Empty records when importing from Excel

[Ian in Oxford]

I'm using Excel to take loads of raw data and then apply some maths and condense it into a template which I can then import into the database.

My excel files all use text and logic functions heavily to condense the data so there are 1000 rows in the excel import sheet that can be filled if needed depending on the number of records I need to import. These rows all contain formulas but appear empty by using "" in the IF statements.

Regardless of what I do (saving the file as text, removing all formulas), Filemaker always imports 1000 records, even if the majority appear empty.

The only thing that works is if I copy just the filled rows in excel and make a new file, but this will be a major hassle for my end users.

How can I import directly from my Excel file without getting the empty records?

[Adam M.]

In Excel, go to the line right below your last row of data. Hold down shift and ctrl and push the down arrow. Then delete those rows. They shouldn't show up in your import now.

[Ian in Oxford]

Thanks, that works nicely and is far better than making a new file. If I was the only user for this system then that would be fine.

There must be a way to tell 'import record scripts' to ignore empty rows??

[Vaughan]

I do it the other way: import the raw data into a FMP table and do the processing in FMP using either scripts or calculation fields or a combination of both.

It's easy, for example, to get FMP to delete or omit blank records.