Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

FileMaker

Converting FileMaker Databases

from Previous Versions

FileMaker, Inc.

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For more information, visit our web site at www.ﬁlemaker.com.

Edition: 01

Contents

Preface

Important

Chapter 1

Planning for database conversion

About this guide

Conversion overview

Converting simple files

Converting complex databases

Migrating data to a database designed in FileMaker

Pro

Conversion checklist for complex databases

Special considerations for converting business-critical databases

Chapter 2

Converting your database files

Converting files

Converting a single file

Converting multiple files at once

Converting FileMaker

Pro 1.x and 2.x databases

Chapter 3

Troubleshooting file conversion

Solving conversion problems

Using the conversion log file

Chapter 4

Changes that occur during conversion

Access privileges

Passwords

Groups

Sharing a database stored on a CD-ROM

File references

Document preferences

Hidden files

Preserving user dictionary information

Changes in layouts

onverted relationships

Change to how word breaks are determined

Two-digit date conversion

Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Changes to sorting behavior

ASCII changed to Unicode

Accented characters

Sorted data and found sets

Sorting records by subsummary values

Indexes

Exporting in the Lotus character set

Printer settings (Windows)

Print Setup script step stored setup options (Windows)

Global fields

umber fields

Date and time fields

Container fields

Calculation fields

Functions that are renamed in FileMaker

Pro 7 45

Japanese functions that are converted 48

Invalid characters and words in field names used in calculations 49

Parameter separators in calculations 49

Change to rules for allowed parameters in Get functions 49

FileMaker Pro 7 converts field types as needed before processing calculations 49

Operator precedence in calculations 52

Decimal precision in validated fields 52

Accelerated calculation evaluation 52

New rounding rules 53

New syntax for nested substitutions 53

Today function no longer supported 53

Text functions recognize text characters in number fields 54

Functions that are dependent on context 54

Functions that return filename extensions 55

Changes to the Mod function 55

Numeric expressions with text input 56

Boolean calculations 56

GetAsNumber function 56

Get(LastError) function 57

Get(UserName) function 57

Rotated fields 58

Scripts 58

Conversion of script steps 58

Script step behavior 59

Miscellaneous scripting changes 61

Contents 5

Changes to databases that are published to the web 65

Instant Web Publishing 66

Custom Web Publishing 66

Movies in FileMaker Pro 3.x or earlier 67

Schedule settings in FileMaker Server 67

Runtime solution files bound by the FileMaker Developer Tool 67

Chapter 5

Defining accounts and privilege sets for files protected by the Web

Security Database

Considering security for FileMaker Pro 7 databases 69

Planning secure access for files published on the web 69

Creating new accounts manually 71

Using ScriptMaker to create new accounts 71

Chapter 6

Considerations for associated files and interfaces

Security improvements require reconfiguration of associated files 75

Starting FileMaker Pro using a URL 75

References to objects whose names were changed during conversion 75

Plug-ins 75

LDAC and RDAC changed to ODBC/JDBC and FileMaker Server Advanced 76

ActiveX library renamed 77

Apple event changes in FileMaker Pro 7 (Mac OS) 77

New object model 78

Changes to functionality 78

Index 81

6 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Preface

Important

You only need to read this guide if you are converting database ﬁles from pre-7.0 versions of

FileMaker

Pro. If you are upgrading from FileMaker Pro 7 to FileMaker Pro 8, you do not need to convert

your ﬁles, because FileMaker

Pro 7 and FileMaker Pro 8 share the same ﬁle format.

The following table contains information and changes related to ﬁle conversion since the 7.0 guide was

released. The remainder of this guide has not been updated for FileMaker 8.0.

See Description of change

General FileMaker Developer is now named FileMaker Pro Advanced.

Page 10

“Migrating data to a database

designed in FileMaker Pro 7”

In FileMaker Pro 8, after converting, you can import records into a new table in

a file, in order to create a table with the same schema as the source table. In this

way, you can consolidate formerly separate tables from a multi-file solution into

a single file, multi-table solution. Only the data and table will be imported (not

layouts, relationships, scripts, and so on).

In FileMaker Pro Advanced, you can either copy or import table schema from a

converted file. For more information, see the FileMaker Pro Advanced

Development Guide.

Page 19

“Converting a single file”

In FileMaker Pro 8, text in the dialog box now says, “This file was created with

a previous version of FileMaker Pro and must be converted to this version of

FileMaker Pro.”

Page 35

“File references”

After converting databases from previous versions of FileMaker Pro, be sure to

review all file references in your solution, and delete the ones you don’t need.

The File References dialog box displays information like folder locations and

IP addresses, which can reveal information you don’t want to distribute.

Page 38

“Changes in layouts”

If you have inserted a picture (Windows Metafile image) as part of a layout, you

must convert the file on a Windows machine to preserve the image. This

behavior is similar to the behavior described on page 44 explaining how

container fields that store Windows Metafile images get converted differently on

Windows than on Mac OS.

Page 49

“Invalid characters and words

in field names used in

calculations”

In FileMaker Pro 8, the list includes the following characters:

+ - * / ^ & = ≠ < > ≤ ≥ ( , ; ) [ ] \" :: $ }

Page 57

“Error codes that are no longer

used in FileMaker Pro 7”

In FileMaker Pro 8, this error code no longer appears:

1 904 Command can only be used in a file hosted under FileMaker Server

8 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Chapter 1

Planning for database conversion

The file format of FileMaker

Pro has changed to support new features, such as multiple database

tables per file, changes to internal data storage, and changes in how scripts and functions work. To

use your existing files from previous versions with FileMaker

7 products, you must convert these

files to the new file format used in FileMaker

Pro 7.

About this guide

This document contains conversion-related information for FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Developer,

and FileMaker

Server.

Online Help provides comprehensive step-by-step instructions on FileMaker product features. You

can open Help from the Help menu in FileMaker products.

Important You can download PDFs of FileMaker 7 documentation from www.filemaker.com/

downloads. Any updates to this document are also available from the web site. For more

information on upgrade, conversion, and migration considerations, see www.filemaker.com for

TechInfo Knowledge Base articles and other resources.

Conversion overview

The method you use for updating your database for use with FileMaker Pro 7 depends on the

complexity of your database and whether or not you can benefit by implementing new features

available in FileMaker

Pro 7.

Converting simple ﬁles

If your database solution is fairly simple, you should be able to convert your files using the

instructions in “Converting your database files” on page 19 or as described in the FileMaker Pro

User’s Guide, test your converted files, and use them. For example, simple files that were built from

the templates provided with your previous version of FileMaker Pro should convert accurately

without a lot of manual adjustment afterwards.

Converting complex databases

If you're converting a multi-file relational database created with features such as custom features

such as complex scripts, complex calculations, or a database that’s business-critical, you should

plan your conversion based on the following seven-step process.

Note The “Conversion checklist for complex databases” on page 10 provides detailed tasks for the

six general conversion steps listed below. You might find it helpful use the checklist as a guide for

the conversion process.

1. Plan for conversion.

Determine which parts of your database might require special consideration and post-

conversion verification.

2. Prepare for conversion.

10 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Set up an environment in which you place converted files and store them as you work through

the conversion process. Clean up current files, removing obsolete information and structures,

such as scripts and layouts that are no longer used. Think about how you want to implement

database security in FileMaker

Pro 7. Information about what changes in your file during

conversion is detailed in chapter 3, so you might want to browse through it before you convert

your files.

3. Convert files.

Using the procedures described in “Converting your database files” on page 19, convert your

files to FileMaker Pro 7 format.

4. Verify conversion changes.

Some databases need manual modification after conversion. Use “Verifying conversion

changes” on page 14 to make sure that all aspects of your files have been converted properly

and will produce intended results. Many items on the checklist won’t apply to all users, but it’s

a good idea to review the entire list to make sure you don’t miss anything.

5. Test the converted database.

Before you start using converted databases, it’s very important that you test them thoroughly

to make sure every aspect has been converted successfully. You can use a subset of your data

for testing, but make sure the data you test is representative of all functionality included in the

database. For example, make sure that fields contain data that allows you to validate every

calculation in the database. Be sure to consider calculations that return results from fields,

calculations used to control which script steps are performed in a script, and calculations that

are used to control which records are displayed using privileges. In addition, be sure to test user

accounts, passwords, and privileges.

6. Populate the converted database with current data.

7. Delete test data and import data from converted copies of your current database.

8. Deploy the converted database

When you have completed the post-conversion tasks, tested the converted database, and are

confident that it is ready for use, start using it.

Migrating data to a database designed in FileMaker Pro 7

Because there are extensive changes and improved features in FileMaker Pro 7, it might make sense

to re-create your database in FileMaker Pro 7 rather than converting it in its current design and

structure. For example, when you convert a multi-file database, the files are not combined into a

single file with multiple, related tables. You may prefer to create a single new file in

FileMaker

Pro 7 with all of the tables and relationships that you want, and then import data from

your converted copies of your original files.

By designing your database in FileMaker Pro 7, you can remove obsolete functionality and get the

full benefit of the improvements made to FileMaker

Pro.

Conversion checklist for complex databases

Use the following checklist to plan and complete your file conversion. If the task doesn’t apply to

your solution, check N/A (Not Applicable).

Planning for database conversion 11

Planning for conversion

Done N/A Task

■ ■

Learn about how file sharing has changed in FileMaker 7. See “Access privileges” on

page 31. In addition, if your database is:

1 hosted by FileMaker Server, familiarize yourself with the new features of

FileMaker

Server 7 and plan how all of your databases currently hosted by

FileMaker Server will be converted or migrated.

1 published to the web, see “Changes to databases that are published to the web” on

page 65 and the FileMaker Instant Web Publishing Guide or the FileMaker Server

Advanced Custom Web Publishing Guide.

■ ■

Determine whether you have the correct hardware and software to support the FileMaker

products you plan to use:

1 Check the system requirements in the Installation and New Features Guide for

FileMaker Pro 7 and FileMaker Developer 7 and make sure you have adequate

resources on the computer you plan to place the database (and all client computers in a

multi-user environment).

1 Make sure you have enough disk space for converted files. Converted files can require

more disk space than the original files if the same images are used in container fields

and on layouts. Files that contain many graphics that are not in JPEG or GIF format

could grow by as much as 50% to 75%.

1 If the database is shared by FileMaker Server, make plans to upgrade the server

computer to FileMaker Server 7 or FileMaker Server 7 Advanced and all client

computers to FileMaker Pro 7. Check the system requirements in the FileMaker Server

Administrator’s Guide and the FileMaker Server Advanced Web Publishing

Installation Guide, if you plan to use web publishing to host the database on the web.

Note Versions of FileMaker Pro previous to FileMaker Pro 7 can’t communicate with

FileMaker Server 7. If you are not planning to upgrade all databases to

FileMaker Pro 7, you need to acquire a separate server computer to host the databases

you are converting.

1 If the database is very large, consider acquiring a separate computer (or set of

computers) for conversion and testing activities.

■ ■

If you’re not planning to convert all shared databases to FileMaker Pro 7 before

deployment, consider how you plan to make multiple versions of FileMaker Pro and

FileMaker Pro Server available to users.

1 Only one version of FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Server can host files on a single

computer. Therefore, a second computer for hosting files converted to version 7 (either

peer-to-peer using FileMaker Pro 7 and FileMaker Networking or FileMaker Server 7)

is required.

1 If you are planning to run your previous version of FileMaker Server,

FileMaker Developer, or FileMaker Pro simultaneously with version 7, see

www.filemaker.com for licensing restrictions.

■ ■

If the database is relational, account for all related files in your conversion plan. Files

from previous versions of FileMaker Pro will not interact with converted files.

12 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Important FileMaker, Inc. does not warrant the functionality of database solutions that rely on

undocumented behavior of FileMaker products. Databases that have exploited unintended

behaviors may not convert and function correctly in the FileMaker

Pro 7 and FileMaker Server 7

environments. It is the responsibility of the database developer to verify and test the function of

converted solutions.

Preparing for conversion

■ ■

Determine if your database uses any associated files, such as third-party plug-ins, that

need to be verified or updated for use with FileMaker Pro 7.

■ ■

Determine whether your should convert the existing files or migrate the database by

creating a new design in FileMaker Pro 7 and then import data. For information about file

conversion, review “Changes that occur during conversion” on page 31. For information

about enhancements and improvements made in FileMaker Pro 7, see the Installation and

New Features Guide for FileMaker Pro 7 and the FileMaker Pro User’s Guide.

■ ■

If your database has container fields that store Windows Metafile images (and certain

other images stored internally by FileMaker in a metafile format, such as OLE, SLD, or

TIFF metafile), perform the conversion on a Windows computer that has QuickTime

installed to preserve the images.

If you perform the conversion on a computer running Mac OS, you do not lose any data,

but you cannot immediately drag, drop, copy, or paste the images to another container

field on a computer running Mac OS: you must first open the database on a Windows

computer and then view each record with a container field to convert the metafile images.

Done N/A Task

■ ■

If you are converting a database that contains a great number of records, consider cloning

it before conversion. See “Saving files” in FileMaker Pro Help.

Tip Converting a clone of your database is quicker than converting a database that

contains a lot of data. You can make modifications to the layouts, calculations, scripts in

the converted clone, convert the original database, and then import the data into the clone.

■ ■

Document your current database definitions to use as a reference as you review and

modify converted files.

1 Print your current field definitions, script definitions, and layouts

1 If you have FileMaker Developer 6, consider creating a Database Design Report. This

report details the structure of your database and could be more useful than printing

database information feature by feature.

■ ■

If your database is extremely complex or business-critical, diagram its structure and the

flow of information through it identifying all layouts and reports. This diagram can serve

as your conversion roadmap during verification and testing.

Done N/A Task

Planning for database conversion 13

■ ■

Prepare for security changes that will be required after conversion. The security model of

FileMaker Pro 7 is different and greatly improved, so existing security settings must be

redefined during conversion. See “Access privileges” on page 31 and the FileMaker

Security Guide.

1 Create a description of the security model used in the current database.

1 Determine if each user of your file should have a separate password or if passwords can

be shared.

■ ■

Prepare your conversion environment.

1 Create backups of the files you plan to convert and place them in a separate folder away

from the existing database that will continue to be used during conversion.

1 If you are converting multiple files that exist in a nested folder structure, create

destination folders in the same structure. See “Converting multiple files at once” on

page 20.

1 Set up dedicated folders for testing the converted database.

1 Consider setting up a separate computer (a self-contained environment) to use during

conversion.

■ ■

Examine the existing database and remove any obsolete definitions or structures, such as

passwords, scripts, layouts, and fields that are no longer used.

Tip If you have FileMaker Developer, creating a Database Design Report for your

original database can help identify areas that might benefit from pre-conversion clean-up.

■ ■

Review data for consistency and printer settings (Windows) in existing databases before

conversion. Some areas that benefit from pre-conversion clean-up are:

1 Two-digit dates. If pre-1900 or post-1999 years are entered in two-digit format, change

them to four-digit format. See “Two-digit date conversion” on page 39.

1 Date separators. If dates use an alphanumeric character or the time separator as a date

separator, consider replacing date separators before conversion. For more information,

see “Date and time fields” on page 44.

1 Text in number fields. Determine whether text in numeric fields should be removed

before conversion. See “Text functions recognize text characters in number fields” on

page 54.

1 Calculation parameters from number fields. If parameters in calculations are

number fields, was the expectation that alphabetic data returns a blank value or do

Boolean calculations expect “T,” “Y,” “F,” or “N”? See “Numeric expressions with text

input” on page 56.

1 Fonts. Windows: If layouts use non-TrueType fonts, consider switching to TrueType

fonts before conversion. For more information, see “Modified text styles and font

display on layouts” on page 38.

1 Printer settings. Windows: Printer settings might be lost during file conversion. See

“Printer settings (Windows)” on page 42.

Done N/A Task

14 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Converting files

Verifying conversion changes

■ ■

If the database uses associated files, such as plug-ins, that need to be updated for

compatibility with FileMaker Pro 7:

1 For databases protected by passwords, determine how the associated files will be

updated to support the account name and password model in FileMaker Pro 7.

Remember to review account and password settings in associated files, if you modify

accounts and passwords after file conversion.

1 For third-party plug-ins, contact the plug-in provider and verify that plug-ins have been

certified for use with FileMaker Pro 7. Obtain updated versions of plug-ins, if needed.

1 For databases that are published to the web and will be hosted by FileMaker Server 7

Advanced, obtain new web enabled plug-ins. (Plug-ins written to work with

FileMaker

Pro 7 do not automatically support the new web publishing engine or server

plug-in environments.)

1 For other associated files that interact with FileMaker Pro, such as Apple events,

ActiveX, or ODBC/JDBC, verify and test files developed in-house and by third-parties.

For more information, see “Apple event changes in FileMaker Pro 7 (Mac OS)” on

page 77.

Done N/A Task

■ ■

If you are converting a FileMaker Pro 2.x or 1.x file, convert the file to FileMaker Pro 6

as described in “Converting FileMaker Pro 1.x and 2.x databases” on page 23.

■ ■

If you are converting a large database with an extensive index, consider skipping index

conversion. See “Indexes” on page 41.

■ ■

Convert single-file databases using the instructions for “Converting a single file” on

page 19.

■ ■

Convert a relational database or a group of files using the instructions for “Converting

multiple files at once” on page 20.

Done N/A Task

■ ■

Review the Conversion.log file located in the folder that contains the converted files and

determine areas of the converted database that might need special attention. See

“Troubleshooting file conversion” on page 25.

■ ■

Using the security model description you created as you prepared for conversion, review

the accounts and privilege sets in the converted database and change passwords as needed

to improve security.

