VISUAL QUICKPRO GUIDE FileMaker Pro 7 Advanced FOR WINDOWS AND MACINTOSH [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Converting a Simple Database

Converting a simple database to FileMaker 7 is very straightforward. The conversion process creates a new file in FileMaker 7 format and updates all of the components like scripts and calculations to the new format.

When an existing solution has numerous related databases, convert them all at the same time so that relationships are properly updated during the conversion process.

As mentioned earlier, always make sure that you have made backup copies of any databases before proceeding with a conversion.

To convert a single file

1 .

In FileMaker 7, chose File > Open (Control+O/Command+O). In the Open File dialog box, navigate to the folder containing the file to be converted. Double-click the file.

2 .

The Conversion dialog box appears, prompting you to save a backup copy of the old file. You can keep the default name (old file name plus "old"). Click OK (Figure 15.8).

3 .The "Name converted file" dialog box appears. By default, it will retain the original file name. You should leave the name unchanged, especially if the database is related to other files. Change to another folder if necessary and then click Save (Figure 15.9).

4 .The newly converted file will open in FileMaker 7, ready for use.

If you are converting several related files, you can drag and drop them onto a shortcut (Windows) or alias (Mac) of the FileMaker application. (On the Macintosh, you can drag onto the icon in the Dock.)

To convert simple related databases

1 .Open the folder containing the related databases to be converted.

2 .Select all of the files and drag them onto the FileMaker icon (Figure 15.10).

3 .

In the Open Multiple Files dialog box, click Specify to select or create a folder for the new files, then click Open (Figure 15.11).

4 .

FileMaker will convert all of the selected files and save them. (If the files are large, this can take several minutes.) The files will automatically open in FileMaker 7.

Tips

After databases are converted to FileMaker 7, a file called Conversion.log is created in the same folder as the new files. You can use a text editor or word processor to open and check the details of the conversion (Figure 15.12).