Import XL file with greek letters in regular textf

[JW]

I use FM to store formulas for radioactive purposes...explaining the how in a textfield...

I tried to use the greek signs alpha, beta, gamma in a textfield....together with the 'normal' letters...no way...

In Word it's ok

In Excel it's ok

When I import the XL file in FM :

alpha = a

beta = b etc...

any idea or workarounf for this ?

Thanks

[MoonShadow]

I have never tried importing those characters, but you might try changing the field's default language to Unicode under its Storage Options in the field definition. It will be at the very bottom of the language list. That should work, I think.

[JW]

Thank for reply Moonshadow...

FM 5 has not Unicode...

I tried Keyman and even Gentium....

No luck to have Latin and other characters into the same field....

The strange thing is that in XL I can do it, not in FM...(5)

[MoonShadow]

Apologies - I have no idea where my mind is (smile) ... Try ASCII. That was in < 7 versions.

[JW]

That is only for indexing and sorting text....

What I need is, when I inport the XL file into FM the 'alpha' is shown as a (greek), the beta as b (greek), among other Latin letters.

To change all those letters in + 3800 records/fields wil take me 'years'....

[MoonShadow]

Apologies for misleading you. The greek characters are available within Arial in Unicode format. I thought you should be able to use Ariel Greek - be sure it's installed within FM - and then ASCII (or Unicode) would take care of the proper import for you. I assumed you had those fonts and languages installed on your system or they wouldn't display in Word or Excel. I have no other suggestions for you, except contact FileMaker ... I have read no other posts on any forums on this subject but you might try searching anyway.

[The Shadow]

You might consider upgrading to FM7, it handles Unicode well, so Greek can be mixed with english with no problems. You can even use Greek for field names and inside calculations if you like.

For FileMaker previous to FM7, I believe the greek wasn't really stored, the font was just changed.

There were some posts (try seaching for "greek unicode" on this site) talking about conversion to FM7, it involved another program to convert to "real" unicode, and seemed like a pain.

[JW]

@ Moonshadow

I tried that but then it's kind of 'all or nothing' and I need a 'mixt' of Latin and Greek in the same field...

Even with Substitute.....no luck...

@ The Shadow

I had somebody who was so kind to try it for me in FM 7 (dank je wel Sanne)

no luck...

Nevertheless, I have the 'feeling' that we are 'close' to the solution....