Exporting Field names & Defs

[ljm]

Is there a way to export fields and definitions to another FMP database? I am working with a large flat file and converting it to about 6 tables. I would like to use the fields, types and defs in a format similar to what 8 will provide at HTML, but want it in a db. It will help to manage the mapping of the data from the flat file to table.

Thanks

[Wim Decorte]

if you mean "creating" the fields in the the other files, then you can do it natively in 8, or with FMrobot in 7. You'll need to import the data after the fields are created.

If you just want the info from the DDR to be in a FM file, then you need to write an XSLT to transform the DDR XML grammar into FM import grammar and import that.

[ljm]

Thanks for your reply.

I don't know how to create an XSLT (yet), is there any other way you would recommend to get the DDR info in FMP?

Linda

[T-Square]

Waves in motion (http://www.wmotion.com/) has a plug-in called Analyzer that works very well. That's about the only way I know.

David

[Wim Decorte]

Any programming language that can parse XML (and all of them do now) are good.

You'd have to write a little app that reads the XML DDR, outputs some format (CSV,...) that FM can understand and then you instruct your FM file to import that info.

An XSLT does the same thing: transforming the DDR XML into something FM can import.

This is a good project to either learn XSLT or to fiddle with a programming language that can work with XML...

Analyzer is an off-the-shelf product you can buy if you don't want to do it yourself.

If you're still in FM6 you can also use MetaDataMagic from New Millennium.

[ljm]

Thanks I think I see the writing on the wall. Time to learn a little bit about XML/XSLT.

Linda

[Ric Barline]

if you mean "creating" the fields in the the other files, then you can do it natively in 8, or with FMrobot in 7. You'll need to import the data after the fields are created.

How can I do this natively in FM8? Here's the scenario: I have fields defined in file 1 and want to define them (just their names, no attributes) in file 2, which already has some other fields that I don't want to lose. So how can I import the field names from file 1 to file 2? Is there an easy way to bring in the field definitions (i.e. type, etc) as well? Thanks!