Filemaker Files in Access

[Muziker]

I'm needing to convert all of my Filemaker files to Access. Is there a way to
open Filemaker files in Access 2003? Is it possible to maintain the
views/reports that have been created in Filemaker? Do I need to save the
Filemaker files in a different format first? Or must I export the Filemaker
files to another format and then import them into Access? What is the best
way to accomplish this conversion?

 

[John Vinson]

I'm needing to convert all of my Filemaker files to Access. Is there a way to
open Filemaker files in Access 2003?

You can use FileMaker's ODBC driver (downloaded from their website,
when I did this a couple of years ago) to link from Access to the
FileMaker tables. They can then be imported into Access tables by
running Append queries.

Note that Access is more fully relational than FileMaker: FileMaker
tables often contain "lookup" fields and calculated fields, which will
need to be redone in Access Queries. You can't do calculations in an
Access table, instead they must be done in queries. You will probably
also need to normalize some tables if they have repeating fields (such
as fields for January, February, March... or Keyword1, Keyword2,
Keyword3).

Is it possible to maintain the
views/reports that have been created in Filemaker?

No; they are utterly and completely different in concept and design
and must be rebuilt from scratch. Sorry.

Do I need to save the
Filemaker files in a different format first? Or must I export the Filemaker
files to another format and then import them into Access? What is the best
way to accomplish this conversion?

With a good supply of time, of coffee, and of headache remedies,
preferably of the non-alcoholic variety, in my experience... :-{(

John W. Vinson[MVP]