Importing Data and Deleting Duplicates

[FileMakerHarry]

Hello Board!

I am importing a CSV file into a table. 3 fields - JobNo, Quantity, ProductCode.

Every night the CSV is pulled from Sage and I need to import it into Filemaker, to add new records that are not already in the db into the table.

When I import, it duplicates all the records.

I've tried doing a Find for (!) but it returns both the original record and also the duplicated one. I thought I could do that search and then Delete The Found Set, but that destroys the table.

Does the Script need to be a lot more complicated? Which way should I go with it?

Am I missing a 'Do Not Import Duplicates' check box or something?

I'd rather build the script myself so i can learn - but if someone can point me in the right direction, that would be great.

Cheers,

Harry

[comment]

It depends on whether you want the import process to skip duplicates or use them to update already existing records.

It's also not clear what exactly is a "duplicate" - seeing you are importing 3 fields.

[FileMakerHarry]

Any record that has a JobNo field that already exists in the table is a duplicate - even if the other data is different.

I would only want to import records that do not exist in the current table, or rather, records that already have a JobNumber field in the table.

So, skip the duplicates.

Thank you again for your help, comment.

Harry

[comment]

Set the JobNumber field's validation to 'Unique, Validate always'.

[FileMakerHarry]

Of course! That's a pretty simple explanation. And I can run a script without dialog boxes, so even better.

Thank you again for your information.

Is there anyway to run a script at 00:10 every day? Or is this Filemaker Server only territory?

[comment]

Is there anyway to run a script at 00:10 every day?

See if this helps:

http://fmforums.com/forum/topic/44465-automatically-exporting/page__st__-20#entry207924

[FileMakerHarry]

That's great, thank you.

I haven't tried it yet, but i can see how it works and it's not very complicated so cheers.

Will Filemaker Server do this sort of thing without iCal being involved?

[comment]

If the script is server-compatible.

[FileMakerHarry]

OK, well, i haven't used Server so don't know the difference really.

I suppose my questions was about whether Scheduled Time services were only available on Server, as opposed to the 'Client' version. Like the restriction on concurrent connections with Client 'vs' Server.

[comment]

The client has a very limited ability to run scheduled scripts, by using the Install OnTimer Script[] script step. However, this only works when the client is running and the window where the OnTimer script was installed is still open.