Empty fields after export

[kastoration]

I'm new to FileMaker, so please don't laugh if this is a simple problem. My background is with Access, and so far I've been pleasantly surprised with FileMaker's logic and ease of use.

My problem is with exporting records to a .dbf file (or to any other format). When I open the newly created file, some of the fields are just blank. The headers are still there at the top of the colum, but the entries are completely empty.

The main file has a location code which corresponds to a longitude and latitude from a related file. When I export, I grab the location code and the related longitude and latitude. After export, I open the newly created file to find three colum headers LocationCode, Long, and Lat. LocationCode has many entries, but the other two colums are completely empty.

Is there a standard way to setup such an export so that it includes information from the related file?

I appreciate any help or suggestions.

[Inky Phil]

Hello there

You might try importing the info rather than exporting it. I have found FM to behave a much more predictable manner if it is 'pulling' the information rather than 'pushing' it

Phil

[Lee Smith]

Hi kastoration, and Welcome to the Forum,

This sounds like to me that you are not doing one of the following:

Exporting all fields.

Check your export dialog box to see that all of the fields you are wanting to export are check.

Your "Found Set" does not include all of the records you want. FileMaker only exports and / or imports the Found Set

Check your Found Set to see that you have included all of the records you wish to Export.

HTH

Lee

[MoonShadow]

"Is there a standard way to setup such an export so that it includes information from the related file?"

If you are exporting data from both a Main AND a related file - and your related file has many records which match the one in Main, this is normal behavior. By exporting from Main, FM will list all related records (grabbing the longitude and latitude) but will only export your location code once. Is this what you are seeing?

LocationCode - Longitude - Latitude

....44...............45..............82

..(blank)...........60..............45

If so, switch to your related file to perform the export. If you export from your MANY and select your location code, it will list the location code as data on every line.

Your description of your problem indicates the reverse, but this mismatch (in some form) may be occuring. You haven't described your relationship, ie, how they are related, whether you are in Main or a Related file. It all matters here - to derive data on every line, you must be in your many file.

Lee just reminded me also ... vs. 7 differs in this respect and I don't remember for sure - but I think versions prior to 7 will only base the export on the related file's found set (even if the file isn't open). In 7, if a related file/table isn't open, FM includes all records. This may affect your data export also. Make sure you have a 'Show All Records' in your related file before beginning.

You are clearly selecting the fields for export or you wouldn't get the labels (and some data).

[Lee Smith]

Hi MoonShadow,

They are using v5, or did I missed something.-

I haven't exported records from v7 yet, so your response was news to me. However, in v5 and v6, I believe you have to export the data directly from the files that it resides in. I sure hope I haven't missed something like this all of these years.

Lee

[MoonShadow]

"in v5 and v6, I believe you have to export the data directly from the files that it resides in. "

Hi Lee,

I have never used vs. 5. But in 6, if you export records from Main and select a related field, that related file will open and related fields can indeed be also exported. But WHAT is exported varies depending upon the points I made above - and probably other factors as well. I have never tested in vs. 6 whether it would only export data from a related 'found set' or whether a Main record's related data would also export even if not in the related found set. I've always switched to the many side and it's always worked correctly for me, ie, exporting data from fields in both files.

In vs. 6 if a file is closed and you import, only the found set is imported. In vs. 7, if the file is closed FM imports ALL RECORDS regardless of the found set currently in its file.

[Lee Smith]

Hi MoonShadow,

My brain was stuck on "Portals" and you were referring to a Fields placed on the layout using a relationship.

Lee

[MoonShadow]

"you were referring to a Fields placed on the layout using a relationship. "

You don't need any field on a layout when exporting. And portals weren't even mentioned as I recall. I'll bet you're thinking of another post. Either that or I want some of that stuff you've been smoking!!

Seriously though, I'm probably not explaining it very well ... you can export your entire related set from your Main file if you wish. If you isolate 10 records in Main to export and those 10 records have 3 records each in related - you will end up with an exported set of 30 records. But only one in three will list Main field data. The other two records will be blank except for the related data fields.

In other words, it sounds like kastoration is exporting from his Longitude and Latitutde file (the 'one' side). And there are multiple Location Codes in his related file. So it exports every Location Code record but only lists the latitude and longitude once.

[Lee Smith]

Hi MoonShadow,

Where the heck did that drop down menu come from?

Answer, it's been there all along dummy.

I guess the good news is: I learned something new about FM today. One of the main reasons for being a member of the Fourm in the first place.

The bad news is: I've been using FM since 1990, and have never noticed that you have this option in the Export Menu before.

Thanks for correcting my misinformation.

Lee

[kastoration]

Thanks for the help, guys.

I've been playing around with this and still haven't found the problem, but I did manage to side-step it for the time being... by copying the related values directly into a new field in the main file and thus COMPLETELY wasting the power of a relational database. This works for the time being, just so I can make a few reports, but I still don't really understand the problem.

In the beginning the output did look exactly as you describe it:

Haarlem 45 34

45 34

Utrecht 23 32

23 32

But I've been tinkering so much with it, that now I only get blank fields instead of numbers. I created a new field in the main file and made it a calculation field that gets the value from the related file. Then I indexed it. Now it exports like I want:

Haarlem 45 34

Utrecht 23 32

But I still feel like I'm ruining the beauty of relational possibilities. Thanks for the advice and I'm sure I'll be back for more! =)