“Access privileges” on page 31.

■ ■

Review converted file references and change any asterisks in remote file references to

domain names or IP addresses. See “Wild card characters in converted file references” on

page 36.

Done N/A Task

Planning for database conversion 15

■ ■

Using the database structure diagram that you created as you prepared for conversion,

eliminate redundant relationships in the relationships graph.

■ ■

If the database uses a user-defined dictionary, make sure it is being accessed after

conversion. See “Preserving user dictionary information” on page 37.

■ ■

If the database uses external functions, make sure they will evaluate properly. See

“Accelerated calculation evaluation” on page 52.

■ ■

If records might contain alphabetic characters in number fields, determine if they need to

be modified. For example, if some records contain data with a leading T or Y to indicate

“true” or a leading F or N to indicate “false,” the calculations that use these fields must be

modified manually. See “Number fields” on page 43.

■ ■

Determine if you want FileMaker Pro 7 to ignore case-sensitivity when sorting. See

“Accented characters” on page 40.

■ ■

Determine if summary reports need to be manually adjusted. See “Sorted data and found

sets” and “Sorting records by subsummary values” on page 40.

■ ■

Determine if the database contains Get functions (converted from Status functions) that

contain calculations in parameters. See “Status functions changed to Get functions” on

page 46 and “Change to rules for allowed parameters in Get functions” on page 49.

■ ■

If the database includes calculations that use the Status(CurrentFilePath) function, you

might need to make adjustments to handle changes in local file path syntax. For example,

any If statements that evaluate the string returned from the Status(CurrentFilePath)

function need to be adjusted to handle local files correctly. See “Status functions changed

to Get functions” on page 46.

■ ■

If the database uses the Mod function in a calculation, be aware that the definition of this

function has changed in FileMaker Pro 7. See “Changes to the Mod function” on page 55.

■ ■

If the database contains Japanese functions, determine whether you need to examine and

modify parameter specifications. See “Japanese functions that are converted” on page 48.

■ ■

Determine whether you want filename extensions to appear in calculation results and

make adjustments, if necessary. See “Functions that return filename extensions” on

page 55.

■ ■

Determine if the database contains calculations that might be dependent on the context of

the current window. See “Functions that are dependent on context” on page 54.

■ ■

If the calculations in the database contain textual parameters when numeric parameters

are expected, review calculation results after conversion. See “Numeric expressions with

text input” on page 56.

■ ■

Determine if any script steps have text specified in ancillary dialog boxes. See “Some

script step options convert to calculations” on page 64.

■ ■

Determine if the database uses the Get(UserName) function to track user activities. See

“Get(UserName) function” on page 57.

Done N/A Task

16 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Testing the converted database

■ ■

Determine if certain database fields should be indexed.

1 If you converted the index, review it and make necessary adjustments to it. See

“Indexes” on page 41.

1 If you didn’t convert the index, consider creating one.

■ ■

If the database uses associated ActiveX files, reset the ActiveX library reference. See

“ActiveX library renamed” on page 77.

■ ■

Review and adjust settings for ODBC/JDBC. See “LDAC and RDAC changed to ODBC/

JDBC and FileMaker Server Advanced” on page 76.

■ ■

Verify third-party plug-ins are working correctly.

■ ■

Mac OS: Review and adjust settings for Apple events. See “Apple event changes in

FileMaker Pro 7 (Mac OS)” on page 77.

■ ■

If you plan to publish this database to the web, update settings to accommodate the new

web publishing model in FileMaker Pro 7. See “Changes to databases that are published

to the web” on page 65, “Defining accounts and privilege sets for files protected by the

Web Security Database” on page 69.

■ ■

Determine if there are design changes you want to make to eliminate redundant or

obsolete items or implement new features before you begin testing the database.

Done N/A Task

■ ■

If you cloned the database before conversion, import sample data that will allow you to

exercise all functionality in the database.

1 Whether you cloned the database or not, consider testing a subset of your data, but make

sure the sample you test fully represents your data and allows you to exercise every

aspect of the database.

1 Disable all accounts except the Admin account and turn off indexing during testing.

■ ■

Set up a back-up plan to save changes that you make to the database during testing to let

you revert to the last saved version without losing too much work, if you make mistakes.

■ ■

Test every aspect of the database. For example, test:

1 Access privileges for shared files (via FileMaker Server, FileMaker Network, Web

Publishing, or ODBC/JDBC)

1 Layouts (check all fonts and graphics)

1 Value lists

1 Buttons

1 Data entry fields (manual, auto-entry, and validation settings)

1 Calculations (trigger all calculations, including calls to external functions)

1 Reports (both online appearance and printed output)

1 Scripts

Done N/A Task

Planning for database conversion 17

Populate the converted database with current data

Deploy the converted database

■ ■

If you converted a multi-user database, consider having a “test day” so many users can

test the converted database simultaneously.

Done N/A Task

■ ■

After testing is completed, delete all test data by deleting records or saving as a clone.

Tip Saving as a clone is a better method because the resulting files are more compressed.

Remember to save the clone to the correct destination folder, then remove the test file and

remove “<space> clone” from the clone’s filename.

■ ■

Shut down the pre-FileMaker Pro 7 database to ensure users make no changes as you

move data to the verified copy of the database or clone.

■ ■

Convert the database that contains current data. You can’t import data directly from a

previous version of FileMaker Pro, so you must convert the current database and transfer

the data to the verified copy of the database or clone.

Tip Skipping index conversion when you convert the database can save time.

■ ■

Import current data from converted copies of your current databases.

1 Determine if you want auto-enter values to be copied from the database or have the

auto-enter calculation triggered when data is imported

Important Do not convert auto-enter values in a relational database. Doing so in a

relational database can disassociate the related fields.

■ ■

Reset automatically entered serial number options for fields based on current data.

■ ■

If you converted auto-enter values, populate new fields that contain auto-enter values.

■ ■

Adjust back-up schedule to normal operation settings, if necessary.

Done N/A Task

■ ■

Make sure all database users have FileMaker Pro 7 installed on their computers and that

user-defined dictionaries are accessible. See “Preserving user dictionary information” on

page 37.

■ ■

Distribute new account name and password information for the converted database, if

necessary.

■ ■

Verify that associated files, such as plug-ins and Apple events, are communicating with

the “live” database.

■ ■

Announce that the converted database is available and online.

■ ■

Closely monitor activity to make sure you haven’t overlooked anything during testing.

Done N/A Task

18 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Special considerations for converting business-critical databases

If the database you are converting is essential to your business and you can’t take it off-line during

the time it takes to convert and test it, the following guidelines can help you plan for conversion.

For more information on upgrade, conversion, and migration considerations, see

www.filemaker.com for TechInfo Knowledge Base articles and other resources.

1 Use the checklists in “Conversion checklist for complex databases” on page 10 to prepare for

database conversion. Acquire a computer for conversion and a second dedicated server

environment for testing, and plan an extremely aggressive back-up schedule (every 15 to 30

minutes) so you can easily revert manual changes made after conversion.

1 If it is essential that you get the converted database online as quickly as possible, do not plan

design changes or feature enhancements at this time. Convert the database to FileMaker Pro 7

and verify it as described in this chapter before making it available to users. If you have

flexibility in the conversion and test period, consider whether this is a good time to make design

changes that take advantage of new features in FileMaker Pro 7.

1 If you have FileMaker Developer 7, generate a Database Design Report, which can help you

identify areas that might need manual manipulation as described in this document. This can be

especially helpful if you are converting a database that you didn’t design and develop yourself.

1 Ensure that when the converted database goes online, it contains current data, including any

changes or additions made during the conversion period.

Chapter 2

Converting your database ﬁles

FileMaker Pro 7 can convert files created with versions 3.x, 4.x, 5.x, and 6.x. If you have files

created using FileMaker

Pro version 2.x or earlier, you must first convert them to one of the

supported formats. Then you can convert the files to FileMaker

Pro 7 format as described in this

guide. For more information, see

“Converting FileMaker Pro 1.x and 2.x databases” on page 23.

Converting files

When you convert files, FileMaker Pro 7 always preserves your original files and creates new,

converted files in FileMaker

Pro 7 format. The original files are not modified, and you can open

them in the previous version of FileMaker

Pro that created them. The converted files can be opened

only in FileMaker

Pro 7.

You can convert a single file or convert multiple files at once.

1 Use the single-file conversion method for stand-alone database files that don’t display related

data from other files. For more information, see the next section.

1 Use the multiple-file conversion method to convert all the files in a relational database. For more

information, see “Converting multiple files at once” on page 20.

Converting a single ﬁle

To convert and open a single file:

1. If the file you want to convert is currently open in the previous version of FileMaker Pro, close

the file.

Files that are open won’t convert properly.

2. Start FileMaker Pro 7.

3. Do one of the following:

1 If you see the Open New or Existing File dialog box, continue with step 4.

1 If you see the New Database dialog box, select Open an existing file, and then click OK.

1 If you don’t see any dialog box, choose File menu > Open.

4. In the Open dialog box, select the file to convert, and then click Open.

Note You can also begin conversion by dragging a file onto the FileMaker Pro 7 application

icon.

The Conversion dialog box appears, where you can rename the existing file prior to conversion.

FileMaker

Pro automatically adds “Old” to the filename.

20 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

5. Do one of the following:

1 Skip renaming the old file by clearing the checkbox named Rename old file and clicking OK.

It’s not necessary to rename the old file if it has an.fp5,.fp3, or.fmj extension because your

converted file will have an

.fp7 extension. In Windows, the filename extension .fp7 is added

to all converted files.

1 Rename the old file by entering the name you want and clicking OK. Do this if you’re using

the Mac

OS, the file does not have an extension, and you want to continue using the existing

filename for the converted file.

The Name Converted File dialog box appears.

6. Enter the filename that you want for the new file.

If you renamed the old file in step 5, the default filename for the converted file is the original

filename (with a .fp7 extension, if the original file had an extension). If you did not rename the

old file, the default filename is

filename Converted.

7. Click Save to start the conversion.

If the file you’re converting is large, the File Format Conversion dialog box appears and shows

the progress of the conversion. You can save time when converting a large file by clicking

Skip

when the index is being converted, which postpones index creation until later.

In most cases, FileMaker Pro converts the file and opens it. If conversion doesn’t work or error

messages appear, see

“Solving conversion problems” on page 25.

8. Using a text editor such as Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac OS), open the Conversion.log

file located in the folder that contains your converted database.

Tip You can drag the Conversion.log file onto the FileMaker Pro 7 application to open it in

FileMaker

Pro.

The conversion log contains conversion status messages and errors, which indicate whether you

need to make manual corrections to the converted file before using it. For more information about

the log file, see

“Using the conversion log file” on page 26.

Converting multiple ﬁles at once

FileMaker Pro 7 can convert multiple files at the same time. You should use the multi-file

conversion method when you need to convert a database composed of multiple related files, or if

you simply have many FileMaker

Pro files that you want to quickly convert without being

prompted to individually rename each file.

When you convert multiple files at the same time, FileMaker Pro prompts you to specify a folder

where you want the converted files to be saved, leaving your original files unchanged.

FileMaker

Pro automatically names each converted file without prompting you, usually with the

same name as the original file except with a

.fp7 extension added (Windows) or if the original file

has an extension (Mac

OS). FileMaker Pro won’t overwrite any existing files in the folder. Instead,

it adds a number to the end of the filename, and increments that number until a unique name is

found.

There are several ways that you can select the files that you want to conver. You can drag and drop

the files (or a folder containing the files) onto the FileMaker

Pro 7 application icon, or you can

select multiple files in the FileMaker

Pro Open dialog box.

Converting your database files 21

To convert multiple files at once:

1. If the files you want to convert are currently open in the previous version of FileMaker Pro,

close the files.

Files that are open won’t convert properly.

2. In Windows Explorer or in a Finder window (Mac OS) create a new, empty folder for the

converted files.

3. Do one of the following to select and open the files you want to convert:

1 Files method: In Windows Explorer or in a Finder window (Mac OS) select the files you

want to convert, and then drag them onto the FileMaker

Pro 7 application icon.

1 Folder method: If a folder contains all of the files you want to convert, drag the folder onto

the FileMaker

Pro 7 application icon. If you are converting a multi-file relational database in

which files are organized in subfolders, you need to convert each folder separately. First

create new folders in the same structure for the converted files. Then convert files in

subfolders at the lowest level first by dragging the subfolder onto the FileMaker

Pro 7

application icon and indicating the correct new destination folder when prompted. When all

related files in subfolders have been converted, use the “Files method” described above to

convert files located in the original parent folder.

1 Open dialog box method: In FileMaker Pro 7, choose File menu > Open, and select the files

you want to convert in the Open dialog box by holding down Ctrl (Windows) or

2 (Mac OS),

and clicking each file. (You can also select a range of adjacent files by clicking the first file

and then Shift-clicking the last file in the range.) Then click

Open.

22 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

The Open Multiple files dialog box appears.

4. Click Specify, choose the folder where you want to save the converted files, and click OK

(Windows) or

Choose (Mac OS).

Important Do not choose a folder that contains any of your original files. If you do, then

converted files may be renamed (by appending a number to the filename) to prevent the

converted files from replacing the original files. This renaming of files could cause file

references to convert improperly, which affects relationships and other features that rely on file

references.

If necessary, you can create a new, empty folder by clicking Make New Folder (Windows) or

New Folder (Mac OS).

5. Click Open in the Open Multiple files dialog box.

If the files you’re converting are large, the File Format Conversion dialog box appears and

shows the progress of each conversion. You can save time when converting a large file by

clicking

Skip when the index is being converted, which postpones index creation until later.

FileMaker Pro 7 creates converted files in the folder you specified and opens them, leaving

your original files unchanged. In Windows, the filename extension

.fp7 is added to all

converted files. In the Mac

OS, the .fp7 extension is added to all converted files that previously

had an.fp3,.fp5, or.fmj extension.

6. Using a text editor such as Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac OS) open the Conversion.log

file located in the folder that contains your converted database files.

The log file contains conversion status messages and errors, which help determine whether you

need to make manual corrections to the converted files before using them. For more information

about the log file, see

“Using the conversion log file” on page 26.

Choose To

Open all files and convert

when necessary

Open all FileMaker Pro files or files in a supported file format

(such as tab-delimited text or a Microsoft Excel file) in the folder.

All other files are ignored.

Only open current FileMaker Pro files

(no conversion)

Open only FileMaker Pro 7 files found in the folder. If files from

previous versions are found in the folder, they are ignored. If you

choose this option, skip to step 6.

Converting your database files 23

Note If you later need to convert the same files again, make sure you convert the files into an empty

folder; move or delete any files from the previous conversion attempt, or create a new folder for the

next conversion. This prevents converted files from being renamed during the next conversion

which could cause file references to convert improperly.

Converting FileMaker Pro 1.x and 2.x databases

FileMaker Pro 7 cannot convert databases created with FileMaker Pro 1.x or 2.x. To use these files

with FileMaker

Pro 7, you must convert them using FileMaker Pro 3.x, 4.x, 5.x, or 6.x, and then

convert them again using FileMaker

Pro 7.

Previous versions of FileMaker Pro for Windows can convert only 2.x files. If you need to convert

a 1.x file, convert the file on a Mac

OS computer using FileMaker Pro 3.x, 4.x, 5.x or 6.x.

If you don’t have a previous FileMaker Pro application with which to do the conversion, you can

download a trial version of FileMaker

Pro 6 from www.filemaker.com and use it to convert files.

24 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Chapter 3

Troubleshooting ﬁle conversion

Solving conversion problems

FileMaker Pro 7 can’t open my file

FileMaker Pro 7 can’t convert databases that were created with FileMaker Pro 1x or 2x. For more

information, see

“Converting FileMaker Pro 1.x and 2.x databases” on page 23.

My file didn’t convert properly

1 Make sure the file is closed before you attempt to convert it.

1 If you are converting a copy of a file, make sure that the original file was closed before you

copied it. Otherwise, the copy will not convert correctly.

1 Check the Conversion.log file located in the conversion destination folder. See “Using the

conversion log file” below.

1 Try recovering the file first using a previous version of FileMaker Pro and then convert the file

again. See “Recovering files” in FileMaker Pro Help.

I received a consistency check or auto-repair message when I opened my original file using my previous

version of FileMaker Pro

Try recovering the original file using your previous version of FileMaker Pro, then open it using

the same version of FileMaker

Pro before trying to convert with FileMaker Pro 7.

I’m not sure if the conversion was successful

Consult the Conversion.log file located in the same folder as the converted file and the “Conversion

checklist for complex databases” on page 10.

Note If you convert a database that used the Expense Report template, you might find two blank

layouts in your file. You can delete these layouts.

The converted file won’t accept my password

Passwords are case-sensitive in FileMaker Pro 7. Make sure you enter your password exactly as it

was created in a previous version of FileMaker Pro. If you are the owner of the original file or the

database administrator, open the original file using a previous version of FileMaker

Pro and look

at the password in the Define Passwords dialog box. If you are not the owner of the file or the

database administrator, consult your database administrator for password information.

If you need to change a password, see “Editing existing accounts” in the FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

The converted file opens very slowly

The converted file could contain file references that point to external locations, which could be

changed to local paths, or wild card characters could be used in FileMaker Network (FMNET)

paths. For more information, see

“Poor performance when opening files” and “Wild card characters

in converted file references” on page 36.

26 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Using the conversion log file

The conversion log reports conversion status and possible problems found during conversion, such

as fields with invalid names. In most cases, you can correct problems in converted files. If the log

file indicates that there is a problem that would be complicated and time-consuming to fix after

conversion, you may want to try correcting the problem in the original file using a previous version

of FileMaker

Pro, and then convert the file again.

