Updating auto-enter serial number

[Matthew F]

Am I correct in surmising that, Filemaker can not auto-enter serial numbers for newly imported records, if the import script step was set to "Perform without dialog"? 

[bcooney]

No, you are not correct.

[Lee Smith]

BTW, the perform without dialog has no effect on a script, it only bypasses the dialog boxes.

[LaRetta]

If you instead mean if you don't check 'perform auto-enter' during the import then yes, if you do NOT check 'perform auto-enter' during an import then an auto-enter serial will NOT be created.  :^)

[Matthew F]

I thank you all for your replies, and I apologize for the tardiness of this response.  

 

Perhaps I did not make myself clear.  As LaRetta alluded,  when I select the option "Perform without dialog" in the script, then the user will not be presented with the the option to "auto-enter serial numbers".  It seems that the dialog which gives the option to "auto-enter serial numbers" only appears during script run time, not when I write the script.  

 

As you can imagine, I'm attempting to automate data importation - without the need for user input, but I can't seem to get the serial numbers to increment.   Am I missing something?

[LaRetta]

You must go through with the import before being presented with the dialog to check 'Perform auto-enter' . Check it and THEN save the script.

[LaRetta]

It is NOT intuitive or user-friendly and that dialog should be included with the other checkable options instead of tacked on the end. FM's import/export is stuck in the 70s.

[Matthew F]

Sounds like a Catch-22.

 

 

"Sure there's a catch", Doc Daneeka replied. "Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy."

[Matthew F]

I think the issue was that my import file is is specified with a Variable file path.  While writing the script I was not presented with the option to auto-enter serial numbers.  

 

As a work around I specified a second (local) source file in the File Path List giving the Full path, and was given the option to select to 'auto-enter serial numbers'.   I then went back and deleted the second path reference, and my preference to 'auto enter serial numbers' now worked using a Variable path name.   

[LaRetta]

Ah.  Indeed.  And I've had this happen more than once so I should have thought of it.  You also need a record in the table if you want to update ... oh so poorly written that whole import/export FM module.  Thanks for letting us know how it was resolved!