Why doesn't Office X recognize FileMaker Pro 7

[Karen Harris]

Recently upgraded FileMaker Pro from from version 5 to version 7. But
when I went to make labels, using the Data Merge Manager in Word, it
only recognized the old FileMaker Pro files not the new databases.

What needs to be done to have the new databases recognized by Office?

 

[Mickey Stevens]

Sorry, Microsoft Office's Data Merge Manager cannot read FileMaker 7
databases, because it uses a different structure than the previous versions
of FileMaker with which the Data Merge Manager was designed for use. I
don't know if there is an option to save in a previous version format; that
sounds like it would be the only way.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Recently upgraded FileMaker Pro from from version 5 to version 7. But
when I went to make labels, using the Data Merge Manager in Word, it
only recognized the old FileMaker Pro files not the new databases.

What needs to be done to have the new databases recognized by Office?

Office can't directly access Filemaker 7 databases. They're a completely
different format than previous versions. I'd guess that the spec came
out too late in the development cycle.

One workaround is to export the records as csv or tab-separated file and
read it into XL. You can then import the Excel file directly back into
FMP.