The log file is created in the same folder as your converted files. If you use the multi-file conversion

method to convert more than one file at a time, conversion status information for all files appears

in one log file. Conversion information is appended to the log as each file in the folder is converted.

Log entries appear in the following format:

date time, filename, error_number, conversion status/error message

Note If the status or error message refers to a condition in a file that was renamed during conversion,

the new filename (not the original filename) is reported in the log.

The following sections describe the status messages that may appear in the conversion log. Not all

status messages are reported for every file. For example, if there are no container objects in the file

you are converting, there are no messages about container fields in the log file.

Tip You can import the conversion log into a database to run reports on logged information for

further analysis.

Status of items that are removed from or changed in the converted file

Reports of damaged objects in converted files

Status message Action required

The “Today” function was replaced with a

“Today” field and a startup script to update it.

None. For more information, see “Today function no

longer supported” on page 53.

“Status(CurrentWebSharing)” was converted

to “(Position(Get(ApplicationVersion),

"Web", 1, 1) > 0).”

Depending on your usage of Status(CurrentWebSharing),

you might need to modify your calculation. For more

information, see “Changes to databases that are published

to the web” on page 65.

A sort order based on a summary field was

updated to try to match old behavior.

Verify report results. For more information, see “Sorting

records by subsummary values” on page 40.

Error message Action required

Field damaged: field_name. Inspect the field in the converted file for lost attributes. For

example, a data entry option or the entire field could be

missing in the converted file.

Troubleshooting file conversion 27

Invalid object names in converted files

Relationship damaged: name_of_relationship. Inspect the relationship and table occurrences in the

relationships graph in the converted file for lost attributes.

(Relationship names become table occurrence names

during conversion.) For information about how to display

the relationships graph, see “Converted relationships” on

page 39 and “Viewing the relationships graph” in the

FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

Layout damaged: name_of_layout. Inspect the layout in the converted file for lost attributes.

For example, one or more objects on the layout or the entire

layout could be missing in the converted file.

Script damaged: script_name. Inspect the script in the converted file for lost attributes.

For example, one or more script steps or the entire script

could be missing in the converted file.

Calculation damaged: calculation_field_name. Inspect the calculation in the converted file for lost

attributes. The calculation could be “commented out” due

to syntax changes in FileMaker Pro 7.

Access privilege damaged: <Unknown>. Inspect accounts and privilege sets in the converted file for

lost attributes. For security reasons, specific account and

privilege set information is not logged.

Value list damaged: name_of_value_list. Inspect the value list in the converted file for lost attributes.

File reference damaged: file_reference_name. Inspect the file reference in the converted file for lost

attributes.

Error message Action required

Poor field name: field_name. None, but consider inspecting calculations that reference

the field in the converted file. The calculations may have

been modified to allow the use of an reserved character or

word in a field name. See “Invalid characters and words in

field names used in calculations” on page 49.

Poor relationship name:

name_of_relationship.

None, but consider inspecting table occurrences in the

relationships graph in the converted file. (Relationship

names become table occurrence names during conversion.)

For more information, see “Converted relationships” on

page 39.

Poor script name: script_name. None, but consider inspecting the script in the converted

file. The script name might have been shortened. See

“Script names have been shortened” on page 62.

Invalid password name: <Unknown>. Verify the account and password in the converted file. For

security reasons, password information is not logged.

Error message Action required

28 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Duplicate object names in converted files

Account status messages

Status message Action required

Duplicate field: field_name. Inspect the field in the converted file. Duplicates might

have been renamed. You can rename the field manually in

FileMaker

Pro 7 after conversion, if you want. For

information about objects that might be renamed during

conversion, see

“Reserved words” on page 49.

Duplicate relationship: name_of_relationship. Inspect the relationship in the relationships graph in the

converted file. Duplicates might have been renamed.

(Relationship names become table occurrence names

during conversion.) For more information, see

“Converted

relationships” on page 39 and “Viewing the relationships

graph” in the FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

Duplicate privilege: privilege_set_nameX. Inspect privilege sets in the converted file. Two identical

privilege sets were created based on the group settings in

the original file. In the converted file, they share the same

name but one has a number appended to it (for example,

GroupA/GroupA2).

Duplicate file reference: file_reference_name Inspect the file reference in the converted file. Duplicates

might have been renamed (see “File references” on page 35

and “Miscellaneous error messages” below). You can

rename the file references manually in FileMaker Pro 7

after conversion, if you want.

Status message Action required

Guest account disabled. Review account settings in the converted file. For more

information see “Access privileges” on page 31 and

“About accounts, privilege sets, and extended privileges”

in the FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

Default user account missing. Review account settings in the converted file. For more

information see “Access privileges” on page 31 and

“About accounts, privilege sets, and extended privileges”

in the FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

Troubleshooting file conversion 29

Miscellaneous error messages

Miscellaneous status message

Error message Action required

Record damaged: record_number. Use your previous version of FileMaker Pro to inspect the

record identified in the original file, then compare it to the

same record in the converted file. The record number is the

current record number displayed next to the book in the

status area and is based on the complete data set. To find

the correct record in the original database, make sure that

all records are displayed in the original database (choose

Records menu > Show All Records) and that data is not

sorted. Then use the bookmark to navigate to the record

identified in the Conversion.log file.

Unknown Error: error_text. Record the error text in case you need to contact Technical

Support at FileMaker, Inc.

Skipped out-of-range field repetition: x. Inspect data in this repetition in the original file. It was

identified as damaged and was not converted.

Skipped unknown field key. Ensure that all fields were converted.

Calculation parsing error: field_name. Inspect the calculation in the converted file for errors.

Possibilities are calculation validation, auto-enter, or

calculation field errors.

Conversion aborted. None, if you cancelled the conversion manually. If not,

inspect the conversion log for possible conversion

problems.

Status message Action required

Deleting unneeded file reference:

file_reference_name.

None. When a duplicate file reference is deleted, the

reference is pointed to the original file reference. For

example, if the original file had two file references

(FileRef1 and FileRef2) that pointed to the same file,

FileRef2 is deleted during conversion and FileRef1 is used

anywhere FileRef2 was originally used.

Verify Windows Print Setup settings:

script_name

Printer settings may not convert properly in Windows.

After conversion, check settings in scripts that use the Print

Setup and Print script steps. For more information, see

“Printer settings (Windows)” on page 42.

Verify Windows Print settings: script_name Printer settings may not convert properly in Windows.

After conversion, check settings in scripts that use the Print

Setup and Print script steps. For more information, see

“Printer settings (Windows)” on page 42.

30 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Chapter 4

Changes that occur during conversion

In many cases, files convert completely and are ready to use with no additional modification. Many

of the changes discussed in this chapter are for information purposes only and are documented to

help you recognize areas that change during conversion. However, you might have to make

modifications to your files to make your database function as it did with previous versions of

FileMaker

Pro.

Important You can download PDFs of FileMaker 7 documentation from www.filemaker.com/

downloads. Any updates to this document are also available from the web site. For more

information on upgrade, conversion and migration considerations, see www.filemaker.com for

TechInfo Knowledge Base articles and other resources.

Access privileges

FileMaker Pro 7 introduces many changes and improvements to database access and security.

During the conversion of a previous file, access privileges convert as follows:

1 Each password converts into an account.

1 Passwords and groups convert into the appropriate number of privilege sets needed to provide

the same levels of access that the passwords and groups provided in the previous file.

1 FileMaker Pro 7 adds certain default accounts and privilege sets during the conversion process.

The three sections that follow provide details on the conversion of access privileges.

Note If you used the Web Security Database in a previous version of FileMaker Pro to control

access to web-published databases, see “Defining accounts and privilege sets for files protected by

the Web Security Database” on page 69 for more information on converting these access settings.

Passwords

During conversion, passwords are converted to accounts in FileMaker Pro 7. Because an account

requires both an account name and a password in FileMaker

Pro 7, for each converted account, both

the account name and the password in the converted file are initially set to the password from the

original file.

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro In FileMaker Pro 7

Passwords restrict access to a file and

define what can be done in the file (for

example, create, delete, or print records).

Accounts restrict access to a file by requiring a user to enter

an account name and (usually) a password. Valid account

information is required to open a protected file.

Groups define more specific access to the

file, such as which layouts or fields can be

viewed.

Privilege sets specify a level of access to a file, such as which

layouts are viewable, which menus are available, and whether

printing is permitted.

Extended privileges determine the data sharing options that

are permitted by a privilege set, such as whether a privilege set

permits users to open a shared file or view a database in a web

browser.

32 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Important The conversion process makes all passwords visible to anyone who has privileges to open

the Define Accounts & Privileges dialog box. For security reasons, you should either change each

account name so that it no longer matches its password, or change each password so that it no longer

matches its account name. (You could also set an option for each account to require a password

change by the user upon the next login.)

Also note the following about converted passwords:

1 If the file you’re converting uses the Try default password document preference to automatically

open the file with a certain password, this password is retained in the converted file as a

using

account name and password in the File Options dialog box. If you later change the account

name or password of this account, make sure you also update the

Options dialog box. Otherwise, the file will prompt for account information when the file is

opened.

1 Previous versions of FileMaker Pro permit defining a blank “(no password)” password, which

allows users without a password to open a database with limited privileges. If a blank password

exists in a file created with a previous version of FileMaker

Pro, the Guest account will be

enabled in the converted file. If a blank password does not exist, the Guest account is present but

disabled in the converted file.

1 Passwords in FileMaker Pro 7 are case-sensitive. In previous versions of FileMaker Pro,

passwords are not case-sensitive. When a password such as “Them” is converted, you must enter

it as “Them” in order for it to work. The previous version would have accepted “them” and

“THEM,” but FileMaker Pro 7 will not.

If you convert a file that does not contain any passwords (an unprotected file), the converted file

initially contains two default accounts:

1 Admin: this account is created with an account name only (no password) and is assigned the Full

Access privilege set. The file will automatically open to the highest level of account access. You

can restrict access to the file by defining accounts and disabling the

Options dialog box.

1 Guest: this account is present but disabled in unprotected files.

Groups

During conversion, privilege sets are created based on how passwords and groups are defined in the

original file. The converted file will contain one privilege set for each unique combination of

password/group settings in the original file. Although this provides the appropriate number of

privilege sets for the same levels of access available in the previous file, the number of privilege

sets most likely won’t match the number of groups. Depending on how groups are assigned to

passwords in the original file, your converted file may contain a greater or fewer number of

privilege sets.

The converted privilege set names are based on the group names in the file being converted:

1 If the original file includes passwords to which a single group is assigned, then some privilege

set names will be identical to group names in the previous file.

1 If the original file includes passwords to which multiple groups are assigned, then some privilege

set names will combine the names of several group names in the original file.

Changes that occur during conversion 33

1 If the original file includes passwords to which no group is assigned, then the converted file will

contain one or more generic privilege sets named Privilege Set 1, Privilege Set 2, and so on.

Some groups may not appear in the converted file. This can occur when:

1 Two or more groups in the original file have identical settings. When this occurs, only the first

occurrence of the group is retained in the converted file, and the duplicates are ignored.

1 A group has no passwords assigned to it (other than the master password). Unused groups do not

convert to privilege sets in the converted file.

Also note the following about the conversion of passwords and groups to privilege sets:

1 Three default privilege sets are always added to the converted file: Full Access, Data Entry Only,

and Read-Only Access.

1 If the file you’re converting is configured to be shared using FileMaker Network sharing set to

Multi-User or Multi-User(Hidden)), the Access via FileMaker Network extended privilege is enabled

for all privilege sets in the converted file. When FileMaker Network sharing is enabled and the

converted file is open, any client with valid account information can open the shared file. (If the

Guest account is enabled, then account information would not be needed to open the file.) You

may want to disable the

Access via FileMaker Network extended privilege and the Manage

extended privileges

option for certain privilege sets. In addition, if the file was set to Multi-

User(Hidden)

the FileMaker Network Sharing option Don’t display in Open Remote File dialog is set

in the file.

1 All the other default extended privilege settings (Access via Instant Web Publishing, Access via

ODBC/JDBC

, and Access via FileMaker Mobile) are always disabled in the converted file, even if

the file you’re converting is configured for sharing on the web, via ODBC, or with FileMaker

Mobile. You’ll need to enable these extended privileges in each appropriate privilege set.

1 For FileMaker Developer, stand-alone runtime solutions created with a previous version of the

Developer Tool can be converted into FileMaker Pro 7 files. (The converted files will no longer

be bound as a runtime solution, so all users will need to have FileMaker

Pro 7 licenses after

conversion.) If the Developer Tool was set to create the runtime solution with the

Permanently

prevent modification of database structure

option enabled, then converted files won’t include an

account assigned the Full Access privilege set, and it won’t be possible to make modifications

that require Full Access privileges.

Example conversion of passwords and groups to accounts and privilege sets

The following table shows the password and group settings in an example FileMaker Pro database.

There are nine passwords and two groups. Each password is assigned one group, multiple groups,

or no groups. Every password has unique settings except for “User 2a” (identical to “User 2”) and

“User 3a” (identical to “User 3”).

Password Group(s) assigned to each password

dbadmin (master password) This password can access the entire file

User1 Group A

User 2 Group B

User 2a Group B

34 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

After conversion to FileMaker Pro 7, the database contains ten accounts and eleven privilege sets:

Sharing a database stored on a CD-ROM

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, a single user database stored on a CD-ROM could be opened

and hosted as a multi-user database. To share a similar database in the current version of FileMaker

Pro, you must enable sharing before copying a file to a CD-ROM.

User 3 Group A

Group B

User 3a Group A

Group B

User 4 Group A

Group B

User 5 No group assigned

User 6 No group assigned

Account Assigned privilege set Comments

dbadmin Full Access Every master password in the previous file converts to an

account that is assigned the Full Access privilege set.

User1 Group A

User 2 Group B Because the “User 2” and “User 2a” passwords have identical

settings and are assigned the same group, the converted file

creates and assigns the same privilege set to them.

User 2a Group B

User 3 Group A/Group B Because the “User 3” and “User 3a” passwords have identical

settings and are assigned the same groups, the converted file

creates and assigns the same privilege set to them.

User 3a Group A/Group B

User 4 Group A/Group B 2 Even though the “User 4” password is assigned the same

groups as “User 3” and “User 3a,” the converted file contains

another privilege set that includes the unique settings of the

“User 4” password.

User 5 Privilege Set Because no groups are assigned to the “User 5” and “User 6”

passwords and these passwords have different settings, the

converted file contains two generic privilege sets based on the

unique settings in each password.

User 6 Privilege Set 2

Data Entry Only Three default privilege sets are added to every converted file:

Full Access (dbadmin account), Data Entry Only, and Read-

Only Access (Guest).

Guest Read-Only Access

Password Group(s) assigned to each password

Changes that occur during conversion 35

File references

FileMaker Pro uses file references to locate database information such as external files, tables,

scripts, or value lists. File references were not visible in previous versions of FileMaker

Pro, but in

FileMaker

Pro 7 you have greater control over them.

The following table describes how existing file references are converted:

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, the Save relative path only checkbox is available:

1 in all dialog boxes that have a Host button, when the file is being added to a database solution

1 when you specify a file from the Import Records, Open, Close, or Recover script step

1 when you specify a value list from another file or a relationship for a file

Note A converted file reference might point to the same file in multiple ways (for example, different

locations in which the file existed at different times before conversion).

File reference naming

Because file reference names must be unique, if multiple references to the same file are encountered

during conversion, numbers are appended to file reference names (for example, the file references

named fileA, fileA2, fileA3, could all refer to one file (<

path>/fileA)).

Duplicate file references

Some duplicate file references are deleted automatically during conversion and others are not. For

example, file references indicating relationships, value lists that reference external files, and certain

script steps (such as the Import Records and Export Records script steps) convert to

named file

references

. Named file references, which appear in the Define File References dialog box, are

duplicated during conversion.

If the source file and target of the

file reference are located

Before conversion, the

file reference stores After conversion, the file reference stores

On the same drive (Windows),

volume (Mac OS), or FileMaker

host and Save relative path only was

specified for the file reference

The relative path The relative path

Example

file:invoices

On the same drive (Windows) or

volume (Mac OS) and Save relative

path only wasn’t specified for the

file reference

Both the relative path and

the full path

Both a relative and full path

Example

file:/C:/databases/sales/current_sales;

file:../sales/current_sales

On a different drive (Windows) or

volume (Mac OS) regardless of the

Save relative path only setting

The full path The full path

Example

file:/D:/databases/sales/current_sales;

file:../sales/current_sales

On a FileMaker host and the Save

relative path only wasn’t specified

for the file reference

The network path The network path

Example

fmnet: /10.0.0.7/current _sales; file:../

sales/current_sales

36 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

If you decide to delete duplicates after conversion, do so with care. A Database Design Report

created using FileMaker Developer is helpful in locating and verifying file references before you

delete them. For more information about working with file references, see “Defining file

references” in the FileMaker

Pro 7 Help.

Poor performance when opening files

If it takes a long time to open a converted file, it’s possible that file references are pointing to

external locations. You can increase the speed with which files open by resetting file references to

local paths, if possible, or enter the IP Address or domain name of the computer on which the

remote file resides.

Mac OS: FileMaker Pro 7 no longer stores an Alias Record with a file reference, and therefore

some alias-related features (such as automatic searching for moved or renamed files) are no longer

supported. The resulting behavior is more consistent with user expectation when working in

databases.

Wild card characters in converted file references

File references that contain an asterisk (*) wild card are converted with the asterisk in place, which

might reduce the speed with which FileMaker Pro can resolve network file paths.

