Fm11 Odbc JDBC Guide en

FileMaker 11®
ODBC and JDBC Guide

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Edition: 01
Contents
Chapter 1
Introduction
About this guide 7
About ODBC and JDBC 7
Using FileMaker software as an ODBC client application 8
Importing ODBC data 8
Adding ODBC tables to the relationships graph 8
Using a FileMaker database as a data source 9
Accessing a hosted FileMaker Pro database 9
Limitations with third-party tools 10
Networking requirements 10
Updating files from previous versions 10
Installing current drivers 10
Chapter 2
Accessing external SQL data sources
Importing ODBC data 11
Executing SQL to interact with data sources via ODBC 12
Working with ODBC tables in the relationships graph 12
Data sources supported in FileMaker 11 13
Adding ODBC tables to the relationships graph 13
Chapter 3
Installing FileMaker ODBC client drivers
Hardware and software requirements 15
ODBC client driver requirements (Windows) 15
ODBC client driver requirements (Mac OS) 15
ODBC client driver installation (Windows) 15
Configuring client drivers (Windows) 16
ODBC client driver installation (Mac OS) 17
Configuring client drivers (Mac OS) 18
Where to go from here 19
4 FileMaker ODBC and JDBC Guide
Chapter 4
Using ODBC to share FileMaker data
About ODBC 21
Using the ODBC client driver 22
Overview of accessing a FileMaker database file 22
Accessing a FileMaker database file from a Windows application 23
Specifying ODBC client driver properties for a FileMaker DSN (Windows) 23
Verifying access via ODBC (Windows) 24
Accessing a FileMaker database file from a Mac OS application 25
Specifying ODBC client driver properties for a FileMaker DSN (Mac OS) 25
Verifying access via ODBC (Mac OS) 26
Chapter 5
Installing FileMaker JDBC client drivers
Software requirements 27
JDBC client driver installation 27
Using the JDBC client driver 28
Chapter 6
Using JDBC to share FileMaker data
About JDBC 29
Using the JDBC client driver 29
About the JDBC client driver 29
Using a JDBC URL to connect to your database 30
Specifying driver properties in the URL subname 31
Solutions with multiple FileMaker database files 32
Verifying access via JDBC 32
| Contents 5
Chapter 7
Supported standards
Support for Unicode characters 35
SQL statements 35
SELECT statement 35
SQL clauses 36
FROM clause 37
WHERE clause 37
GROUP BY clause 38
HAVING clause 38
UNION operator 38
ORDER BY clause 39
FOR UPDATE clause 39
DELETE statement 42
INSERT statement 42
UPDATE statement 43
CREATE TABLE statement 44
ALTER TABLE statement 44
CREATE INDEX statement 45
DROP INDEX statement 45
SQL aggregate functions 46
SQL expressions 46
Field names 47
Constants 47
Exponential/scientific notation 48
Numeric operators 48
Character operators 48
Date operators 48
Relational operators 49
Logical operators 50
Functions 50
Functions that return character strings 51
Functions that return numbers 53
Functions that return dates 54
Operator precedence 54
ODBC Catalog functions 55
JDBC Meta Data functions 55
Reserved SQL keywords 55
Chapter 8
Reference Information
Mapping FileMaker fields to ODBC data types 59
Mapping FileMaker fields to JDBC data types 59
ODBC and JDBC error messages 60
ODBC error messages 60
JDBC error messages 60
Index 61
Chapter 1
Introduction
This guide describes how you can use FileMaker® software as an ODBC client application and as a
data source for ODBC and JDBC applications.
The following table gives an overview of how to use ODBC and JDBC with FileMaker software.
What do you want to do? How do you do it? Product See
1 Use FileMaker software as an 1. Interactively via the relationships graph 1 FileMaker Pro 1 This guide,
ODBC client application. 2. One-time, static via ODBC import or 1 FileMaker Pro Advanced chapter 2.
1 Access ODBC data stored in File menu > Open. Also, the Import 1 FileMaker Server 1 FileMaker
an external SQL data source. Records script step and the Execute SQL Pro Help
script step 1 FileMaker Server Advanced
1 Use a FileMaker database as a 1. SQL queries 1 FileMaker Pro This guide,

data source. 2. ODBC and JDBC 1 FileMaker Pro Advanced chapters 3 to 8.
1 Share FileMaker Pro data with 1 FileMaker Server Advanced
a third-party ODBC client only
application.
About this guide

1 For information on using ODBC and JDBC with previous versions of FileMaker Pro, see
www.filemaker.com/documentation.
1 This guide assumes that you are familiar with the basics of using ODBC and JDBC, and constructing
SQL queries. Refer to a third-party book for more information on these topics.
1 This guide uses “FileMaker Pro” to refer to both FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Pro Advanced, unless
describing specific FileMaker Pro Advanced features.
Note You can download PDFs of FileMaker documentation from www.filemaker.com/documentation.

