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Importing data into FileMaker Pro

When you import data, you’re bringing data from another source (usually a file) into an existing FileMaker Pro file. If you want to create a new FileMaker Pro file from another file format, see Converting a data file to a new FileMaker Pro file.

FileMaker Pro can import many different file formats. For a list of file formats that FileMaker Pro supports, see Supported import/export file formats.

If FileMaker Pro does not support the format of a particular application, you may still be able to convert the data by exporting data from that application in a format that FileMaker Pro does support. For example, FileMaker Pro does not import Microsoft Access files, but you can export the data from Microsoft Access to a format that FileMaker Pro does support, and then import that file.

The source file does not need to have the same number of fields in the same order as the target file. During the import process, you can arrange the target fields so that the source data imports into the correct fields, as well as skip fields that you don’t want to import.

When you import data into an existing FileMaker Pro file, you can:

•	add new records from the source file

•	update records with information from the source file

•	update matching records with information from the source file

Important  Some of the above options can overwrite existing data in your file. See Methods of importing data into an existing file.

Notes

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You can import data from any field type into any compatible field except calculation and summary fields. You can only import into container fields if you're importing from another FileMaker Pro file or importing a folder of image files. When you import data into a global field, the last item imported into the field from the source file determines the global field value.

•	You can only import data into a single table at a time. To import data into related fields, import data directly into the table that contains the related field.

•	If the source file is a FileMaker Pro file with multiple tables, you can only import data from a single table at a time. To import fields from related tables, import directly from the table that contains the field.

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To ensure that imported data is correctly formatted, you can define fields so that data is validated as it is imported. During import, data is skipped when it does not conform to the validation options you set. Once the import is complete, a Summary dialog reports the number of skipped records and fields. See Defining field validation.

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If you routinely import data from the same source, you can automate the process by setting up recurring imports or by creating a script that uses the Import Records script step. Data imported via recurring import is read-only in FileMaker Pro. For more information about recurring imports, see Setting up recurring imports. For more information about using a script to import records, see Creating scripts to automate tasks and Import Records script step.

•	A layout doesn’t have to display all the fields that are in the table. You can specify the fields that you want to import to in the Import Field Mapping dialog box. See Importing data into an existing file.

Related topics 

Querying an ODBC data source from FileMaker Pro