Since FMP 5.0 is not supported on a Windows 2003 server, we are testing to confirm it still functions are expected. As part of our contingency plan we are testing the drag-drop process to convert our 5.0 DBs to 7.0, but are not confident this will work well since I have read that complex DBs do not convert well without a re-write. One more test we are considering is using FMP 5.0 on our client devices to access a FMP 7.0 DB on the Windows 2003 server. Is this possible?

John -

Your lack of confidence in converting the files is well founded. There has been much talk on this forum about such process and the woes it creates. Plus, the database really isn't any better off than it was before, unless you spend a lot of time to take advantage of the new features of 7.

You could use ODBC commands to send the info back and forth. The time this will take to setup might be more than you're wanting. I've never performed a configuration like you are mentioning, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Or, you could use XML exports/imports, but you might come across problems with images and container fields.

To get a full picture of what you'll need to do to successfully migrate to FM7, read the FM7 Foundations and Migration Methologoes tech brief on filemaker.com. It goes into various migration strategies, so you can weigh the difficulty in converting vs rewriting.