Container: error with Pages & Numbers files

[Slater]

Hi Everyone,

 

When trying to insert the new Pages 5.2 or Numbers 3.2 files into FMP 13, i get the error "This file cannon be inserted because it contains other files inside it".

 

I'm guessing no one else has this problem because i can't find any topics on it, so it seems like i'm the only one!

 

The container that it i'm trying to put these files into is a regular container field ... Ican't figure out what i'm doing wrong!

 

Does anyone have any suggestions

 

Cheers! 

[comment]

I'm guessing no one else has this problem because i can't find any topics on it, so it seems like i'm the only one!

 

No, I've heard of this problem before. The reason is that iWork "files" are actually "packages" -  i.e. a type of folders. Unfortunately, I haven't heard of a solution to this, other than zipping them first.

[Slater]

Thanks Comment, kind of you to write - and very helpful to me!!

 

I've spoken to Filemaker (really unhelpful and grumpy) and Apple (kind and helpful) and it appears that there's no sensible work around - which strikes me as strange because they're part of the same company, and you would have thought that someone would expect you to use iWork and Filemaker at the same time!

 

The iWork 14 files are packages as you say, and iWork 09 files are zips.

 

The only way i can sort this out for me, is to delete iWork14 from my mac!! Crazy but true!

 

Thanks again

[comment]

they're part of the same company

 

No, they're not.

 

 

The only way i can sort this out for me, is to delete iWork14 from my mac!!

 

Perhaps you could work something out using AppleScript. Or a plugin, such as the free Base Elements, that can zip/unzip files.

[Lee Smith]

Hi Slater, 

 

The problem here is not with FileMaker, it is with the file format of iWorks. FileMaker provides a list of compatible file formats for import and export.

 

I've spoken to Filemaker (really unhelpful and grumpy) 

 

 

If this person acted this way before you found out they couldn’t help you then you should call back and asked to speak with a supervisor.

 

I'm guessing no one else has this problem because i can't find any topics on it,

or could it be that they acted this way because there isn’t a straight forward answer?

 

BTW, FileMaker was spun off as its own entity about 15 years ago.

 

Lee

[Slater]

Hi Guys,

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

I think i'm right in saying that Filemaker is owned by Apple? (Their website says that they're an Apple subsidiary.) It seems odd, if that's the case, that you can't put Apple's iWork files into Filemaker's container fields. After all, container fields are there to hold files, plus i would expect that the child company's product to work with the parent company's products.

 

As Comment said, the current iWork files are packages dressed up as files, whilst the previous version's (iWork 09) files are multiple files zipped into one, and therefore acceptable within the container. So while i agree with you Lee, that the problem comes from the iWorks' file formats, i would want Filemaker to somehow produce a solution so that things can carry on as per usual.

 

But apologies for not being clearer Lee, i wasn't trying to import or export the files, but just to have an easy way of keeping tabs on external files' locations, and then being able to open them easily with a double click from within Filemaker. 

 

 

The problem here is not with FileMaker, it is with the file format of iWorks.

 

If this person acted this way before you found out they couldn’t help you then you should call back and asked to speak with a supervisor.

 

or could it be that they acted this way because there isn’t a straight forward answer?

 

I should have phoned back, but i was so dispirited by the person's approach. They wouldn't help me, but merely kept saying that it wasnt their job to show me how to develop a solution, whilst i kept saying that i wasn't after a solution, but after knowing whether it was possible or not. (If it was, i'd try to figure out how on my own, and if it wasn't, i'd give up trying.)

 

The guy from Apple was great though, and whilst he couldn't help me on the Filemaker side of things (which i wasn't asking him about) we were able to together figure out a few work arounds. Sadly, none of them really worked (sorry to digress) mainly because it was impossible for me to assign .pages or .numbers files to be automatically opened in iWork 09, either by file>info>openwith, or file>info>openwith>change all - they were always opened by iWork14. On opening in iWork14, the files would automatically be converted to '14 files, it was impossible to work with them as '09 files from within iWork14, and next the export of files as iWork09 was convoluted! (it just works, i don't think so!)

 

So it seemed that the easiest thing was just to delete iWork14, leaving only iWork09, and have everything work easily and painlessly. I've done a wee bit of Apple scripting in the past, and had thought about it for this purpose, but the 2 seconds it took to delete iWork14 won out, over what would have been much longer with tonnes of head scratching.

 

Phew, this is turning into a confessional - apologies for its length and tedium!! 

 

 

Perhaps you could work something out using AppleScript. Or a plugin, such as the free Base Elements, that can zip/unzip files.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I went to their site and read "The BaseElements plugin has functions for file manipulation, dialogs, XSLT operations, clipboard manipulation, performing shell scripts and FileMaker scripts, internal SQL operations, MD5 and SHA hashing and more." and that kinda scared me!

 

So for now, i'll stick to the deletion of iWork14, after all i can get it easily again from the App store. I'm just hoping that when the new computer that i ordered today shows up, i can somehow get iWork09 onto it!

 

Cheers, thanks again guys, it's much appreciated,

Slater

[comment]

FileMaker provides a list of compatible file formats for import and export.

 

But we are not talking about import or export; this is about inserting files into container fields. The relevant list of supported files is found here:

http://fmhelp.filemaker.com/fmphelp_13/en/html/add_view_data.4.35.html#1053046

 

Note the last item: "Any file".

 

Now granted, one could argue that a "package" is not a "file". Filemaker (the application) certainly thinks so. But to the Mac user it appears as a file for all intents and purposes. Same as an Excel .xlsx "file", which in reality is a ZIP archive.

 

 

BTW, FileMaker was spun off as its own entity about 15 years ago.

 

Uhm... if we're talking about spinning off from Apple, that was in 1987.

 

 

 

I think i'm right in saying that Filemaker is owned by Apple?

 

Owned, yes. Run, no.

[Lee Smith]

 

Uhm... if we're talking about spinning off from Apple, that was in 1987.

 

 

87 is when they formed Claris and put all of their software in it, including FileMaker,

 

98 was when was Apple divested itself of FileMaker, and formed FileMaker Inc and made it a wholly owned subsidiary.

 

And as you said, they own it, but do not operate it. Sometimes, I think that they don’t even talk to each other.

Edited June 27, 2014 by Lee Smith
last line

[comment]

98 was when was Apple divested itself of FileMaker, and formed FileMaker Inc

 

I believe 98 was when Claris Corporation reformed itself as FileMaker, Inc. Apple owned the former, as it does the latter.

[Slater]

Hi Guys, 

Just an update - i've been corresponding with a different man from filemaker, and though it seemed to me that this issue took them by surprise, their final thought is:

 

"the software is designed to hold individual files [and] its not a bug that it cannot, so we cant raise this internally as an issue to be addressed"

 

Personally, i strikes me as crazy. But that's not going to change anything!

 

In the end i didn't delete iWork14 as a work around, but i have taken to saving all my files as Word and Excel documents instead! Crazy!

 

Thanks for your help though, much appreciated

[comment]

You should have asked them to define "individual file".

[Slater]

The question that i'd like answered is why do they care so little