Still got those Import Blues

[Vaughan]

I'm not sure exactly what you want to do, but the import feature in FMP isn't too sophisticated. Then again, there isn't that much to importing either: just suck the data in. Any other processing that needs to be done should be performed within FMP itself with the data as records.

You can script import so that the user has full control as to the import order and which fields are imported and choosing the path of the file; or it can be canned; but there is no in-between.

Many of your challenges might be met if you think more about controlling the data being imported at the beginning, rather than trying to get FileMaker Pro do do something it cannot. That is, if the data is from an Excel spreadsheet, do as much manipulation in Excel as possible before exporting it and importing into FMP.

[T-Square]

The data I'm "importing" is actually a different copy of the same database. I have clients who are using a database for which they occasionally need new features. They ask me for a fix, and I rework the scripts to meet their needs. I then clone my files without any data, send the clones along (they're MUCH smaller that way), and they run an upgrade script that locates my clones, imports their active data, and copies the whole match back into their active folder. The problem is that the import script step is testy, and I want to be sure that I am importing from the right location, but there is nothing in the step that assures me where the import is coming from.

[T-Square]

I am still trying to find a way to manage the Import Records script step so that it can be more reliable. Here are my issues:

1) The step doesn't indicate the path of the file being imported. Thus, if I am importing from the "Backup" folder, there is no indication of this in the step, nor is there any way to be sure that it remains that way in the future.

2) The step doesn't indicate the field configuration, for example, whether all fields are being imported or only a portion of them.

The software clearly doesn't have a means of managing this, but does anyone have a suggestion on how to manage a workaround?

Thanks

[Moon]

Check out the Dialog Magic plugin from New Millenium.

http://www.newmillennium.com/plugins.htm