Importing from Excel results in duplicate entries

September 27, 201213 yr

Hello,

I have a FileMaker 11 database for my music department that I'm having trouble with duplicate records after a few imports from an Excel document.

In my student table I have auto-entered, serialized, unique IDs that link to other parts of the database. I download an .XLS document from the university's mainframe that lists students by their student ID number. I have to convert it to .XLXS format since I'm running Mac OS 10.8 before the import. For all of the students in my database, I have a student ID number field that matches the student ID number field in the .XLXS file (different from the FileMaker studentID). The information changes in the .XLXS (GPA, current semester hours, etc.) depending on when I download from the mainframe, but the student number remains the same.

On my import, I use "Update matching records in found set" and have checked the box of "Add remaining data as new records." I import the fields I need using only the "Import this field" option and match records based on the university's Student ID Number. I have First Name, Last Name, Major Code, Address, etc. set to "Import this field" in case there are students in the university's system that I don't yet have in my database.

The first few imports went fine and it added new students that weren't already in the database and updated the existing records. But after the 2nd or 3rd import, it starts creating another record for existing students. The new record has only the imported fields.

Am I doing something incorrectly? Could there be something wrong with the database?

I do have a reoccurring import that imports data in another table for class enrollments. That one also matches on the university's student number and deletes all records before it imports. It works fine. Perhaps I need to setup the same thing for this import? I'd rather be able to have some of that data as a part of the student's record since eventually these students will become alumni that I will want to follow after graduation.

Thanks for your help