Exporting data to Excel

[JariV]

Hi,

Is there a way to export data from Filemaker fields to xls document cells?

Ideally this should work a bit like a lookup in Filemaker:

- there is a "match field" both in Excel and Filemaker file

- based on the "match cell" value in xls document, some xls cells should be filled with data from fields in a matching record in a Filemaker file

If this can't be done, anything more advanced than manual copy/paste would be an improvement...

Thanks in advance,

JariV

[Walter B]

To do that kind of matching and lookup between Filemaker and Excel, you'd need to setup some kind of ODBC link. The easiest export from FM to Excel would be to export a .csv file from Filemaker which can be opened directly into Excel and manipulated.

[JariV]

ODBC is yet complete unknown territory for me - taking that into account, would it be imaginable for a newbie to manage establishing some kind of automatic linking/lookup between Filemaker fields and Excel cells using ODBC?

In this case there is a quite complicated, existing Excel solution for salary payments, into which data from Filemaker records should be imported.

Computer skills of the end users of this Excel solution are somewhat limited (and there is a lot of data to be processed), so it would be nice to find a way to keep manual manipulation at minimum.

At the moment I'm not sure whether it would be better to delve into ODBC secrets and try to find a way to lookup data from Filemaker to Excel or to just recreate the whole Excel solution functionality in Filemaker - doable, but just a lot of to do...

Any ideas to clarify this are greatly appreciated.

Jari V

[Walter B]

If you don't mind my asking, how was this handled in the existing Excel solution - Pre Filemaker?

[JariV]

The existing method for these particular cells is manual input (from cards filled by their employees)

Now that (among a lot of other data) data is collected into Filemaker mor or less automatically.

I'm trying to find a way to export data in some Filemaker fields directly into their existing Excel solution.

Jari V

[Walter B]

Given the options, I think building the functionality of the of the Excel solution into Filemaker will ultimately be less painful, and provide you with better controls and reliability.

But, that just my opinion.

[JariV]

This maybe already a bit off topic, but I was talking to somebody with a lot experience in Excel solutions. His proposal was to export the needed data first into a csv-file.

This data can then be imported into the existing Excel file using VB scripts, which would provide the necessary control over the data import. Quite easy to do if you just know the basics of VB, I was told...

Does this sound feasible?

Jari V

[R2D2]

Hi Jari !

I have exactly the same problem. I have done a FM solution, but the reporting must be carried out in Excel-format. In my opinion it is really frustrating that FM cannot export directly to Excel-format.

I'm completely newbie with VB-programming. If I export data from FM in csv-format there is still some work left importing data to Excel into correct cells. The template where I should import data is fixed to Excel-format.

Could someone give us a little example how to use ODBC-databases in this situation , please ?

Arttu

[KATGOD]

Hi Everybody!

I join the group as I have the same problem too. I guess when we have an example, we will be able to adapt to our particular case. I have read the user's guide but could not apply!

Cheers

Catherine