Create an FM6 file from an import

[daveblack]

hi guys, hope someone can help with this,

I have a list of product names in a file, around 650 of them. If I save this as a merge file, i can then drag/drop it onto filemaker, and filemaker makes me a nice FM6 database with all the fields correctly named against what was in the original text file.

However....

all the fields are 'text' fields, and they need to be 'number' fields.

Going to each one and changing is rather a long winded way of doing it, any one got ideas of how to import this data straight without fuss?

A few problems that you may encounter....

There are too many names for Excel to handle width wise

The file is currently one line, with ';' inbetween each name to allow the merge file import to work

Wordpad cant open the file, however notepad can

there is no data in the file, just a list of needed field names.

I am a very experienced fm6 devleoper and this file has actually been a pain to create from other fm6 databases, this final hurdle has led me here!!!

Thanks

Dave

[Fenton]

This doesn't really make sense to me; it is very odd relational design. I don't see why you'd want a field for each name. You want 1 field, with a record for each name, the name in the field. The text file should be "return-separated," not ";" separated. And it will likely be a Text field, as names are text.

[daveblack]

There are 650 odd products, each one has 100 or so records against it. hence 650 fields needed.

I have all the field names in a list and need an automated way to create a fm database from it, I can create one, but all the fields are text fields not number fields....

This may sound odd, but believe me it aint when you see the whole picture - just dont want to confuse the issue here.

Dave

Edited July 25, 2005 by Guest