Hi guys. My company have been using FM 1.0 since 1992 (now on an iMac G3/OS 8.6)and we have never needed to upgrade. We have now bought a G4 imac with FM 8.0, and have just found out that things have moved on and the files are no longer compatible. This is a major headache, as we use FM not only for database duties, but also for reports, test certificates, diagrams, invoices, in fact everything a small business needs to output. We have developed hundreds of layouts over the years and cannot afford to lose them.

As we need to move on, can anyone suggest how we can move forward from here?

Is it possible to run this v1.0 in Classic, or would this be a stop-gap solution?

Perhaps I can obtain an intermediate version which recognises 1.0 files, and use this as an intermediate to import to 8.0?

Any advice really appreciated, thanks.

upgrading may not be so bad

see FM Tech Info Answer ID 750 "Conversion & Migration: Things To Think About Before Converting You File(S) To FileMaker 7"

but, you might want to stop at FM6. FM6 to FM8 is not always "seamless", and may require additional work (try it)

Note: If you have an FM8 license, you can "downgrade" to FM6, see http://store.filemaker.com/downgrade_76.html

for all intents and purposes, "Classic" is dead

The good news is that you can convert FM1 to FM8, but you need at least FM3 (or 4) AND FM5 (or 5.5/6) AND FM8 - fortunately there are a few of us on the board that have these old copies (me included).

The new iMac should support classic, so FM1 should run, but consider this only a stop gap. Run it and see what happens.

The bad news is that the huge differences between v1 and v8 would mean a thorough testing of the entire suite and fix as appropriate. Of course you won't be using any of the new file structure methods available so won't gain best benefit - however you have little or no choice.

The only other alternative is a scratch re-write, import data and copy/paste layouts from v1 to v8. Any scripts would need creating from scratch.

Hi there,

As per this knowledgebase article:

http://filemaker.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/filemaker.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=750&p_created=1115172465&p_sid=oVoyCv7i&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD00MDIwJnBfcHJvZHM9JnBfY2F0cz0mcF9wdj0mcF9jdj0mcF9wYWdlPTE*&p_li=&p_topview=1

Download the trial version, and give it a go!

Cheers,

Sean.

Thanks fellas.

I'm busy trying the FM6 trial route. I tried Classic, but the files I copied across (including the FM1 app) aren't recognised and won't open. Perhaps I need the app installed before i copy the files across?