Lots of Import/Export Questions

[phuebs]

Hi all

Working on a contact management system.

Is it possible to do a database for scheduling appointments and such? AND, is it possible then to have that integrate in any way with Outlook and/or iCal.

Also, I understand you could create a form letter to do mail merges with all the contacts. But is it possible to do that with Word from a FM database? Perhaps there is a letter I want to edit more with a Word Processors more advanced features. I would like that option.

Finally, if I create a budget database, is there any way I could make that compatible and work with Quicken or Quickbooks?

Thanks

[David McQueen]

Hi all

Working on a contact management system.

Is it possible to do a database for scheduling appointments and such?

Yes it is. Also there are solutions already made out there. I have one, Little Helper, that will work on fp5 or fp7 familes. But as I said there are lots of others.

AND, is it possible then to have that integrate in any way with Outlook and/or iCal.

I believe that there are people doing this. Some one could chime in here

Also, I understand you could create a form letter to do mail merges with all the contacts.

Yes, this is done all the time, both for mail merges and for bulk email.

But is it possible to do that with Word from a FM database? Perhaps there is a letter I want to edit more with a Word Processors more advanced features. I would like that option.

The simplest option here is just copy the letter and paste it into the text field. I believe it will hold its formatting. Some one could correct me here. Going the other way for a single letter is easy. Generate the letter in the database so it is captured. Copy and paste it into the word processor and format to your heart's desire.

Finally, if I create a budget database, is there any way I could make that compatible and work with Quicken or Quickbooks?

Thanks

There are plug ins that will give a link to Quickbooks. I believe that there are also import and export routines that could be implemented. I have not had to do this so I cannot provide any details. Suffice it to say that this is done regularly so I know it is possible.

HTH

Dave McQueen

[phuebs]

Thanks!

I would like to hear more specific answers from people for these questions though. But it's a good start....

[bcooney]

Save yourself a lot of time and go to Productive Computing . They have a plugin to allow interaction btw FM and Outlook, a plugin for FM to Quicken and a solution for CRM.

[Colin Keefe]

Scheduling appointments:

Yes, if you're willing to do some well structured coding, and use a plugin. Outlook Manipulator will let you sync contacts and calendars, tasks etc for the currently logged in profile's Outlook account. Exchange Manipulator will let you sync to any Exchange folder. Both are available from Productive Computing - http://www.productivecomputing.com/ . I've used both and they're great. You'll need to account for all the standard issues involved with syncing in your scripting and schema - record locking, mod dates/times, what gets to overwrite what, etc. If you've never done an integration job before, proceed cautiously.

For iCal, there's this, though I've never used it:

http://www.quart-edv.de/plugins/fmicalconnector_en.html

Others may have better suggestions.

Form letter/mail merges:

There are lots of ways to go about this, among them:

- export a .mer file and open with a Word template, possibly with an embedded macro if you need further actions performed (save to new, etc).

- use a stylesheet to format your exported data directly into a Word document

- use filemaker as a direct data source in Word merge. I believe this only works for FM6 files and earlier, though I haven't monkeyed with it in ages.

Quickbooks sync:

Yes, using the Filebookslink plugin or FM Books Connector - from http://www.filebookslink.com/ and http://www.productivecomputing.com/ respectively. Both use QB's qbXML API to post requests and receive responses from QB. Filebookslink has been around longer, but FM Books connector reportedly requires less up front knowledge of qbXML. I'd argue that in either case you need to have a pretty good understanding of how QuickBooks handles Invoices, Credit Memos, Journal Entries and so on...and knowing qbXML helps you understand the error messages that QB kicks back.

The QB and Outlook integration pieces you're asking about are not little 2 hour projects.

The answer is just about everything you mention can be done, but will take you a fair amount of time, and some of the learning curves may be steep. The one piece I don't know anything about is Quicken - I have no idea offhand if there are any tools to integrate Quicken with FM.

[bcooney]

Very good points, Colin. I have worked with both of PC's plugins and spent at least 20 hrs implementing each. I also have an expertise in QuickBooks, so I know what I need in FM to have available to post to QB. Definitely not difficult, their examples are very helpful and they support you well.

I went too fast on my answer. I'm not sure that Quicken can interact as does QuickBooks via xml.

[Colin Keefe]

My post wasn't a reply to or a comment on yours, bcooney - I think we just happened to hit reply at the same time! I just got a bit wordy with it.

Best,

Colin

Edited December 19, 2007 by Guest

[Lee Smith]

Hi Colin, and Welcome to the Forum.

I think we just happened to hit reply at the same time! I just got a bit wordy with it.

Happens to me all the time.

BTW, I didn't read them as anything but two members providing help.

Lee

[bcooney]

Great minds think alike, : !