I have a hundred runtime users I have to update from FM6 to FM8 version. Can't import their client data directly. Only XML seems to work as an intermediary format.

The problem is that on some folks data I get an parsing (whatever that is) error messsage regarding inappropriate character 0x4.

Detective work learnt me that 0x4 is Ascii for Control-D which in the XML world apparently means EOT (end of transmission) and thus dies on attempted import...

How do I avoid getting that in my Exported File or how do I extract it from the xml file? HELP?!?

You can't. You have to remove the offending character directly in the FM6 database before you export. Or by editing the exported XML file (e.g. with a standard or a stream editor).

Hmm, In one instance the offending character was 0x4. I did a search using find replace, but it didn't find any such text in any field.

And how do you do those other things you referenced.

It should not be so (*&^*&^ difficult to get the old data into the new db! I see this as a flaming flaw of filemaker that is driving me to drink.

Just open the exported XML file in notepad or another text editor and try to find and delete the character there.

Man, I thought that was gonna be it, but no. I opened the xml file in notepad and did a 'find' for the reputed flaw '0x4' and got 'Could not find "0x4"' and I tried it with both the letter O and the Zero. Sheesh!

Solution: Tried again to use alternate format for intermediary file to move data from runtime v.6 to runtime v.8. What worked (so far) is a .dif file with the DOS option selected.

.xml is terra incognita and inaccessible (to me). And I have to be able to do this on 100 client computers.