Combining 12 files into one in FM12

[Martins]

In order to (cheaply) have my FM solution hosted, I need to combine 12 files into one. I am using v12.

Some of the files are quite large (over 100Mb) and most have lots of relationships, value lists, scripts but no custom functions. Very complex.

It seems that there is no automatic way to do it but is there a step-by-step for v12 since links will be broken if I do it incorrectly.

Help please!

Happy to upgrade if that will help in any way.

[Wim Decorte]

There is no automatic way.  

 

Going for cheap may not be a good strategy... throwing all tables into one file also means that if something happens to the file you lose everything.

[Martins]

Thanks Wim,

It is a bit of a conundrum - safety vs savings. I might split the difference and combine into 3 topic-related super-files and at least save a bit of hosting money (they charge per file, hence my interest in minimal files).

So is there a procedure to follow?

For instance:

Step 1: Create the new table

Step 2: Create relationships to match existing file but linking to new table

Step 3: Copy fields & value lists into new table

Step 4: Export from old, then Import records into new table

Step 5: Copy layouts

 

Or should I swap Steps 2 & 3?

No way of copying relationships either, I guess.

Thanks, Martins

[liltbrockie]

I had to do the same for our business... it was a bit of a pain but worth it.

Basically you have to do it all by hand ... recreate all the tables and fields in the new database then do an import.

[milanm]

Unfortunatilly this is correct. I could give you a few helpfull tips that save me a lot of time when i do this, might be of use.

 

- You could open both FileMaker 12 and FileMaker 13 on the same computer (or 2 different computers) and open both files relationship graphs, compare and copy, rather than opening one graph than closing it and opening another one. If you have 2 or more big screens - happy days, the work will go fast.

 

- The main file should be the one with most tables and scripts, not necesserally the one with most layouts (this came from a deep meditation on the subject).

 

I could think of lots more, but i guess you will figure it out, good luck, really unpleasant job but i also think it does pay the effort.

[Rick Whitelaw]

Are there not hosting services that charge by the amount of data (combined file size) instead of by the number of files? The are reasons to have multiple files in some cases. It seems there must be a provider who would charge the same, or nearly the same, amount for ten 10mb files as one 100mb file.

I ask because I don't know!

[LaRetta]

Hi Martins,

 

If you combine files, the sequence of the steps is critical so you do not break things.  Here are steps (thank you Todd Geist for listing them for us):

 

Whenever you move FileMaker code from one file to another, you need to do things in the right order. If you follow this checklist everything will work correctly when it is in the new file.  Some of this stuff you can copy and paste or import. The rest you will have to manually copy. It’s not fun, but if you need to rebuild a bad file, merge two files together, or just get a code chunk from one file to another, following these steps can get the job done.

 

Custom Functions –  Copy and Paste or Import

Tables – Copy and Paste or Import

Graph – Manual Fix. Make sure relationships and names are setup correctly

Adjust Fields –  Any fields that needed relationships will be need to be adjusted. One way to do this is to delete all the fields and re-copy and paste the fields from the old file to the new.  That will break relationships, but those might be easier to fix than all of the broken calcs.

Layouts – Manual  make the layouts with the correct names. Skip content for now. That comes later

Scripts – Copy and Paste or Import

Value Lists – Manual

Themes – Import ( Technically these can go any time before step 9)

Layout Contents – Copy and Paste content, manually set sizes and parts.

Layout Based Script Triggers – Manual

Security ie Accounts and Privilege Sets – Manual

Custom Menus – Manual

File Options – Default Passwords and Window Based Script Triggers

 

I've spoken with probably 6-7 hosting providers and they all charge per file, Rick.  That doesn't mean there isn't one which charges per size; just that I haven't ran across any.

 

Regardless, administration of a few files will be far easier than 12.  Usually a single integrated file, or a UI/data separation model is usually (but not always) sufficient.

[Rick Whitelaw]

Thanks LaRetta.