ODBC data sources troubleshooting

•	If FileMaker cannot identify a unique key for an ODBC table or view, <Primary key missing> is displayed in the relationships graph and in field objects.

Note FileMaker automatically tries to identify a unique key for an ODBC table or view. If FileMaker cannot identify a unique key, when you Sync or add a new ODBC table, a FileMaker dialog box appears where you can specify one or more columns to use as a unique key. If FileMaker still cannot determine unique values for every record in the external table or view at that time, you see <Primary key missing>. If someone working outside FileMaker software associates a new primary key with the external table, the new primary key will be used instead of the key specified in FileMaker.

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If the name of a column in an external table is a FileMaker reserved word or a SQL keyword, an ODBC error might result. (For example, an error might result if a column is named “Number” or “Timestamp.”) See About naming fields and Using a reserved word or symbol for a field or table name for more information about FileMaker reserved words. To avoid schema naming problems with ODBC data sources, see the documentation that came with your data source software.

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For ODBC imports and Execute SQL script steps, if an error occurs while performing a SQL query, the Get(LastError) function returns FileMaker error 1408. The Get(LastODBCError) function returns detailed information about the error. If there is no information about the error, the Get(LastError) function returns FileMaker error 1409.

•	When you are working with ODBC data sources in the relationships graph, the Get(LastError) function returns FileMaker error 1408. The Get(LastODBCError) function returns the readable error string that is generated by the ODBC driver.

•	If you are connected to an ODBC table that contains a duplicate record and you modify that record in FileMaker, your modification only affects the first instance of the record. If you then delete the record in FileMaker, both external records are deleted.

Find results for ODBC tables might differ from FileMaker find results on the same data. For example, Asian text in an external table might be collated differently and give different find results than the same text in a FileMaker table.