The format of the converted path is dependent on the way it was originally specified. For example,

if the file you are converting is shared through FileMaker Networking or is hosted by FileMaker

Server and a network file path is specified in a script or value list, the format of the converted file

reference will change according to how the path was originally specified.

1 If you selected the file from the file list in the Open File dialog box after specifying the IP address

of the host computer, the path is in the following format:

fmnet:/<IP_address>/SalesReports

File references in this format can be left as is.

1 If you selected the file from the file list in the Open File dialog box without specifying the IP

address of the host computer, the path is in the following format:

fmnet:/*/SalesReports

If you find file references in this format after conversion, you should replace asterisks with the

domain name (for example, fmserver1.mycompany.com) or IP address of the host computer.

If the referenced file is located on the same server as the referencing file, it’s best to change the

file reference to a relative path. For example:

file:SalesReports

When you use a relative path for files located on the same computer and later move the database to

another computer, you won’t have to update file references.

Document preferences

During conversion, document preferences are converted to file options. For more information, see

“Setting file options” in FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

The following changes have been made to document preference options that existed in previous

versions of FileMaker

Pro:

Changes that occur during conversion 37

1 The Store compatible graphics preference is no longer available. FileMaker Pro 7 copies each

graphic in its original format and, if necessary, automatically creates an additional copy of the

graphic in a cross-platform compatible format, which is stored alongside the original graphic.

Depending on the number of graphics stored in your database, duplicate graphic storage could

increase file size, but might not.

1 The Spelling Dialog location preference is no longer available because the spelling checker in

FileMaker Pro 7 retains window location information during a session.

1 Mac OS: If you use the Mac OS version of FileMaker Pro 7 to convert a file that was created

with a previous version of FileMaker

Pro for Windows, the Flash menu bar spelling option is

converted to

Beep when spelling is questioned.

1 The Try default password document preference is converted into a Login using file option that uses

the old password as both the account name and password in FileMaker

Pro 7. This process

makes this password visible in the File Options dialog, which could be a security risk. You

should change both the account name and password to fully secure the database. For more

information, see

“Passwords” on page 31.

Hidden files

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, a file that had an underscore in its name just before the file

extension (for example, mydatabase_.fp3) was hidden in the list of hosted files in the Hosts dialog

box. This behavior is no longer supported in FileMaker

Pro 7. To hide a converted file, you must

manually select

Don’t display in Open Remote File dialog in the FileMaker Network Settings dialog box.

Note If the original file was set to Multi-User(Hidden), the option Don’t Display in the Open Remote File

dialog

is selected in the converted file. See “Groups” on page 32.

Preserving user dictionary information

During conversion, the reference to a user dictionary is handled differently depending on whether

you are using the default user dictionary or a custom user dictionary.

1 Default user dictionary: When you convert a database file that uses the default user dictionary

(user.upr), the converted file points to the user.upr file in the new FileMaker

Pro 7 folder.

Therefore, you should copy the user.upr file from the previous FileMaker

Pro application folder

to the FileMaker

Pro 7 folder, or export information from the user.upr file to the FileMaker Pro 7

user.upr file before using the converted database. You can copy the file or export its contents

before or after conversion. For more information, see “Editing user dictionaries” in the

FileMaker

Pro 7 Help.

1 Custom dictionary: When you convert a database file that references a custom dictionary, the

converted file continues to look for the dictionary in its previous location. If you move or delete

the dictionary from that location, the converted file will no longer have access to information in

the custom dictionary. This could happen accidentally if the original custom dictionary is located

in the previous FileMaker

Pro folder during conversion and you later uninstall the previous

version of FileMaker

Pro.

38 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

To preserve dictionary information, move the existing custom user dictionary to the

FileMaker Pro 7 folder either before or after conversion. After conversion, open the file and specify

that it use your custom dictionary. For more information, see “Creating and selecting spelling

dictionaries” in the FileMaker

Pro 7 Help.

Note If you have added words to your user dictionary in FileMaker Pro 3.x or earlier or in a Claris

product, you can add those words to your FileMaker Pro user dictionary. First export the words

from the previous user dictionary to a text file, then import the text file into the FileMaker Pro user

dictionary.

Changes in layouts

Modified text styles and font display on layouts

The following issues could cause font display problems in converted files:

1 If you used small point-sized fonts or thin, Serif-based fonts in layouts, they might look different

after conversion due to the anti-aliasing technology now used in FileMaker Pro 7. Anti-aliasing

generally improves the appearance of fonts, but some might appear blurry.

1 FileMaker Pro 7 might have trouble converting fonts that were originally defined in a version of

FileMaker

Pro previous to version 1.x. If the original font can’t be found, the font that was used

when the file was converted to FileMaker

Pro 1.x or later is used.

1 Windows: If your file uses non-TrueType fonts they will be substituted with TrueType fonts

during conversion. When creating new files in FileMaker

Pro 7, always use TrueType fonts,

which are supported on both Windows and the Mac

OS and are therefore cross-platform.

Note Font substitution may still occur if a font specified on one platform is unavailable on the

other.

Tip Third-party utilities are available for converting fonts from other formats to TrueType

format.

1 Mac OS: Outline and Shadow text styles change to Plain text style during conversion.

Changes to line display

FileMaker Pro 7 improves the smoothness of objects on layouts, such as diagonal lines, curves, and

rotated objects. However, straight vertical and horizontal lines on layouts might appear slightly

thicker than they did in original files and colored lines might look slightly faded.

Changes in the behavior of fields in header and footer parts

FileMaker Pro 7 allows data entry into fields in headers and footers. If a field has previously been

defined as a button, this change can have the unexpected consequence of placing the user’s cursor

within the field, rather than activating the button. After file conversion, you can recreate the

behavior of the previous version of FileMaker

Pro by explicitly disabling data entry for any fields

in headers/footers for which data entry should not be allowed. (In Layout mode, select the field and

choose

Format menu > Field Behavior, and set the appropriate options for Allow field to be entered.)

Changes that occur during conversion 39

Converted relationships

FileMaker Pro 7 allows multiple tables per file, so relationships can now exist between tables in a

single file. However, when you convert relational databases composed of several files to

FileMaker

Pro 7, the separate files are not combined into a single file with multiple tables.

Relationships

If you named relationships in a file created with a previous version of FileMaker Pro, after

conversion the relationship name is the name given to the table occurrence in the relationships

graph. The characteristics of the relationship (settings allowing records to be created or deleted and

sorting requirements for the relationship) are the characteristics defined for the converted

relationship. The related file might not appear in the relationships graph by name and won’t appear

in the Tables tab in the Define Databases dialog box. To display the name of the source table and

the name of its related file, move the pointer over the arrow to the left of the table name in a table

occurrence.

Note When you first display the relationships graph after file conversion, the root table will be

centered at the top of the graph. Tables that are related to the root table will be drawn in groups, one

key field at a time. Within a group, the related tables will be alphabetized from top to bottom,

to Z.

Self-joins

When related files that contain self-joins are converted, duplicate table occurrences are created in

the relationships graph for each self-join defined. Names of duplicate tables (fully qualified names)

are based on the name of the relationship in the original file.

Portal behavior

In FileMaker Pro 7, portals no longer scroll back to the first row when you exit the portal. Instead,

the status and position of the portal is retained as long as the user remains in a record.

Change to how word breaks are determined

The way in which FileMaker Pro 7 determines word breaks when creating indexes, performing find

requests, and evaluating word-based text functions (such as LeftWords, MiddleWords, and so on)

has changed. For example, the hyphen is now considered a word break, so “father-in-law” is

considered three words. Therefore, results of features that depend on word-break logic (such as

Find requests and some calculations) might differ slightly from those in previous versions of

FileMaker

Pro.

Two-digit date conversion

If your database contains pre-1900 or post-1999 date data in two-digit year format, you should

change it to four-digit format before conversion. Two-digit year dates from 1900 to 1999 will

convert correctly.

For more information about date conversion, see “Conversion of dates with two-digit years” in the

FileMaker

Pro 7 Help. If you need details on how previous versions of FileMaker Pro handle two-

digit year dates, see the “Year 2000 Readiness Disclosure” document, available at

www.filemaker.com.

40 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Changes to sorting behavior

The following changes can affect the order in which records sort in converted files.

ASCII changed to Unicode

During conversion, the ASCII indexing and sorting language choice is changed to Unicode. For more

information, see “Choosing a language for indexing or sorting” in the FileMaker

Pro 7 Help.

Accented characters

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, accented and non-accented characters (such as Ç and C)

were sorted based on record creation order; accent marks were not considered. In FileMaker

Pro 7,

sorting is based on the Unicode Collation Algorithm, which does consider accent marks. For more

information, see “Choosing a language for indexing or sorting” in the FileMaker

Pro 7 Help.

After conversion, fields that contain accented characters may sort differently.

Sorted data and found sets

If the file you are converting was sorted or contained a found set, this information is not retained.

After conversion, data appears in the file in creation order, which can cause existing summary

reports to be incorrect. To display the pre-conversion sort order, sort or perform a find request to

narrow the data that is considered in summary reports.

Sorting records by subsummary values

Previous versions of FileMaker Pro allowed sorting by only one summary field based on the sub-

summary parts defined in a layout. In FileMaker

Pro 7, you can specify a summary field as part of

the sort criteria and reorder the groups by sorting on a non-summary field. For more information,

see “Sorting records by subsummary values” in the FileMaker

Pro 7 Help.

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, the summary sort order was dependent on the state of the

window at the time the sort was performed. FileMaker

Pro 7 can’t always convert summary sort

reports accurately, because it can now display multiple windows per file. During conversion,

FileMaker

Pro 7 applies the summary sort to the last entry in the list of non-summary fields from

the previous sort criteria. For example, suppose your sort criteria was defined as follows:

When you convert this file, the sort order converts to:

Field name Sort option setting

Salesperson Ascending

Region Descending

Total Sales (a summary field) Ascending, with Include summary fields selected

Field name Sort option setting

Salesperson Ascending

Region Ascending, reordered by Total Sales (a summary field)

Changes that occur during conversion 41

In this case, the resulting sort order change is based on the setting of the summary field “Total

Sales” in the original sort definition.

In this example, the sort order of a report (Report A) in the converted file has a subsummary part

based on the state of the layout currently being viewed. However, if a layout also exists that only

summarizes by Salesperson but uses the same sort criteria that was used in Report A, a second

report (Report B) will not sort the same as it did before conversion. To achieve the sort order of

Report A, you must create different sort criteria for Report B that reorders Salesperson data by the

summary field Total Sales rather than by the Region field.

Indexes

If you are converting a large database file, you might consider skipping index conversion as it can

take a long time. (During conversion, the Cancel button changes to Skip when index conversion

begins.) After conversion, you can:

1 create a new index in the converted file

1 use the automatic indexing option, which indexes fields when a user performs a search on a field

with this setting or the field is used as a match field in a relationship

If you choose to convert an existing index, the type of index created in the converted file is

dependent on the type of field indexed and the indexing settings in the

Storage tab of the Options

for Fields dialog box in the original file.

For information about different types of indexes and usage tips, see “Defining field indexing

options” in the FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

If you convert your index, you’ll notice the following changes:

Type of field

Index settings in the original file Index settings after conversion to FileMaker Pro 7

“Indexing”

setting is:

“Automatically turn

indexing on if

needed” setting is:

Indexes created

during conversion

“Indexing”

setting is

“Automatically

create indexes

as needed”

setting is:

All fields Off Off None None Off

Off On None None On

Non-text fields On Off Value All Off

On On Value All On

Non-Japanese text

fields

On Off Value and word All Off

On On Value Minimal On

Japanese text fields On Off Value, word, and

additional special-

use indexes

All Off

On On Value Minimal On

42 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

1 Previous versions of FileMaker Pro formatted index entries with initial capital letters. (cat

entered in a text field displayed as

Cat when you viewed the index.) Index entries in

FileMaker

Pro 7 appear in the case of the first indexed record encountered. For example, if the

first instance of “cat” encountered when the index is created is lowercase, then “cat” appears in

lowercase in the index.

1 In Roman language indexes, previous versions of FileMaker Pro didn’t index non-alphanumeric

characters but FileMaker

Pro 7 does.

1 During conversion, the following field indexing language settings are changed:

Exporting in the Lotus character set

FileMaker Pro 7 does not allow you to export data in the Lotus International Character Set (LICS).

During conversion, any scripts or export orders that specify LICS are changed to Windows

(Windows) or Macintosh (Mac

OS). If the Windows or Mac OS character sets are not valid for the

export format specified, data is exported in the file’s default character set.

Printer settings (Windows)

Printer settings, such as a non-default paper size specification, might be lost during conversion.

When printer settings are lost, default settings are used in converted files until you redefine settings.

To ensure proper printing of converted files, record printer settings in your original files before

conversion by writing settings down or taking a screen shot of various options in the Print dialog

box. (To take a screen shot, display printer settings in the Print Setup or Print dialog box, press

Alt+PrintScreen, then paste the screen shot into a document for future reference. Repeat for each

tab in the Print Setup or Print dialog box.) Then verify printer settings in the converted file and

make corrections, if necessary.

Important You must commit a record in the database to save changes printer settings. Simply

opening the database, changing printer settings, and closing the database will not save settings. To

save printer settings, change settings in the Print Setup or Print dialog box, close the dialog box,

and make a change to a field or add a new record before closing the file.

Print Setup script step stored setup options (Windows)

The Print Setup script step is able to store and use custom paper options that can be recalled when

you run a script. This allows you to use a script to print a particular layout with different paper

options — for example, to print labels or print on a pre-printed form.

FileMaker Pro 7 uses a new format to create and store options in the Print Setup script step. The

new format is not compatible with the format used in previous versions of FileMaker Pro, and

FileMaker Pro 7 cannot completely convert stored setup options in previous files to the new format.

Language setting before conversion Language setting after conversion

Spanish (New Style) Spanish (Modern)

Czech/Slovak Czech

ASCII Unicode

Changes that occur during conversion 43

However, in files that you convert from previous versions, FileMaker Pro 7 initially maintains any

stored setup options in the previous format. Depending on how the Print Setup script step is

configured, the script may continue to work properly.

But if you attempt to change the setup options by opening the Print Setup dialog box, FileMaker

Pro 7 may not be able to maintain some of the stored settings in the dialog box, and you may have

to re-specify the paper options that you want. Common settings like paper size and orientation are

usually maintained, but less-common settings like a particular paper tray or duplex setting may not

be maintained.

The following table summarizes what may occur when you run or edit scripts that contain Print

Setup script steps with stored setup options.

In essence, if you want to edit stored setup options for the Print Setup script step, you may need to

remember what the settings were so that you can enter them again properly. You may want to view

the options in the previous, unconverted file so that you can enter them correctly.

Global fields

The global field type no longer exists in FileMaker Pro 7 because “global” is now a storage option.

During conversion, any global fields in a file are converted into the field type of the data they

contain and the global storage option is selected. For more information about the global storage

option for field definitions, see “Defining global fields (fields with global storage)” in the

FileMaker

Pro 7 Help.

Number fields

FileMaker Pro 7 does not recognize previously supported alphabetic characters in a number field

as numbers. If you have used Y or T to mean “Yes” or “True” or “N” or “F” to mean “No” or

“False” in number fields, Boolean calculations relying on these characters will not return results

consistent with previous versions of FileMaker

Pro.

If you The result is

Run a script that contains this script step:

1 Print Setup [Restore, No dialog]

The script step usually will work properly because it

does not open the Print Setup dialog box.

Run a script that contains this script step:

1 Print Setup [Restore]

When you run the script, some of the stored setup

options may not appear properly in the Print Setup

dialog box.

To correct the problem, edit the Print Setup script step so

that it stores the setup options that you want.

Edit either of the following script steps in the Edit

Script dialog box:

1 Print Setup [Restore, No dialog]

1 Print Setup [Restore]

When you click Specify to edit the setup options for the

script step, some of the stored setup options may not

appear in the Print Setup dialog box, and you will have

to re-specify the options.

To correct the problem, check the options carefully as

you are editing the Print Setup script step. Make sure the

script step is storing the setup options that you want.

44 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

To preserve the behavior from previous versions of FileMaker Pro, you can use the following

calculation to evaluate alphabetic characters in Boolean calculations:

Let (char1 = Left(NumberField;1); Case (char1 = "Y" or char1 = "T"; 1;

char1 = "N" or char1 = "F"; 0; NumberField))

Note You can use Edit menu > Find/Replace in FileMaker Pro 7 to update the contents of a field

replacing “Y” with “1” and “F” with “0,” and so on.

Date and time fields

Because Japanese emperor year dates are now supported, FileMaker Pro 7 no longer allows

alphabetic characters, the time separator

: (colon), or the + (plus sign) to be entered as a date

separator. During conversion, existing dates that were entered using alphabetic characters or the

time separator remain unchanged. For example, 3:21:04 is now considered to be time data because

the colon is a time separator. Dates that use obsolete separators won’t work properly in converted

databases.

Any calculation that uses dates with obsolete separators will not evaluate properly when it is

recalculated by FileMaker

Pro 7. However, results of calculations evaluated and stored before

conversion will display correctly after conversion.

Data that contains obsolete date or time separators is indexed as invalid and can be found by

specifying

? in Find requests.

To avoid these issues, use one of the following methods to manually edit Date data that uses

alphabetic characters or the time separator:

1 Edit menu > Find/Replace

1 Substitute function. For example:

Before conversion, use: Substitute(DateField,”:”,”/”)

After conversion, use: Substitute(DateField;”:”;”/”)

Important To avoid introducing errors in data, correct date separators only in fields and in records

that contain unsupported separators rather than making global changes to date fields.

