>I gave the fields in the tab delimited file a header that would >match with the import fields in the mapping dialogue box. I was not >able to click matching fields because it was grayed out. (Is there >an explanation for that?)
FileMaker will recognize field names only when importing a file format for which it expects to find field names. That includes the database formats like dbf and also merge, a special case of comma-delimited where the first record is recognized as field names. Even if you put text in the first row of your tab-delimited file that means field names to you, FileMaker has no way of knowing that's what you intend and will happily read your field names into a record. Since with tab-delimited files FileMaker doesn't recognize field names, the option is grayed out. >So I went ahead and matched them up myself. > >my legacy data >"Name1_1" Suffix 1 That should map to Prefix 1 (typo?) Also, to be precise, you should be importing to fields named "Import Name1_1" etc., I assume that's what you are doing, because Name1_1 is a calculated field and can't be the target of imported data. >"Name 1_2" First name 1 >"Name 1_3" Middle Initial 1 >"Name 1_4" Last name 1 >"Name 1_5" Prefix 1 and conversely, this should map to Suffix 1 >"Name 1_6" Salutation 1 your data for Salutation 1 should be mapped to the field "Import Salutation 1" In your case the 6th name field would not be used. Try the import with the three revisions above. >The Administrator manual in chapter four says that if I am using >File Maker I can import an .xls file. But this didn't seem to work. > Because I don't have any files on ebase yet I am not opening File >Maker when I am trying to import. I am just opening ebase and >working on import job. Is this a problem? In ebase when I tried to >import the excel file it said it could not open it. It's possible you have a newer version of excel than your version of FileMaker recognizes. In any case, I can't quite follow what doesn't work. You 'll need to be much more specific - what you do, what dialogs you get, what buttons you click, etc., > >Also I did manage to download the Data dictionary but then when I >unzipped it and opened it it asked me what program to use to read it >and I tried Adobe but that didn't work? What program am I supposed >to use? It's provided as a zipped archive - you'll need Winzip (or stuffit if you're using a Mac) to unpack the archive, and Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it. -- -- Dave Shaw H4 Consulting tel: 206-954-7526 fax: 206-625-1338 ------------------ Reminder to each recipient: To change your list account preferences, go to http://email.sparklist.com/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=support and enter the email address you used to subscribe to the ebase support list:: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ebase - Relationship Management for Nonprofits, http://www.ebase.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------
