, so if you're printing from a Windows machine, be prepared for the print version to look different from the on-screen version.