For more information, see the topics on finding and replacing data or the Substitute function in

FileMaker

Pro Help. For more information on upgrade, conversion and migration considerations,

see www.filemaker.com for TechInfo Knowledge Base articles and other resources.

Container fields

In the previous version of FileMaker Pro, both Windows Metafile and PICT images could be stored

in a single container field if the option

Store compatible graphics was selected in the database file’s

document preferences.

When files with these images are converted to FileMaker Pro 7 on Windows computers that do not

have QuickTime installed, only the Windows Metafile is preserved.

When these files are converted on a computer running Mac OS, only the PICT image is preserved.

You do not lose any Windows Metafile data, but you cannot immediately drag, drop, copy, or paste

the images to another container field on a computer running Mac

OS: you must first open the

database on a Windows computer and then view each record with a container field to convert the

images.

Changes that occur during conversion 45

To preserve both types of images in the same file, perform the conversion on a Windows computer

that has QuickTime installed.

Calculation fields

During conversion, all stored results from existing calculations are converted and retain integrity.

However, due to the many changes in the way calculations are evaluated in FileMaker Pro 7, it’s

possible that some existing calculations could produce different results if they are recalculated after

conversion.

The following sections describe changes during conversion that can affect calculation fields.

Functions that are renamed in FileMaker Pro 7

Text functions

The following text function names have changed. For more information about how to use these

functions, see “Text functions” in the FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

Additional circumstances affect the GetAsNumber function. For more information, see “Text

functions recognize text characters in number fields” on page 54 and “GetAsNumber function” on

page 56.

Design functions

The design functions RelationIDs and RelationNames have been renamed in FileMaker Pro 7. If

these functions are used in the file you are converting, the names are changed during conversion,

which has no affect on the calculations in which they are used.

Note TableIDs(fileName) returns the table IDs for each table in the database. Table IDs are

numbered consecutively, beginning with the value 1065089.

Function name in previous

versions of FileMaker Pro New function name

TextToDate GetAsDate

TextToNum GetAsNumber

TextToTime GetAsTime

NumToText GetAsText

DateToText GetAsText

TimeToText GetAsText

Function name in previous

versions of FileMaker Pro Function name in FileMaker Pro 7

RelationIDs(fileName) TableIDs(fileName)

RelationNames(fileName) TableNames(fileName)

46 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Status functions changed to Get functions

The following Status functions have new names in FileMaker Pro 7. For more information about

how to use these functions, see “Get functions,” in the FileMaker

Pro 7 Help.

Function name in previous

versions of FileMaker Pro Function name in FileMaker Pro 7

Status(CurrentAppVersion) Get(ApplicationVersion)

Status(CurrentDate) Get(CurrentDate)

Status(CurrentError) Get(LastError)

Status(CurrentFieldContents) Get(ActiveFieldContents)

Status(CurrentFieldName) Get(ActiveFieldName)

Status(CurrentFilePath) Get(FilePath)

Status(CurrentFileName) Get(FileName)

Status(CurrentFileSize) Get(FileSize)

Status(CurrentFoundCount) Get(FoundCount)

Status(CurrentGroups) Get(PrivilegeSetName)

Status(CurrentHighContrast) Get(HighContrastState)

Status(CurrentHighContrastColor) Get(HighContrastColor)

Status(CurrentHostName) Get(HostName)

Status(CurrentLanguage) Get(SystemLanguage)

Status(CurrentLayoutAccess) Get(LayoutAccess)

Status(CurrentLayoutCount) Get(LayoutCount)

Status(CurrentLayoutName) Get(LayoutName)

Status(CurrentLayoutNumber) Get(LayoutNumber)

Status(CurrentMessageChoice) Get(LastMessageChoice)

Status(CurrentMode) Get(WindowMode)

Status(CurrentModifierKeys) Get(ActiveModifierKeys)

Status(CurrentMultiUserStatus) Get(MultiUserState)

Status(CurrentNetworkChoice) Get(NetworkProtocol)

Status(CurrentODBCError) Get(LastODBCError)

Status(CurrentPageNumber) Get(PageNumber)

Status(CurrentPlatform) Get(SystemPlatform)

Status(CurrentPortalRow) Get(PortalRowNumber)

Status(CurrentPrinterName) Get(PrinterName)

Status(CurrentRecordAccess) Get(RecordAccess)

Status(CurrentRecordCount) Get(TotalRecordCount)

Status(CurrentRecordID) Get(RecordID)

Changes that occur during conversion 47

In addition, you’ll notice the following behavioral changes between Status functions in previous

versions of FileMaker Pro and Get functions in FileMaker Pro 7.

1 Get functions only accept valid parameter entries. Previous versions of FileMaker Pro would

allow you to enter a calculation as a parameter, for example, but FileMaker

Pro 7 does not. For

more information, see

“Change to rules for allowed parameters in Get functions” on page 49.

1 Get (RecordModificationCount) returns continuous numbers and no longer wraps numbers after

32767.

1 Get(RecordID) returns contiguous values. In previous versions of FileMaker Pro,

Status(CurrentRecordID) did not return values in the following ranges:

1 128 to 32767

1 491152 to 12582911

1 14680062 to 3758096383

Note During conversion, record IDs from the original file are retained. Record IDs for records

that are deleted or exported after conversion are reserved. If you create a new record after

deleting or exporting records, the record ID for the new record is the next new ID available, not

the ID for the first record in the set that was deleted or exported.

Status(CurrentRecordModificationCount) Get(RecordModificationCount)

Status(CurrentRecordNumber) Get(RecordNumber)

Status(CurrentRepetitionNumber) Get(ActiveRepetitionNumber)

Status(CurrentRequestCount) Get(RequestCount)

Status(CurrentScreenDepth) Get(ScreenDepth)

Status(CurrentScreenHeight) Get(ScreenHeight)

Status(CurrentScreenWidth) Get(ScreenWidth)

Status(CurrentScriptName) Get(ScriptName)

Status(CurrentSortStatus) Get(SortState)

Status(CurrentStatusArea) Get(StatusAreaState)

Status(CurrentSystemVersion) Get(SystemVersion)

Status(CurrentTime) Get(CurrentTime)

Status(CurrentUserCount) Get(UserCount)

Status(CurrentUserName) Get(UserName)

Status(CurrentView) Get(LayoutViewState)

Status(CurrentWebSharing) Position (Get(ApplicationVersion); "Web"; 1; 1) > 0

See “Changes to databases that are published to the web” on

page 65.

Function name in previous

versions of FileMaker Pro Function name in FileMaker Pro 7

48 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

1 If a database uses the Status(CurrentGroups) function to check if a user was a member of a

specific group, the same check using the new Get(PrivilegeSetName) function may not work as

expected in FileMaker

Pro 7 because the group name may have been deleted or modified during

conversion. Duplicate groups are combined into a single privilege set during conversion. If

calculations reference groups that were deleted or whose names were modified, these

calculations must be manually modified so they test for the remaining privilege set name. For

more information about how groups are affected during conversion, see

“Groups” on page 32

and “Example conversion of passwords and groups to accounts and privilege sets” on page 33.

1 In FileMaker Pro 7, local paths returned from the Get(FilePath) function begin with a single

slash rather than a double slash.

In FileMaker Pro 7, Get(FilePath) returns full path information (double-slash) for remote files. If

your database contains an If statement using Get(FilePath) that looks for a double-slash in a local

path, it will not evaluate correctly. These calculations should be edited manually after conversion

to reflect the new path syntax.

Results of Status(CurrentFilePath) function calls that are stored in a file before conversion are not

changed, but subsequent calls to Get(FilePath) after conversion are returned in the new format.

Japanese functions that are converted

The following Japanese functions are no longer supported and are converted as shown in the

following table:

You need to evaluate and possibly modify the parameters in converted Japanese functions that refer

to a starting position, ending position, or count of bytes as this information depended in previous

versions on the type of data (one-byte or two-byte) being evaluated, and these byte differences no

longer exist as of FileMaker 7.

Local path format in previous

versions of FileMaker Pro Local path format in FileMaker Pro 7

file://folder/filename file:/folder/filename

Japanese function in previous

versions of FileMaker Pro Function in FileMaker Pro 7

Leftb Left

Lengthb Length

Middleb Middle

Positionb Position

Replaceb Replace

Rightb Right

Changes that occur during conversion 49

Invalid characters and words in ﬁeld names used in calculations

In FileMaker Pro 7, certain characters and words can’t be used as field names. If reserved

characters or words are used in field names that are specified in calculations, during conversion the

entire field name is enclosed in ${

} characters in the calculation. Only field names used in

calculation definitions are enclosed in ${

} characters. This change has no effect on calculation

evaluation.

Note Text strings in calculations enclosed in quotation marks are not changed during conversion

and are treated as text literals.

Invalid characters and words

1 leading or trailing spaces

1 + - * / ^ & = ≠ < > ≤ ≥ ( , ; ) [ ] \" :: characters

1 AND, OR, XOR, NOT, TRUE, FALSE reserved words

In addition, field names can’t begin with a digit or a period or have the same name as a function,

parameter, or keyword.

Reserved words

Reserved words in FileMaker Pro 7 fall into the following categories:

1 Text parameters in calculation functions, such as “Cyrillic” in

TextFont("Plaid";"Arial";${Cyrillic})

1 Extended privilege keywords

1 Function names, such as “Pi” and “Random”

Note Although SQL keywords are not reserved, avoid using them as field names, especially if those

field names will be referenced in calculations.

Parameter separators in calculations

FileMaker Pro 7 no longer uses commas to separate parameters in calculations. During conversion,

comma separators are changed to semicolons. If FileMaker

Pro 7 is set to a language locale that

uses the comma as the list separator character (for example, English), you can type commas as

parameter separators when you are defining new calculations. The commas are changed to

semicolons when you save a calculation.

Change to rules for allowed parameters in Get functions

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, calculations could be entered as parameters in Status

functions (converted to Get functions in FileMaker

Pro 7), even if there was no logic behind the

calculation. If calculations were used as parameters in the database you are converting, after

conversion the entire calculation containing the function is commented out in the Specify

Calculation dialog box. To return results consistent with previous versions of FileMaker

Pro, you

must redefine the calculation.

FileMaker Pro 7 converts ﬁeld types as needed before processing calculations

Before processing, data is converted to the data types specified in the following tables. After

processing, calculations return the data type selected in the Specify Calculation dialog box. When

50 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

the calculation result is set to Text, non-textual results, such as dates and times, are set to the data

types listed in the following tables.

Previous versions of FileMaker Pro

The following table summarizes the field type of results returned from calculations when the

operands are fields of different type:

FileMaker Pro 7: Arithmetic calculations

Notes:

The field type returned has changed from previous versions of FileMaker Pro. For

example, in FileMaker

Pro 7, Date(3, 21,2003)+2 returns 3/23/2003 in date format. In

previous versions of FileMaker

Pro, the same calculation returns 731297, which is the

number of days since 1/1/0001.

FileMaker Pro 7 returns the numeric representation of dates and times.

Values are retained as time.

A container value converted to a number value always returns 0 (zero). If you want to

determine the size of an object stored in a container field, include the Length function in

the calculation.

Data is returned in number format to indicate number of days added or subtracted.

Dates are converted to seconds since 1/1/0001 when used with time and timestamp

data.

Any mathematical operator Text field Number field Date field Time field

Text field Text Number Number Number

Number field Number Number Number Number

Date field Date Date Date Date

Time field Time Time Time Time

+/-

Text field

Number

field

Date field

(days since

1/1/0001)

Time field

(seconds

since midnight)

Timestamp

field (seconds

since 1/1/0001)

Container

field

Text field Number Number Date

1, 2

Time

1, 2

Timestamp Number

Number field Number Number Date

1, 2

Time

1, 2

Timestamp Number

Date field

(days since 1/1/0001)

Date Date Number

1, 5

Timestamp

Time

1, 3, 6

Number

Time field

(seconds since

midnight)

Time Time Timestamp

Time Timestamp Number

Timestamp field

(seconds since

1/1/0001)

Timestamp Timestamp Time

1, 3, 6

Timestamp Time

1, 3

Number

Container field Number

Number

Changes that occur during conversion 51

FileMaker Pro 7: Comparison calculations

Notes:

When comparing a date value with a time or timestamp value, the date value is

converted to seconds since 1/1/0001, the time value is converted to seconds since

midnight and the timestamp value is converted to seconds since 1/1/0001 before the

comparison is made. In other comparisons involving date, time, and timestamp

values, the date value is converted to days since 1/1/0001, the time value is converted

to seconds since midnight, and the timestamp value is converted to seconds since 1/

1/0001before the comparison is made.

For = and < > comparisons, the Cyclic Redundancy Code (CRC) of the two

containers are compared. For other comparisons, the total size of the item stored in

the container objects is compared. This behavior differs from previous versions of

FileMaker

Pro.

When a container object is compared with a text value, the container object is

converted to text format. When the container object is imported as a reference, the

external path information of the container is used in the comparison. Otherwise, the

container is converted to a "?" (for security reasons), which is used in the comparison.

A container value converted to a number value always returns 0 (zero). If you want

to determine the size of an object stored in a container field, include the Length

function in the calculation.

When a time value is compared to a timestamp value, FileMaker Pro 7 returns

Invalid, because it isn’t useful to compare an elapsed time quantity such as a time with

the moment-in-time quantity such as a timestamp.

When one field type in a comparison operation is text and the other isn’t, values are

compared in text format because it allows FileMaker

Pro to compare as much data as

possible.

=, < >, <, >, <=, >=

Text

field

Number

field

Date field

(days since

1/1/0001)

Time field

(seconds

since midnight)

Timestamp

field (seconds

since 1/1/0001)

Container

field

Text field Text Text

Text

3, 6

Number field Text

Number Number Number Number Number

Date field

(days since 1/1/0001)

Text

Number Number Number

Number

Time field

(seconds since

midnight)

Text

Number Number

Number Invalid

Number

Timestamp field

(seconds since

1/1/0001)

Text

Number Number

Invalid

Number Number

Container field Text

3, 6

Number

Container

52 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Automatic conversion of date, time, and timestamp field types

FileMaker Pro 7 automatically converts data in date, time, and timestamp fields when they are used

together in a calculation so that durations can be determined. This allows you to return the number

of days, for example, between a date and a timestamp.

The following table summarizes how FileMaker Pro 7 automatically fills in data when field types

are converted to and from date, time, and timestamp formats when a calculation includes the

functions noted in the table.

Note When a value is automatically filled in, time is the number of seconds since midnight, a date

is the number of days since 1/1/0001, and a timestamp is the number of seconds since 1/1/0001.

Operator precedence in calculations

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro the +, - (minus), and & operators all had the same level of

precedence when calculations or expressions were evaluated. In FileMaker

Pro 7, the + and -

operators have higher precedence than the & operator. During conversion, parentheses are added to

existing calculations or expressions so that the evaluation order from previous versions of

FileMaker

Pro is retained.

Decimal precision in validated ﬁelds

Field and validation values must be identical to successfully validate the contents of a field. If the

Validated by calculation option is used, the calculation results must exactly match the contents of the

field being evaluated. For example, if a field contains

.3333333333333333 and is set to validate by

the calculation “

field = 1/3,” the data won’t pass validation in FileMaker Pro 7.

If you are validating fields by calculation that return fractional results, use the Round function to

limit calculation results to an expected number of digits.

Accelerated calculation evaluation

To enhance performance, FileMaker Pro 7 now evaluates only the portion of a calculation required

to determine a result. Functions that take advantage of accelerated evaluation are If, Case, and

Choose. Operators that use accelerated evaluation are AND and OR.

Example 1

If(2+2=4; “true”; “false”)

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, both result1 and result2 are evaluated. If external plug-in

functions calls are included in the “true” and the “false” conditions, evaluation of the results of both

calls are part of the evaluation of the full calculation statement (in other words, both calls to the

plug-in function are performed whether or not the test evaluates to be true or false).

Format of data provided

Hour function

Minute function

Second function

Day function

Month function

Year function

GetAsTimestamp

function

Time Auto-fill not needed invalid Auto-fill 1/1/0001

Data Auto-fill midnight Auto-fill not needed Auto-fill midnight

Timestamp Auto-fill not needed Auto-fill not needed Auto-fill not needed

Changes that occur during conversion 53

In FileMaker Pro 7, such calls to the external plug-in functions are executed based on the results of

the test; so in this example the “true” condition results in the call to the plug-in function, and the

“false” condition is skipped. This can result in unexpected behavior when the plug-in function is

not executed.

Accelerated evaluation will save time when calculations operate on very large datasets, especially

if either or both clauses deal with related fields. However, it could produce errors in files created

with previous versions of FileMaker

Pro if the database design expects a plug-in function to be

called as the result of the evaluation of the entire calculation.

Example 2

Consider the following example with calls to two different external functions:

If (External("Func1") and External("Func2"); "true"; "false")

In FileMaker Pro 7, if Func1 returns false then Func2 is not called. The second call is made only

when the first condition evaluates true. In previous versions of FileMaker

Pro, Func2 would be

called regardless of the result of Func1.

New rounding rules

Previous versions of FileMaker Pro used a floating-point method when rounding numbers, which

yielded results up to approximately 15 digits. FileMaker

Pro 7 uses a fixed-point method, which

allows up to 400 digits each to the left and right of the decimal point. The following examples

compare sample results from different versions of FileMaker

Pro:

New syntax for nested substitutions

The syntax for nesting Substitute functions in previous versions of FileMaker Pro was:

Substitute(Substitute(Substitute(…)))

FileMaker Pro 7 introduces the following new syntax, which evaluates faster and is easier to read:

Substitute(TextField; [“a”;”x”];[“b”;”y”];[“c”;”z”])

During conversion, nested Substitute function calls are changed to the new syntax, when possible.

