Chapter 19. Sharing Data with Other Systems

Building a big database can make you feel like a slave to your computer, but the point of a database is to let you manage information more efficiently. Nothing shows this point better than FileMaker's ability to pull data into your database from various sources, and dump it back out again in assorted ways.

If you have data in almost any kind of program—spreadsheets full of figures, lists of names and phone numbers, electronic orders in XML, folders full of pictures or text documents—FileMaker can import it directly into your database. If your data is already in FileMaker, then you can export it to lists, other databases, XML, or almost any other format imaginable. FileMaker takes a wonderfully flexible approach: It lets you handle simple imports and exports with just a click or two, and provides the features to tackle the most complex cases as well—if you (or some hired help) are willing to do the necessary work.