FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual

Import Data Sources

You’ve learned about the most common importing task—when your data’s coming in from a single file. But you have other needs and FileMaker’s got other choices. File → Import is an entire submenu, with commands to suit even the most demanding database manager. From there, you get to pick where the data should come from (the data source), and you get several choices.

File

The File → Import → File command shows an Open File dialog box. Select any file that matches one of the export formats explained earlier in this chapter. You see your old friend, the Import Field Mapping dialog box (Figure 17-8). Match your source to your target, and away you go.

You can also use a similar command when you have to move data from one table to another within the same file. Go to your target layout and choose File → Import Records → File. In the dialog box, choose the database you’re in, and you see the Import Field Mapping dialog box. Select the table that’s your data source from the Source pop-up menu and you’re ready to go.

Folder

Using this command, you can pick any folder, and FileMaker imports the contents of each appropriate file in that folder. It creates one record for each file it imports, and puts the file into the field you specify. In other words, if you have a folder full of letters you’ve written, you can import them into a Letters database using this command. The complete text of each letter would go in a field, with one record per letter. (Remember, though, that FileMaker ...