However, when nested substitutes can’t be converted and syntax is left unchanged, they will

continue to evaluate properly in FileMaker

Pro 7.

Today function no longer supported

The Today function has been removed in FileMaker Pro 7. During conversion, files that contain the

Today function will be changed as follows:

1 If Today is used in an unstored calculation field or script, it is changed to Get(CurrentDate).

Expression Result in previous versions of FileMaker Pro Result in FileMaker Pro 7

126.96 - 119.29 7.66999999999999 7.67

4.1 - Int(4.1) .0999999999999996 .1

408.80 - 400.20 8.60000000000002 8.6

10000000000000000 + 10 10000000000000000 10000000000000010

54 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

1 If Today is used in a stored calculation, a new Date field named “Today” is created and the stored

calculation will reference it. The Today field has modified field options so that the creation date

is automatically entered in it. To achieve the same behavior that was provided by the Today

function in previous versions of FileMaker

Pro, a script is created during conversion named

“Update Today Field,” which will become part of the start-up script in the file and run when the

file is opened.

Text functions recognize text characters in number ﬁelds

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, text functions ignored alphabetic data in number fields, so

you couldn’t define a calculation that could access textual data in a numeric field. In

FileMaker

Pro 7, alphabetic data is recognized, so results of new calculations defined after

conversion might differ from what you expect.

Example 1

Suppose you have a number field that contains 123aV67. The function Middle(NumberField, 1, 6)

returns:

During conversion, functions are modified to return the same result that a previous version of

FileMaker

Pro would provide. In this example, the function call above would convert to

Middle(GetAsNumber(NumberField); 1; 6). The difference in evaluation between versions is

pointed out here so you know to make adjustments to calculations you create in FileMaker

Pro 7.

Example 2

Suppose a number fields contains “1 apple costs 20 cents.” In this case, the function

MiddleWords(NumberField, 1, 3) returns:

Functions that are dependent on context

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, the context (the starting point or perspective from which

calculations and scripts are begun) in which a calculation or script evaluated was static; only one

window could be open at a time, so the current context was always the open window.

In FileMaker Pro 7, which supports multiple open windows, calculations and scripts are dependent

on the context in which they evaluate. If a fixed context is assigned to a calculation in the Specify

Calculation dialog box or script definition, the calculation returns results based on that context. If

the same calculation is used in a script, as a script parameter, as a button parameter, in a Replace

By calculation, and so on, calculation results are dependent on the context of the current window.

This change in behavior could cause errors when existing calculations or scripts are converted

because they might execute in the wrong context (for example, the found set in an incorrect

window). Therefore, you might have to edit scripts and calculations to specify the window in which

they execute. Note that the Select Window, New Window, and Close window script steps affect the

context of execution for both scripts and calculations.

Previous versions of FileMaker Pro FileMaker Pro 7

12367 123aV6

Previous versions of FileMaker Pro FileMaker Pro 7

120 1 apple costs

Changes that occur during conversion 55

Window context could affect calculations in converted databases that call the following Get

functions:

Calculations that are fixed in FileMaker Pro 7 and unaffected by context include calculation fields,

auto-entry by calculations, field validation by calculations, and custom table privileges (Record

Level Access by calculation).

For more information about context and calculation evaluation, see “Defining calculation fields” in

the FileMaker

Pro 7 Help.

Functions that return ﬁlename extensions

The following functions no longer return filename extensions:

1 DatabaseNames

1 Get(FileName)

Results from converted records are not changed (filename extensions are displayed), but filename

extensions will not appear in any new records created after conversion.

Tip After conversion, you can change Get(FileName) calls in FileMaker Pro 7 as follows to make

filename extensions appear in results.

Let(possibleExtension = right(get(FilePath), 4), Get(FileName) &

if(left(possibleExtension, 1) = “.”, possibleExtension, “”))

Changes to the Mod function

In FileMaker Pro 7, the definition of the Mod function has changed. The new definition is:

Mod(x; 0) = x; Mod(x; y) = x - (y * Floor(x/y))

This definition gives the same results when both inputs are positive or both are negative.

Use the following syntax to achieve Mod results consistent with previous versions of

FileMaker Pro:

Case( y = 0; 1/0;

(x < 0) = (y < 0); Mod(x;y);

(x < 0); - Mod(Abs(x); y);

(y < 0); Mod(x; Abs(y)))

When the second parameter is positive, this reduces to:

if (x < 0; - Mod(Abs(x); y); Mod(x;y))

Get(RecordID) Get(TotalRecordCount) Get(FileName)

Get(RecordModificationCount) Get(SortState) Get(FileSize)

Get(RecordAccess) Get(AccountName) Get(HostName)

Get(RecordNumber) Get(ExtendedPrivileges) Get(MultiUserState)

Get(FoundCount) Get(FilePath) Get(PrivilegeSetName)

Get(UserCount)

56 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Numeric expressions with text input

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, when you specified textual parameters to functions that

expected numeric parameters, the result returned was blank. In FileMaker

Pro 7, the result is 0

(zero). During conversion, previously stored results remain blank, but any new results calculated

after conversion are 0. You may need to modify the calculation to get results consistent with the

previous version of FileMaker

Pro.

Boolean calculations

In FileMaker Pro 7, the following changes have been made to the way Boolean calculations

evaluate:

1 The logical operators AND, OR, XOR, and NOT return only Boolean results.

1 Boolean calculations return False when results are blank or 0 (zero), or do not resolve into a

number. All other results return True.

1 Boolean calculations that expect “T,” “Y,” “F,” or “N” to evaluate to 1 or 0 (zero), true or false

will not evaluate properly. For more information, see “Number fields” on page 43.

GetAsNumber function

In FileMaker Pro 7, if you reference a number, date, or time field as the parameter of a text function,

the full contents of the field are returned, including any text in the field. Therefore, in

FileMaker

Pro 7 you need to use the GetAsNumber function in the calculation specification to

change the field type of the parameter to number field type.

Example 1

During conversion, the GetAsNumber function is added automatically to the following functions

when they contain a number, date, time, or timestamp field as the parameter:

The GetAsNumber function is applied to the first parameter of these functions except the Exact,

Replace, and Substitute functions in which it is applied to multiple parameters.

Example 2

Syntax from previous versions of FileMaker Pro Syntax after conversion to FileMaker Pro 7

Left(NumberField,6) Left(GetAsNumber(NumberField); 6)

Left MiddleWords Proper Trim

Middle Exact PatternCount WordCount

Right Length Position TrimAll

LeftWords Lower Replace NumToJText

RightWords Upper Substitute

Syntax from previous versions of FileMaker Pro Syntax after conversion to FileMaker Pro 7

Exact (numberField1, numberField2) Exact (GetAsNumber(numberField1);

GetAsNumber(numberField2))

Changes that occur during conversion 57

Note If additional parameters are not number fields, the GetAsNumber function is not applied to

the Replace or Substitute functions.

If comparison operators (<, =, >, ≤, ≥, < >) are used in a calculation that requires the GetAsNumber

function, GetAsNumber is always added to the first and second parameters during conversion.

Get(LastError) function

In FileMaker Pro 7, the following error codes have been reassigned to a different error condition or

made obsolete. If the file you are converting uses the Get(LastError) function to capture any of

these codes, you might get unexpected results after conversion.

Error codes that have been redefined

Error codes that are no longer used in FileMaker Pro 7

1 305 Relationship or value list definitions are locked by another user

1 411 Cannot perform delete because related records cannot be deleted

1 512 Field failed single value validation test

1 701 Data Access Manager can't find database extension file

1 702 The Data Access Manager was unable to open the session

1 703 The Data Access Manager was unable to open the session; try later

1 704 Data Access Manager failed when sending a query

1 705 Data Access Manager failed when executing a query

1 712 XTND version is incompatible

1 713 Couldn't initialize the XTND system

1 818 FileMaker Pro cannot network for some reason

Get(UserName) function

In previous versions FileMaker Pro, the Get(UserName) function uses settings from the

Application Preferences (Preferences, in FileMaker

Pro 7). This value can easily be modified by a

user, so it can’t reliably be used to report activity associated with individual users.

In FileMaker Pro 7, the Get(AccountName) function is now available for files with accounts and

passwords. This function returns the account name authenticated when the user logs in to the

database with a valid account and password.

Error code Definition in previous version of FileMaker Pro Definition in FileMaker Pro 7

302 Record is in use by another user Data table is locked by another

user

303 Paper size is in use by another user Database schema is locked by

another user

304 Password definitions are in use by another user Layout is locked by another

user

58 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

If your file uses Get(UserName) to track user activities, you may want to change Get(UserName)

to Get(AccountName) after conversion to more accurately associate user activities with particular

accounts. For more see “Get(AccountName) function” and “About accounts, privilege sets, and

extended privileges” in the FileMaker

Pro 7 Help.

Rotated fields

When you edit data in a rotated field, FileMaker Pro temporarily displays the field unrotated while

you edit the data. FileMaker Pro 7 includes two changes to this behavior:

1 The location of the temporary unrotated field is now at the top-left corner of the field object,

which more clearly indicates the active field. In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, the location

of the unrotated field is at the vertical center of the object.

1 When you edit a rotated repeating field, FileMaker Pro 7 only unrotates the single repetition that

is being edited. Earlier versions of FileMaker

Pro would temporarily unrotate the entire field (all

the repetitions), which could cause display problems in certain cases.

In some converted files, you may need to make adjustments to rotated field objects in Layout mode.

Scripts

Many changes have been made to ScriptMaker

in FileMaker Pro 7. The following sections

describe changes during conversion that can affect scripts in files created using previous versions

of FileMaker

Pro.

Conversion of script steps

During conversion, if any of the following script steps exist in scripts defined in your file, they are

converted as described in the following table.

Script step in previous versions of FileMaker Pro Script step equivalent in FileMaker Pro 7

Close Close File

Copy All Records Copy All Records/Requests

Copy Record Copy Record/Request

Exit Record/Request Commit Records/Requests

Insert from Last Record Insert from Last Visited

New New File

Omit Multiple Omit Multiple Records

Open Open File

Open Application Preferences Open Preferences

Open Define Fields Open Define Database

Open Define Relationship Open Define Database

Open Document Preferences Open File Options

Open Hosts Open Remote

Changes that occur during conversion 59

Script step behavior

The following sections describe changed behavior in specific script steps and changes that take

place during file conversion.

Go To Layout script step

1 The Refresh option has been removed from the Go To Layout script step. During conversion, the

Refresh Window script step is added to scripts that previously included this option.

Open script step

The Open script step (changed to Open File during conversion) no longer opens a remote file unless

you have specified the file reference in FileMaker network path (FMNET) format (fmnet:/host IP

address/filename

). If you have used the Open script step to open remote files, change the file

reference to FMNET format or substitute the Open Remote script step for the Open script step after

conversion.

1 The Open File script step does not convert files created using a previous version of

FileMaker Pro to FileMaker Pro 7 format. Use the Convert File script step to open files created

in FileMaker 3.x, 4.x, 5.x or 6.

1 In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, a script that contained only an Open script step activated

the file that was opened. If any script steps followed the Open script step, the file that called the

script became active.

In FileMaker Pro 7, the file opened by the Open File script step remains active while the script

runs. The following calculation will simulate the behavior of previous versions of

FileMaker Pro, bringing the window that called the script forward:

Open File [“<filename>”]

Select Window [Current Window]

Be sure to verify that the proper layout is activated when you test your script.

Quit Application (Mac OS) Exit Application

Recover Recover File

Relookup Contents Go to Field plus Relookup Field Contents

Replace Contents Go to Field plus Replace Field Contents

Send Apple Event Send Event

Send Message (Windows) Send Event

Show Message Show Custom Dialog

Show Omitted Show Omitted Only

Sort Sort Records

Toggle Status Area Show/Hide Status Area

Toggle Text Ruler Show/Hide Text Ruler

Toggle Window Adjust Window

Script step in previous versions of FileMaker Pro Script step equivalent in FileMaker Pro 7

60 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

1 Windows: The Open Minimized option in the Open File script step has been changed to Open

Hidden.

Perform Find script step

During conversion, options for the Perform Find script step are changed. The new options differ

depending on whether or not the scripts stores found sets.

When a script stores found sets, options are changed as follows:

When a script doesn’t store find results, options are changed as follows:

Perform Script script step

1 The Perform sub-script option in the Perform Script step has been removed from

FileMaker Pro 7. When you use the Perform Script step in FileMaker Pro 7, any included

subscripts are always executed.

1 When necessary, previous versions of FileMaker Pro would automatically change the active

window after running a script. This automatic windowing behavior is no longer supported

because FileMaker Pro 7 supports a new Select Window script step, which script writers can use

to set the active window.

To emulate the behavior of previous versions, during file conversion FileMaker Pro 7

automatically inserts Select Window script steps after certain Perform Script and Go to Related

Record script steps. However, to achieve the windowing behavior you actually want, you may

need to insert additional Select Window script steps, or even remove some of the Select Window

script steps that were inserted automatically during file conversion.

Go to Related Record script step

1 During conversion, the relationship name specified for the Go To Related Record script step is

replaced with the related table occurrence that was also created during conversion. Current

layout is always set as the option for the Show records using layout parameter. If the previous

relationship pointed to a table occurrence in another file, then Use external table’s layouts is also

selected. If Show only related records was set in the original file, it is also set in the converted

file.

1 After each Go to Related Record script step that refers to an external layout and is not followed

immediately by another external Go to Related Record step, FileMaker Pro 7 either:

Option name in previous versions of FileMaker Pro Option name in FileMaker Pro 7

Perform Find [Restore, Replace Found Set] Perform Find [Restore]

Perform Find [Restore, Constrain Found Set] Constrain Found Set [Restore]

Perform Find [Restore, Extend Found Set] Extend Found Set [Restore]

Option name in previous versions of FileMaker Pro Option name in FileMaker Pro 7

Perform Find [Replace Found Set] Perform Find [ ]

Perform Find [Constrain Found Set] Constrain Found Set [ ]

Perform Find [Extend Found Set] Extend Found Set [ ]

Changes that occur during conversion 61

1 adds a Select Window[Current Window] script step, or

1 adds a Select Window["name of external file"] script step if this is the last step in the script

(not counting Comment, End If, and End Loop).

Refresh Window script step

The Bring To Front option in the Refresh Window script step has been removed from

FileMaker

Pro 7. During conversion, the Select Window script step is added to scripts that

previously had this option specified.

Revert Records/Requests script step

Changes to related records are committed (saved) differently in FileMaker Pro 7 than they were in

previous versions of FileMaker

Pro, so reverting behavior has changed as well. See the

FileMaker

Pro 7 Help for more information on committing records.

Save a Copy As script step

During conversion, the Compressed (smaller) option is changed to Compacted (smaller).

Compacted (smaller) removes unused sections of files, which can include deleted records.

Activities due to normal operation of a file may reclaim the space that was previously used for

deleted records.

Toggle Text Ruler script step

The Refresh Window option has been removed from the Toggle Text Ruler script step. During

conversion, the Refresh Window script step is added to scripts that previously specified this option.

Import Records and Export Records script steps

During conversion, field-based options for the Import Records script step are converted to

calculation-based options in FileMaker Pro 7. If you are importing from an ODBC source, query

syntax is displayed in the Specify ODBC Query dialog box when the script runs.

After conversion, if you import from an XML source, be aware that field-based calculations are

evaluated when the script runs and the results (which can include user name and password) can

appear in the HTTP edit box. To suppress the display of this information, use the No dialog option

with the Import Records script step.

The Import Records and Export Records script steps that were web-compatible in

FileMaker

Pro Unlimited are not web-compatible in FileMaker Pro 7. Instead, a web-compatible

subset of script steps are available for web-published database hosted by FileMaker

Pro 7

(FileMaker Networking) or FileMaker

Server 7 Advanced.

Print Setup and Print script steps (Windows)

Printer settings may not convert properly in Windows. After conversion, check settings in scripts

that use the Print Setup and Print script steps. For more information, see “Printer settings

(Windows)” on page 42.

Miscellaneous scripting changes

The following changes have been made to scripting functionality.

62 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Script behavior changes due to multi-table support

Because previous versions of FileMaker Pro supported only one table per file, by default scripts

were executed on the “current” table, which was the table from the current file. FileMaker

Pro 7

supports multiple tables per file and each layout is specifically associated with a “base table.”

(When you define the layout, the base table is set in the

Show records from tablename menu.)

Each window is associated with a specific layout and because multiple windows may be open, if a

script doesn’t reference a window in a Select Window script step or a layout in a Go To Layout

script step, the script executes on the current window (window in the foreground), which

determines the associated table. If there is no window currently open, the script opens a window for

the current table.

For more information, see “Functions that are dependent on context” on page 54.

Script names have been shortened

In FileMaker Pro 7, script names are limited to 100 characters. During conversion, any script names

over this limit are truncated. Shortened names have no effect on script functionality.

If a script name contains more than 100 characters and is referenced externally (such as from an

AppleScript or via a URL using the -script query string parameter), you should update the external

references to the script to reflect the new script name or refer to the script ID.

Focus when displaying sorted data in found sets

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, the focus of sorted data in a found set was the first record in

the found set. In FileMaker

Pro 7, the current record is the focus, so the data displayed after a sort

operation called by a script could differ from the data displayed by previous versions.

To simulate the behavior of previous versions of FileMaker Pro, a Go To Record/Request/Page

[First] script step is now placed after every Sort script step when a file is converted.

Sorting empty found sets

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, using the Sort Records, Omit Records, or Omit Multiple

Records script steps to sort an empty found set returned error code 3, “Command is unavailable.”

