Import from FileMaker

[Thor Landsverk]

I just bought Tap Form 5 and I am struggling with importing FileMaker files into Tap form, so far not with much success I must admit. I have primarily been using csv and xlsx formats in the transfer. I guess I am in a situation familiar to Tap form users, being a long time FileMaker user in need for another platform. I have lots of small and a few large FileMaker databases. The thought has struck me that may be there is some custom software around? I would be greatful for some advice. Regards Thor

[Brendan]

I recommend using the Merge (.mer) format when exporting from FileMaker.

Tap Forms requires the first line in the file to be the field names. The CSV file format (and probably XLSX) doesn’t provide that header row. The Merge format is essentially a CSV file, but also includes the header row that Tap Forms needs to map to the fields in the form or for creating new fields in a new form.

Also you probably need to set the File Encoding setting to MacOS Roman in Tap Forms.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Thor Landsverk]

Thank you for your advice! Thor

[Thor Landsverk]

Tap Form continues to impress me, working very well across platforms in the iOs-Mac world. It make a lot of difference! It has taken a bit of effort to get «under the skin» of the software, though. As a previous FileMaker user, I must admit that a Tap Form import patch for FileMaker would be on top of my wish list. Perhaps that might come in the future? Following your advice, I now successfully importing most fields from FileMaker. However, I am still struggling with importing dates. I have tried a number of options. Do you have a suggestion?

[Brendan]

As Long as the date format on the Import Records screen matches the date format of the values in the CSV file, then you should be ok. What’s your date format?

I’m glad that you’re enjoying Tap Forms! And yes, a direct .fmp file import would be great. But I have no idea how that format works. It’s a pure binary file. It was easy with Bento because when you export a .bentoTemplate file, the format was a readable XML template file along with a bunch of JSON data files which are easy to parse.

[Thor Landsverk]

Thank you for the quick reply! I have been examening various date formats and arrived at a solution that was a bit of a surprise. Instead of using FileMaker’s csv export format, I opened the FM csv export file in Excel (newest version) and saved the Excel file as csv. Problem solved! Regards Thor

[Brendan]

I believe FileMaker’s CSV export doesn’t include the field name titles in the first row. Tap Forms needs this for matching fields.

Usually the Merge format from FileMaker includes the field names.

But that doesn’t explain your workaround. I just thought I’d mention it.

I’m glad you found a workaround though.

[Author]

Posts