Meta Data Magic

[Baloo]

We

[Ender]

I have found Meta Data Magic to be a VERY useful tool for migration. It's great for helping you identify elements in your files that are no longer used so you can clean things up prior to conversion. It's also the only tool I know of that can clean up and consolidate file references prior to conversion, avoiding the headache of manually fixing file references post-conversion.

[Baloo]

It's also the only tool I know of that can clean up and consolidate file references prior to conversion, avoiding the headache of manually fixing file references post-conversion.

Since Filemaker's automated conversion tool doesn't take into account that multiple files in 5.5 will become multile tables in one file in 7; and FMRobot only transfers the table structures, not any file references; aren't we going to have to manually fix most (probably > 95% in our case) of our references post conversion anyway?

[Ender]

I'm not sure I can answer that, as I don't know your solution or your conversion plan. And though I've seen FM Robot, I don't use it, so I have to guess a little about what it can do (let me know if I guess wrong.)

Let's suppose you're consolidating with a hub-and-spoke architecture, where the back-end files are moved into tables in the main interface file for each of the modules. Without the File Reference fixer, the initial conversion may contain duplicate file references for different relationships, different scripts, and different value lists.

Now suppose you use FM Robot to move the back-end tables into the main file. It copies the tables for you, and then it's time to redefine the connections in the relationship graph. Will the myriad of file references to the old file cause you problems? I don't know.

This would probably be a good thing to try, eh?

[Baloo]

Will the myriad of file references to the old file cause you problems?

It doesn't seem to. FM robot just automatically transfers your table schema from the db report to the selected file. you can the go into the It doesn't seem to. FM robot just automatically transfers you table schema from the db report to the selected file. You can then go into the relationship graph, delete the images of the newly created tables, then select the right hand side of the relationships you wish to change and point them to the new tables. If you know where the relationship is supposed to point it doesn

[Ender]

I always had trouble with the DDR not properly showing elements that are used in external files. I haven't tried it in FM7.

[Inky Phil]

Don't know if this may be of interest.

Soran kindly pointed me down this path. It is quite informative.

http://www.newmillennium.com/index.php?s...on_Case_Studies

HTH

Phil