In FileMaker

Pro 7, sorting an empty found set no longer returns an error.

Locking records when scripts run

In FileMaker Pro 7, making a field active does not lock its record. For example, if you used the Go

To Field script step in previous versions of FileMaker

Pro to lock records, records won’t be locked

when your script executes in FileMaker

Pro 7. After conversion, you can use the Open Record/

Request and Commit Records/Requests script steps in such scripts to achieve the result from

previous versions of FileMaker

Pro.

Example

Open Record/Request

Set Field [x, “abc”]

Set Field [y, “abc”]

Set Field [z, “abc”]

Set Field [xxx, “abc”]

Set Field [yyy, “abc”]

Changes that occur during conversion 63

Set Field [zzz, “abc”]

Commit Records/Requests[without dialog]

For more information, see “Open Record/Request script step” in the FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

Using scripts to create related records in portals

In FileMaker Pro 7, when you create a related record in a portal via a script, you must create the

related record first by entering a non-related value before specifying a related value.

Example

Suppose you have two related tables: TableA and TableB. TableB has a layout with a portal

showing related records from TableA and you want to use a script to create a new record in the

portal and enter a related value from TableB.

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro: You could use the following script to achieve this:

Go to Portal to Portal Row [Last]

Set Field ["TableA::data_field"; "TableB::data_field"]

In FileMaker Pro 7: This script is invalid as no reference exists to the related data you are attempting

to enter until after the related record has been created. This script will create a new related record,

but the record will not contain the related data you want to enter. The following script could be used

instead:

Go to Portal to Portal Row [Last]

Set Field ["TableA::data_field"; "null"]

# 'null' is temporary data

Go to Field [TableA::data_field]

Set Field ["TableA::data_field"; "TableB::data_field"]

This script creates the related record with non-related data (“null”) first, then replaces the null value

with the related data you specified in TableB (TableB::data_field).

Pause/Resume time is converted to seconds

Previous versions of FileMaker Pro allowed you to specify a pause time length in hours, minutes,

and/or seconds. During conversion, pause time durations are converted using the Time function,

which returns time values in hours, minutes, and seconds.

Script steps that reference files

If your database contains any script steps that reference files on remote computers (for example,

Open File or Open Define Database), make sure that the file references are in FileMaker network

path (FMNET) format (fmnet:/

host IP address/filename).

Capturing error codes in scripts

If you have used the Status(CurrentError) function to capture error codes in scripts, be aware that

some codes from previous versions of FileMaker

Pro have been reassigned to a different error

condition or made obsolete. For a complete list of FileMaker

Pro 7 error codes, see “Get(LastError)

function” in the FileMaker

Pro 7 Help.

64 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Some script step options convert to calculations

Many script steps in FileMaker Pro 7 now allow you to derive script step options from the result of

a calculation. For example, the options for the Send Mail script step can now be text, a field value,

or the result of a calculation. During the conversion of these script steps, the text and field options

convert to calculations that return the required text or field value. Though formatted as a

calculation, these options return the same results, and their script steps should function the same as

they did in the previous version.

Performing a script when a file opens

Although startup scripts are typically performed the first time you open a file, these scripts can also

be triggered when you open a window for a hidden file previously opened via a script or

relationship.

To ensure that a startup script is performed just once per database session, preface your startup

script with a conditional script step, and use a global field to record this condition once the script

has been performed. Reset this condition with a script that runs when you close the file.

Performing a script when a file closes

In the File Options dialog box, you can specify a script to run when the file is closed. This script is

performed when the last open window of the file is closed. The script will run even if the file itself

remains open, for example if it is referenced by another file with open windows. The closing script

will be performed each time the last open window of the specified file is closed.

ScriptMaker support improved in multi-user/multi-session situations

ScriptMaker has been revised to better support multi-user/multi-session execution in

FileMaker Pro and in files published to the web with FileMaker Server Advanced. Web

compatibility of script steps can now be shown in the Edit Script dialog box. For more information,

see FileMaker

Pro 7 Help, the FileMaker Instant Web Publishing Guide, and the FileMaker Server

Advanced Custom Web Publishing Guide.

Ensuring user access to subscripts in web-compatible scripts

A user’s ability to execute scripts and subscripts is now affected by data access and design

privileges for scripts. After conversion, users may not have privileges to run all subscripts in scripts

they are authorized to execute. You may need to consider setting main scripts to run with Full

Access privileges so subscripts can be executed on behalf of the user logged in, or you may need

to change user privileges so individuals can run appropriate subscripts.

Changes that occur during conversion 65

The scripts steps in which access might be restricted to subscripts are:

For more information, see “Access privileges” on page 31 and “About accounts, privilege sets, and

extended privileges” in the FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

Changes to databases that are published to the web

Support for web publishing has changed significantly in FileMaker Pro 7.

The following issues apply to files published using Instant Web Publishing or Custom Web

Publishing:

1 The FileMaker Pro Web Companion plug-in is no longer supported. Instant Web Publishing and

Custom Web Publishing settings don’t convert and must be set up in the converted file.

1 The URL syntax has changed for web-published solutions.

1 If you manually created a link to access a FileMaker solution over the web, you must update the

link after converting and sharing the file over the web.

1 If a script name contains more than 100 characters and is referenced externally (such as from an

AppleScript or via a URL using the -script query string parameter), you should update the

external references to the script to reflect the new, shorter script name. For more information, see

“Script names have been shortened” on page 62.

1 Plug-ins written to work with FileMaker Pro 6 Unlimited (and earlier) and FileMaker Pro 7 do

not automatically work when using web publishing with FileMaker

Server Advanced and the

Web Publishing Engine. Check with the plug-in vendor to see if a plug-in supports these

environments. For more information about conversion issues and plug-ins, see

“Plug-ins” on

page 75.

1 ScriptMaker has been revised to better support multi-user/multi-session execution in

FileMaker

Pro and FileMaker Server Advanced. For more information, see “ScriptMaker

support improved in multi-user/multi-session situations” on page 64.

1 More than 70 web-compatible script steps are supported by FileMaker Pro 7 and a few script

steps, such as the Import Records and Export Records script steps, are no longer supported (see

“Import Records and Export Records script steps” on page 61). Select Indicate web compatibility

in the Edit Script dialog box to see which scripts are web-compatible in FileMaker Pro 7.

1 The Web Security Database is no longer supported. If you relied on it for web-based security,

you must set up the accounts, passwords, and privilege sets for users in your converted database

files. For more information, see

“Defining accounts and privilege sets for files protected by the

Web Security Database” on page 69.

For information about how web publishing privileges convert, see “Groups” on page 32.

Import Records Close File Send DDE Execute

Export Records Print Execute SQL

Open File Send Mail Send Event

66 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

1 In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, the Status(CurrentWebSharing) function returns 1 when

the Web Companion plug-in is enabled and active. In FileMaker

Pro 7, this function converts to

the following formula, which returns 1 if the script or calculation containing this formula is being

evaluated for a user accessing the file via the web:

(Position( Get(ApplicationVersion ); "Web"; 1; 1 ) > 0)

The results of calculations based on Status(CurrentWebSharing) will return slightly different

information in converted files that now use the formula above. Calculations that relied on

Status(CurrentWebSharing) were typically trying to determine if the database was being

published to the web in an indirect manner; the results of this function indicated whether or not

the database had been opened with a password that allowed data export and whether the Web

Companion plug-in was enabled. The formula can determine specifically if a request to execute

a script came via a web user request or another user action.

1 Folders containing static content (such as images stored by reference in a container field) might

need to be relocated when moving databases from FileMaker

Pro to FileMaker Server

Advanced. Folders located under the Web folder need to be moved to the appropriate location

on the IIS or Apache HTTP server. For more information, see the

FileMaker Server Advanced

Web Publishing Installation Guide

Instant Web Publishing

Setup has changed

The setup and user access of files published to the web with Instant Web Publishing has changed

in FileMaker Pro 7. Therefore, conversion is not possible and you need to set up web publishing

again. For more information, see the

FileMaker Instant Web Publishing Guide.

Custom Web Publishing

The following changes have been made to Custom Web Publishing. For more information, see the

FileMaker Server Advanced Custom Web Publishing Guide, included with FileMaker Server

Advanced.

FileMaker Server Advanced-based versus client- based

You need FileMaker Pro 7 to create the databases and set up the extended privileges for Custom

Web Publishing. You need FileMaker

Server 7 Advanced and the Web Publishing Engine to host

databases and make them available on the web.

CDML is no longer supported

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro, Custom Web Publishing required that databases use format

files written in the FileMaker CDML mark-up language, which dynamically generated HTML-

based pages for web users. FileMaker

Server 7 Advanced supports Custom Web Publishing of

FileMaker

Pro 7 databases with server-based XSLT style sheets, which filter and format XML data.

XML can generate HTML, which can be viewed using a web browser or transformed to XML

grammar for use by other programs and applications.

You can use the FileMaker CDML Converter, included with FileMaker Server Custom Web

Publishing, to change CDML format files to XSLT stylesheets after you convert your databases to

FileMaker

Pro 7.

Changes that occur during conversion 67

Inbound links need to be modified

Pages within your web site that reference (link to) Custom Web Published solutions need to be

updated after file conversion, including URLs that directly reference the published database. Links

must be updated to use the new URL syntax and the new request query parameters. Be sure to check

scripts in other FileMaker

Pro databases that launch a browser to access a Custom Web Published

database or that use XML Import via HTTP to bring data from a web-published database into a local

database.

Movies in FileMaker Pro 3.x or earlier

If a movie file that was imported using FileMaker Pro 3.x or earlier is encountered during

conversion, it is changed to an embedded image in the converted file.

Schedule settings in FileMaker Server

When you open converted files using FileMaker Server 7, no schedule information defined in

previous versions of FileMaker

Server is retained. You must manually redefine schedules in

FileMaker

Server 7.

Runtime solution files bound by the FileMaker Developer Tool

Converted files bound by a previous version of FileMaker Developer (for example, as a runtime

solution or set to Kiosk mode), must be rebound using FileMaker

Developer 7. Contact the solution

developer for rebound copies of your solution files.

Important You should not convert a bound runtime solution unless you have the master password,

because you won’t be able to make modifications to the file after conversion. For more information,

see

“Access privileges” on page 31.

68 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Chapter 5

Deﬁning accounts and privilege sets for ﬁles

protected by the Web Security Database

The Web Security Database released with previous versions of FileMaker Pro is not supported by

FileMaker

Pro 7. User definitions and field restrictions formerly stored in the Web Security

Database must be set up in converted database files you plan to publish on the World Wide Web.

There are two ways to transfer user information stored in your Web Security Database:

1 You can manually create accounts and assign access privileges in a converted file.

1 You can use ScriptMaker to create accounts in a converted file based on information in an

existing Web Security Database and then assign privileges manually. In general, if you need to

create accounts for more than 25 users and you are comfortable using ScriptMaker, it makes

sense to automate account creation using a script.

Considering security for FileMaker Pro 7 databases

FileMaker Pro 7 introduces many changes and improvements to database access and security. For

information about how database access has changed in FileMaker

Pro, see “Access privileges” on

page 31. Before you transfer information from your Web Security Database, consider whether you

can take advantage of security improvements offered by FileMaker Pro 7.

To evaluate current security options:

1. Learn about security options and recommendations for FileMaker Pro 7. For information, see:

1 “Protecting databases with accounts and privilege sets” in FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

1 the FileMaker Security Guide

2. Examine the user permission settings in your current Web Security Database and plan for

setting up equivalents in FileMaker Pro 7.

Previous versions of FileMaker Pro defined user permissions by password and group. In

FileMaker

Pro 7, all access permissions are defined in accounts and privilege sets. For more

information about how to plan file access in FileMaker

Pro 7, see the next section.

3. Think about user access privileges that you will need going forward and determine if security

improvements in FileMaker Pro 7 allow you to define them now.

Planning secure access for files published on the web

For each database file you plan to convert:

1. Analyze the list of users and user permissions defined for the file in your Web Security

Database.

An easy way to list user records is to view all records as a table. Open the Web Users_ file,

choose

View menu> View as Table, and resize columns to display all information for each user.

Tip You can print the list by choosing File menu > Print.

2. Analyze all of the field restrictions defined for the file in your Web Security Database.

70 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Again, you can view field restriction records as a table and print it. Open the Web Fields_ file,

choose View menu > View as Table, resize columns to display field restriction settings for each

file defined in Web Fields_, and choose

File menu > Print.

3. Examine the existing user records in your Web Security Database.

1 Review existing user records and delete any that are no longer in use.

1 Determine why user records were set up this way and how they are being used by the database.

For example, are settings for multiple users identical? If so, the collection of users represents

a “group” in previous versions of FileMaker

Pro, which can be translated into a privilege set

shared by separate users in FileMaker

Pro 7.

1 Decide how many unique accounts you will need.

1 Consider the number of accounts you had and decide if it makes sense to create them manually

in converted files or to use ScriptMaker to create accounts. If you need to create accounts for

more than 25 users and you are comfortable using ScriptMaker, it makes sense to automate

account creation using a script.

Note ScriptMaker can create accounts and assign privilege sets for you, but you must create

privilege sets in FileMaker Pro 7 manually before you run the script.

4. Examine the existing field restrictions defined for each file in your Web Security Database.

Field restriction settings need to be defined as access privileges in converted databases.

5. Make a comprehensive list of the new privilege sets you need for all users.

1 Identify the specific access rules needed for each privilege set. The new access privileges in

FileMaker Pro 7 offer an integrated security method, without requiring maintenance of the

separate Web Security Database. You can restrict access by table, by record, by layout, on

value lists, on scripts, on how files are shared (extended privilege sets), or by certain features

such as printing, exporting data, or requiring users to change passwords regularly (other

privileges). For more information, see “Creating new privilege sets” in FileMaker

Pro 7 Help.

Note Access privileges apply to one file, so all tables need to be located in one file. If you have

converted a relational file, you may want to combine tables into one file prior to setting up

accounts and privilege sets.

1 Try to come up with privilege sets that can be shared by users who have the same access

restrictions. You will need separate privilege sets if you need to restrict access to certain areas

of a database for some users and not for others.

Note The field restrictions Don’t Search and Exact Update that were available in the Web

Security Database are not supported in FileMaker

Pro 7.

6. Create a comprehensive list of all users that assigns the required privilege sets to each user

account (user account and privilege worksheet).

Important Because this worksheet contains complete user log in information, it’s important to

keep it confidential.

7. Decide whether you are going to create accounts manually (see the next section) or use a script

to create accounts in your converted database file (see “Using ScriptMaker to create new

accounts”).

Defining accounts and privilege sets for files protected by the Web Security Database 71

Creating new accounts manually

To create new accounts manually:

1. Complete the tasks listed in “Planning secure access for files published on the web” above.

2. Follow the instructions in this guide to convert your database file.

For more information, see “Converting your database files” on page 19.

3. Create the required privilege sets you identified during planning.

For more information, see “Creating new privileges” in FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

4. Create an account for each user listed in your user account and privilege worksheet.

For more information, see “Creating accounts” in FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

5. Test user accounts and privilege sets before making the converted file available to users. See

the FileMaker Instant Web Publishing Guide for testing suggestions.

Using ScriptMaker to create new accounts

Note A script can create accounts in your database file and assign privilege sets to them, but you

must create privilege sets manually.

To use a script to transfer account information from your Web Security Database:

List users and assign privilege sets.

Complete the tasks listed in “Planning secure access for files published on the web” on page 69.

Convert your database and your Web Security Database to FileMaker Pro 7 format.

Follow the instructions in this guide to convert your file and the Web Security Database. For more

information, see “Converting your database files” on page 19.

Set up your database to accept user information from the Web Security Database.

Before you can bring over account information stored in your Web Security Database, you need to

make the following changes to your converted database file:

1 Define a file reference to the Web Users_.fp7 file. This file reference will appear as a table

occurrence in the relationships graph in your converted file.

1 Add a layout named Web Users_ that shows records from the Web Users_.fp7 table occurrence.

This layout helps you verify the information the script transfers from Web Users_.fp7.

1 Create the privilege sets in your database file that you will need to assign to the new accounts

after you run the script.

1. Open your converted database file, choose File menu > Define > Database, then click the

Relationships tab to display the relationships graph.

2. Click Add Table .

3. In the Specify Table dialog box, click the File list, choose Add File Reference, locate and select

Web Users_.fp7, click Open, and then click OK to close the Specify Table dialog box.

A table occurrence for Web Users_.fp7 appears in the relationships graph.

4. Click OK to close the Define Database dialog box.

72 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

5. Use the New Layout/Report Assistant to create a new layout in your database file. Click Move

All

to create fields on the layout for all fields in Web Users_.fp7.

For information about creating layouts, see “Creating a layout” in FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

6. Create the privilege sets you identified during planning.

For more information, see “Creating new privileges” in FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

Create a script to transfer user information from Web Users_.fp7

Write a script to create accounts in your database file based on the user records in Web Users_.fp7.

For more information about scripting, see “Creating and editing scripts using ScriptMaker” in

FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

Example script

The following script navigates to the first record in Web Users_.fp7, then creates an account in your

database file for every user record in Web Users_.fp7. When information from all records has been

transferred, the script returns to the layout displayed before it ran and informs you that it is finished.

Note This script assigns the Read Only Access privilege set to all accounts. If a large percentage of

users share the same privilege set, you could name that privilege set in the script and manually

modify privileges for the accounts that require a different privilege set after you run the script. Or,

you could modify the script adding If and Else script steps to assign the correct custom privilege

sets to each account. If you plan to assign custom privilege sets using a script, you must define them

before you run this script.

Go to Layout ["Web Users_" (Web Users_)]

Go to Record/Request/Page

[First]

Loop

Add Account [Account Name: Web Users_::User Name; Password:

Web Users_::Password; Privilege Set: "[Read-Only Access]"]

Exit Loop If [Get (RecordNumber) = Get (FoundCount)]

Go to Record/Request/Page

[Next; Exit after last]

End Loop

Go to Layout [original layout]

Beep

Show Custom Dialog [Message: "Done."; Buttons: "OK"]

Run the script to transfer user information from Web Users_.fp7

1. Run the script to create accounts in your database file.

Note Account names must be unique. If you have duplicate account names defined in your Web

Security Database, FileMaker Pro displays an error when this script runs and does not create

duplicate accounts.

Defining accounts and privilege sets for files protected by the Web Security Database 73

2. If you used the script above without modifying it to assign specific privilege sets, use the user

account and privilege worksheet you created earlier to assign the correct privilege set to each

account.

For more information, see “Editing existing accounts” in FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

3. Test user accounts and privilege sets before making the converted file available to users. See

the FileMaker Instant Web Publishing Guide for testing suggestions.

Tip The example provided here shows one method of using ScriptMaker to automate account

creation. Depending on how your database is used, you might consider letting users create their own

accounts via a script when they log in the first time. By using the Add Account script step and global

text fields on a designated layout, you can create a script that allows users to add an account

assigned to a default privilege set you define. Afterwards, you could reassign privilege sets, if

needed. For more information about scripting, see “Creating and editing scripts using ScriptMaker”

in FileMaker

Pro 7 Help.

74 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

Chapter 6

Considerations for associated ﬁles

and

interfaces

If the database you are converting uses associated files and technologies (such as plug-ins), be

aware of the following changes to how these technologies interact with FileMaker Pro 7.

Security improvements require reconfiguration of associated files

External interfaces, Apple events, and ActiveX are directly affected by the new security model in

FileMaker Pro 7 and must be reconfigured after file conversion to connect to a FileMaker database

using both account and password information. For more information, see

“Access privileges” on

page 31 and “About accounts, privilege sets, and extended privileges” in FileMaker Pro 7 Help.

Starting FileMaker Pro using a URL

You use a URL to start FileMaker Pro and open a shared remote database (for example, in a

hyperlink on a web page or in a FileMaker

Pro script that includes the Open URL script step). The

syntax for starting FileMaker

Pro via URL has changed in FileMaker Pro 7 and now requires you

provide both account and password information.

Example

For more information, see “Opening shared databases remotely using a URL” in FileMaker Pro 7

Help.

References to objects whose names were changed during conversion

During conversion, object names (such as relationship names) that use reserved words, or field

names that use invalid characters are modified slightly so they will evaluate properly in

FileMaker

Pro 7. If renamed objects are referenced by files that interact with a converted database,

the object name must be modified in the reference as well. For more information, see

“Reserved

words” on page 49 and “Invalid characters and words in field names used in calculations” on

page 49.

Plug-ins

Ensure external functions and plug-ins have been verified for use with FileMaker Pro 7,

FileMaker

Server 7, or the FileMaker Server Advanced Web Publishing Engine. The same plug-ins

that work with FileMaker Pro 6 in Mac

OS X or Windows 2000 should be compatible with

FileMaker

Pro 7, though they will not take advantage of new features in version 7.

In previous versions of FileMaker Pro In FileMaker Pro 7

FMP5://[email protected]/

My+Addresses.fp5

FMP7:MyAccount:[email protected]/

My+Addresses.fp7

76 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

If you acquired plug-ins that were developed by a third-party vendor, contact the vendor for detailed

compatibility information, or to find out if the vendor has a new version that takes advantage of

FileMaker

Pro 7 features.

If you are a plug-in developer, verify plug-in behavior and functionality with FileMaker Pro 7.

1 Plug-ins that depend on more than the plug-in API compatibility may not function properly with

FileMaker Pro. For example, in some cases plug-ins may attempt to use undocumented

interfaces and make assumptions about behaviors that have changed in this version. For

information about developing plug-ins for FileMaker

Pro 7, see the FileMaker Developer

Developer’s Guide

1 Plug-ins written to work with FileMaker Pro 6 Unlimited (and earlier) and FileMaker Pro 7 do

not automatically work when using web publishing with FileMaker Server Advanced and the

Web Publishing Engine. Check with the plug-in vendor to see if a plug-in supports these

environments.

1 Accelerated evaluation in FileMaker Pro 7 could produce errors in files created with previous

versions of FileMaker

Pro if a plug-in expects complete evaluation. For more information, see

“Accelerated calculation evaluation” on page 52.

1 For information about where to install plug-ins required for web publishing in FileMaker Pro 7,

see the

FileMaker Server Advanced Web Publishing Installation Guide.

LDAC and RDAC changed to ODBC/JDBC and FileMaker Server

Advanced

Sharing information with other applications (Windows)

The Local Data Access Companion (LDAC) and the Remote Data Access Companion (RDAC) are

no longer supported. In addition, database access is now controlled through accounts, privilege sets,

and extended privilege sets rather than groups and passwords.

If a database you are converting used LDAC or RDAC to share information from an ODBC data

source, sharing settings and user group and password settings need to be redefined manually in

FileMaker

Pro 7 for use with ODBC/JDBC.

Note FileMaker Pro 7 support for ODBC/JDBC allows access to your database on the local

computer. If you used RDAC to access information from data sources on computers over a network,

you now need FileMaker

Server 7 Advanced. For more information, see the FileMaker Server

Administrator’s Guide

After conversion:

1 Enable the database for sharing via ODBC/JDBC (Edit menu > Sharing > ODBC/JDBC).

1 Make sure user accounts that access the database have the extended privilege Access via ODBC/

JDBC

1 If your database was previously protected with a password, you need to update the application

using ODBC/JDBC to access your database using an account name and password.

For more information, see “Access privileges” on page 31 and “Sharing FileMaker Pro data via

ODBC or JDBC (Windows)” in the FileMaker Pro 7 Help or the FileMaker ODBC and JDBC

Developer's Guide

Considerations for associated files and interfaces 77

Accessing ODBC data sources

Drivers used with previous versions of FileMaker Pro to access information from a data source

should work properly with FileMaker

Pro 7. However, users won’t be able to use updated ODBC

drivers for FileMaker

Pro 7 unless you redefine your data sources to use your new driver. For more

information, see “Accessing ODBC data sources using FileMaker Pro” in the FileMaker

Pro 7 Help

or see the

Installing FileMaker ODBC and JDBC Client Drivers guide. If your database uses a

script to import information from an ODBC source, see

“Import Records and Export Records script

steps” on page 61.

ActiveX library renamed

ActiveX solutions should convert and function properly to FileMaker Pro 7. The only significant

change in FileMaker

Pro 7 is that the ActiveX library has been renamed from FMPRO50Lib to

FMPRO70Lib. After conversion, you must manually create an instance of FileMaker

Pro in Visual

Basic as follows:

Dim FMProApp As FMPRO70Lib.Application

Note To support the new access privilege model in FileMaker Pro 7, the

Documents.Open(filename As String, password As String) method has been changed

to Documents.Open(filename As String, accountName As String, password As

String). If the accountName and password parameters are empty, the file is opened by the Guest

account.

Apple event changes in FileMaker Pro 7 (Mac OS)

FileMaker Pro 7 has changed its Apple event support to accommodate multiple database tables per

file and other new features. In general, because all FileMaker

Pro 6 and earlier files are converted

as single table files, an AppleScript created to work with FileMaker

Pro 6 files will continue to

work once those files have been converted to FileMaker

Pro 7. However, you will probably need

to modify existing AppleScripts as database files are modified to use multiple tables and other new

features in FileMaker

Pro 7.

For a complete description of Apple event support in FileMaker Pro 7, see the FileMaker Pro Apple

Events Reference database, located in FileMaker

Pro 7/English Extras/Apple Events/

Apple

Events Reference.fp7.

The following is a summary of the major changes to Apple event support in FileMaker Pro 7.

78 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

New object model

FileMaker Pro 7 uses the following object model for Apple events:

FileMaker Pro provides default containment, a set of default conditions to make scripts shorter and

to determine which objects to use if none are specified.

Changes to functionality

New "table" object

A new object, table, has been added to the object model to support the multiple database tables

per file that are possible in FileMaker Pro 7. This new table object has the constant value

cFMTable.

The fields in the table object cFMTable correspond to the actual fields defined in the table. Fields

are expressed as belonging to the object cColumn. The records cRow correspond to the total

number of records in the same table. However, the fields in the layout object cTable correspond

only to the fields cColumn defined in that layout and the records cRow correspond to the number of

records in the found set for that layout.

When this object has not been specified FileMaker Pro substitutes this object

layout current table

table table 1

record 1 of document 1 record 1 of table 1 of document 1

Application

cApplication

cMenu

Menu Item

cMenuItem

Document

cDocument

Database

cDatabase

FileMaker Script

cFileMakerScript

Table

cFMTable

Window

cWindow

Layout

cTable

Request

cRequest

Row/Record

cRow

Column/Field

cColumn

Cell

cCell

Repetition

cRepetition

“Layout 0”

Considerations for associated files and interfaces 79

Earlier versions of FileMaker Pro (version 6.x and earlier) defined a special layout, layout 0, a

layout with a 0 index, to give the scripter access to the single table for a database. FileMaker Pro 7

still supports the layout 0 concept for backward compatibility, but layout 0 can only be used to

represent table 1 of the database.

Using 0 as the index for layouts generates an object specifier to table 1 of a FileMaker Pro database.

The value of the

pKind property of a cFMTable object is table, and view for cTable (layout). To

access fields of other tables, use the table object cFMTable instead. For clarity and forward

compatibility, it is recommended that you convert existing scripts to use the table object instead of

layout 0.

The cColumn elements of a cTable object correspond to the fields appearing on a FileMaker Pro

layout, while the cColumn elements of a cFMTable object correspond to the fields as they appear

in the Define Database dialog box for that table. To view fields for a table, choose File menu >

Define

> Database, click the Fields tab, and select the table from the table pop-up menu.

Note cTable, the constant value for layout objects used in the previous versions of FileMaker Pro,

is still supported. The mapping of the layout object to

cTable has not changed.

New "window" object

FileMaker Pro 7 supports the ability to view multiple windows per document. When you reference

a window by index (

window 1, window 2, and so on ), then windows will be considered to be

organized according to their order on screen. For example, if window 1 is the foreground window,

window 2 is the window behind the foreground window, and so on, regardless of the document to

which they are related.

To reference windows according to their relation to a specific document, use the syntax window 1

of document 1, where window 1 of document 1 is the first window created for document 1.

It is not necessary to specify the window object if you are using the current record and current

layout properties. For example, a statement such as tell application "FileMaker Pro" to

get current record will return a reference to the current record from the foreground window.

New "repetition" object

A single cell can contain multiple repetitions. The repetition object provides more control over

data accessed from the database.

Repetition 1 of cell 1 of window 1 represents the first cell displayed on the window's

current layout. For example, if a cell has five repetitions, and that cell's layout format is set to

display only repetition 2 to 4, then

Repetition 1 of cell 1 of window 1 will get the data of

repetition 2. To set data from repetitions that are not currently visible, use the syntax Repetition

1 of cell 1 of table 1, which in this case will return the data of repetition 1.

Field order changes

For Apple events, the field order of a table cFMTable is the field creation order. (To view the field

creation order for a table, choose File menu > Define > Database, click the Fields tab, select the table

from the table pop-up menu, and choose

View by creation order.) In contrast, the fields order of a

layout

cTable is the graphical order in which the fields appear on the layout, moving from top left

to bottom right.

80 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

If an application issues a Get Data event on a record of layout, request of layout, or

layout statement, the data will be returned using the graphical order. And if an application issues

a Get Data event on a record of table or table statement, the data will be returned using the

creation order. If the field type is date, time, timestamp, or number, the data will be returned as

formatted on the layout (as set in the Date, Time, and Number Format dialog boxes).

When using the Set Data event with a record, request, table, or layout object, the data should be

supplied in the same order it would be retrieved if using a Get Data event on that object.

Printing changes

The Apple events printing behavior for FileMaker Pro 7 has been changed to completely suppress

the user interface. To provide support for printing, three optional parameters have been added to

the printing command:

from page, to page, with copies

If any of these optional parameters are not specified with the command, FileMaker Pro 7 uses the

default values saved with the file.

Index

accelerated calculations 52

access privileges, about 31

accounts

about 31

converting Web Security Database 69

ActiveX 77

Admin account 16, 32

aliases 36

alphabetic characters

as date separators 44

in number fields 43

Apple events 77

AppleScript 77

asterisks 36

batch file conversion 20

blank passwords 32

Boolean calculations

about 56

alphabetic in number fields 43

buttons 38

calculation fields

about 45

accelerated calculation 52

and field types 49

capitalization

and indexing 42

and sorting 40

of passwords 32

case-sensitivity 32, 40, 42

CDML 66

characters and reserved words 49

characters, invalid 49

colons, in date fields 44

commas, in calculations 49

comparison operators 51

container fields 44

Conversion.log file 20, 26

Convert File script step 59

converting dates 39

converting files

multiple 20

overview 9

planning 10

single 19

testing 16

to tables 39

verifying changes 14

version 1.x and 2.x 23

custom dictionaries 37

Custom Web Publishing 66

Data Entry Only privilege set 33

Database Design Report 18

date fields 44, 52

dates, converting 39

default privilege sets 33

disk space 11

document preferences 32, 36

drag and drop files 20

duplicate objects 28

error messages 26

Export Records script step 61

extended privileges 33

external files, pointers to 35

external functions 52

field types 49

fields

container 44

defined as buttons 38

duplicate 28

invalid names 27

repeating 58

rotated 58

validated 52

file close scripts 64

file formats, supported during conversion 22

file open scripts 64

82 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

file options 32, 36

file references

about 35

duplicate 28, 29

in script steps 63

wild cards 36

FileMaker Network sharing 33

FileMaker Developer 67

FileMaker Pro version 1.x and 2.x 23

FileMaker Server 66, 67

filename extensions

for converted files 20, 22

returned by functions 55

filenames

fully specified 39

naming converted files 19, 22

files

converting

multiple 20

overview 9

planning 10

single 19

testing 16

to tables 39

verifying changes 14

version1.x and 2.x 23

migrating 10

opening

multiple 21

Open Remote script step 59

references to 35

fixed-point rounding 53

floating-point rounding 53

FMNET path 59

folders 21

fonts 38

Full Access privilege set 33

fully qualified names 39

function parameters 49

Get functions 46

Get(AccountName) function 57

Get(CurrentDate) function 53

Get(LastError) function 57

Get(UserName) function 57

GetAsNumber function 54

global fields 43

Go To Layout script step 59

Go to Related Record script step 60

graphics 37

groups

about 32

and Status(CurrentGroups) function 48

Guest account 28, 32

hard drive 11

hidden multi-user files 37

Host button 35

Import Records script step 61

indexes 41

Instant Web Publishing 66

invalid characters 49

Japanese functions 48

JDBC 76

layouts 38

LDAC 76

local path 48

locking records 62

log, conversion 20, 26

logical calculations 43

messages 26

migrating files 10

Mod function 55

movies 67

multi-user files 33, 37

named file references 35

naming converted files 19

naming errors, in calculations 49

network sharing 33

number fields 43

numbers, rounding 53

Index 83

objects on layouts 38

ODBC 76

Open Remote script step 59

Open script step 59

opening files 21

OpenType fonts 38

operators, and field types 49

parameters 49

passwords

about 31

troubleshooting 25

paths

and Get(FilePath) function 48

relative 35

Perform Find script step 60

Perform Script script step 60

PICT files in container fields 44

plug-ins 65, 67

plus sign in date fields 44

pointers, to files 35

portals 39, 63

precedence, operator 52

preferences, document 32, 36

Print script step 61

Print Setup script steps, converting 42

printer settings, lost (Windows) 42, 61

privilege sets

about 31

converting Web Security Database 69

default 33

privileges, extended 33

publishing databases on the web 65, 69

RDAC 76

Read Only Access privilege set 33

Record IDs 47

Refresh Window script step 61

relationship IDs 45

relationships

about 39

duplicate 28

relationships graph 39

relative paths 35

repeating fields 58

reports 40

reserved words 49

Revert Records/Requests script step 61

rotated fields 58

rounding of numbers 53

runtime solutions 33, 67

Save a Copy As script step 61

Save relative path option 35

schedules, FileMaker Server 67

script IDs 62

script names 27, 62

scripts

about 58

pausing 63

pointers to 35

to convert the Web Security Database 71

when a file closes 64

when a file opens 64

Select Window script step 60

semicolons, in calculations 49

separators

in calculations 49

in date fields 44

sharing

FileMaker Mobile 33

network 33

ODBC 33, 76

web 33, 69

solution files, runtime 33, 67

sorting records 40

and empty found sets 62

focus after sorting 62

spelling checker 37

startup scripts 64

Status functions 46

status messages 26

Status(CurrentError) function 57, 63

Status(CurrentWebSharing) function 66

storage, global 43

Substitute function 44, 53

summary reports 40

84 Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions

tables 39

text functions

and number fields 54

and word breaks 39

renamed 45

text styles 38

time fields 44, 52

timestamp fields 52

Today function 53

Toggle Text Ruler script step 61

troubleshooting file conversion 25

TrueType fonts 38

user.upr 37

validated fields 52

value lists, pointers to 35

web publishing 65

Web Security Database 69

Web Users_.fp7 71

wildcards 36

Windows Metafiles in container fields 44

word breaks 39

words, reserved 49

years, two-digits 39