Any updates to this document are also available from the website.
About ODBC and JDBC

ODBC and JDBC are application programming interfaces (APIs). ODBC is an API for applications written
in the C language, and JDBC is a similar API for the Java language. These APIs give client applications a
common language for interacting with a variety of data sources and database services, including
FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Server Advanced.
All applications that support ODBC and JDBC recognize a basic subset of SQL (Structured Query
Language) statements. Working with SQL, you can use other applications (such as spreadsheets, word
processors, and reporting tools) to view, analyze, and modify data.
Using ODBC or JDBC APIs, a client application communicates with a driver manager that identifies the
client driver to communicate with a data source.
Client Driver Client

Application Manager Driver Client
Driver
FileMaker software can act either as a client application or as a data source.
Using FileMaker software as an ODBC client application

As an ODBC client application, FileMaker software can access data in external SQL data sources.
FileMaker software connects to the external SQL data source using the client driver for the ODBC data
source, and either imports ODBC data or works with ODBC tables in the relationships graph.
Importing ODBC data

You can import ODBC data in either of these ways:
1 from the File menu, by specifying an ODBC data source and entering SQL statements in the
FileMaker Pro SQL Query builder dialog box
1 by creating a FileMaker script that uses the Import Records script step or the Execute SQL script step
For either of these methods, you enter the SQL statements yourself, so you need to know the supported SQL
statements and their syntax for your ODBC data source. Because you write the SQL statements yourself,
you can import ODBC data from any ODBC data source.
Adding ODBC tables to the relationships graph

When you add an ODBC table to the relationships graph, you can connect to and work with data in external
SQL data sources in much the same way that you work with data in the current, active FileMaker database
file. For example, you can:
1 create tables in the relationships graph for ODBC data sources
1 add supplemental fields to ODBC tables to perform unstored calculations or to summarize data in the
ODBC tables
1 add, change, and delete external data interactively
1 create relationships between fields in FileMaker tables and fields (also called “columns”) in ODBC tables
Because FileMaker Pro generates the SQL statements used to communicate with an ODBC table that has
been added to the relationships graph, you are limited to the specific Oracle, SQL Server, and MySQL data
sources that FileMaker Pro supports in the relationships graph.
Note You cannot modify the schema of external ODBC data sources using FileMaker Pro.
Chapter 2, “Accessing external SQL data sources,” describes how to use FileMaker software as an ODBC
client application.
Chapter 1 | Introduction 9
Using a FileMaker database as a data source

As a data source, FileMaker data is shared with ODBC- and JDBC-compliant applications. The application
connects to the FileMaker data source using the FileMaker client driver, constructs and executes the SQL
queries using ODBC or JDBC, and processes the data retrieved from the FileMaker database solution.
Accessing a hosted FileMaker Pro database

With either FileMaker Server Advanced or FileMaker Pro, you can host a FileMaker database file as a data
source, sharing your data with other applications using ODBC and JDBC. The following table describes
what each FileMaker product allows.
This FileMaker product Allows
FileMaker Server Advanced Up to 50 connections and supports local access (same computer) and remote access (both for
middleware such as web servers, and for remote client access from desktop productivity applications).
FileMaker Pro Up to nine connections and supports local access (same computer) only.
If your FileMaker database solution uses more than one FileMaker database file, all of the database files
must be on the same computer.
The ODBC and JDBC plug-in components you need for sharing your data with other applications are
installed with FileMaker Server Advanced and FileMaker Pro.
To access a hosted FileMaker database file, you need to install the corresponding ODBC or JDBC client
driver. Install the client driver on the machine where the third-party application is installed.
This guide documents how the ODBC and JDBC client drivers, when used with FileMaker Pro and
FileMaker Server Advanced, support the industry standards for ODBC (Open Database Connectivity),
JDBC (Java Database Connectivity), and SQL (Structured Query Language).
1 Chapter 3, “Installing FileMaker ODBC client drivers,” explains how to install the driver files needed for
accessing a FileMaker data source using ODBC.
1 Chapter 4, “Using ODBC to share FileMaker data,” describes how to use the FileMaker ODBC client
driver to connect to a FileMaker data source from another application.
1 Chapter 5, “Installing FileMaker JDBC client drivers,” explains how to install the driver files needed for
accessing a FileMaker data source using JDBC.
1 Chapter 6, “Using JDBC to share FileMaker data,” describes how to use the FileMaker JDBC client
driver with a Java application or applet that connects to a FileMaker data source.
1 Chapter 7, “Supported standards,” describes the SQL statements that the ODBC and JDBC client drivers
support when used with FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Server Advanced.
Important If you disable ODBC/JDBC sharing after it has already been on, a data source hosted by
FileMaker Server Advanced or FileMaker Pro immediately becomes unavailable. The database
administrator doesn’t have the capability to alert ODBC and JDBC client applications about the data
source’s availability (the administrator can communicate only with FileMaker database file clients). No
errors are reported, and the client application should notify users that the data source is not available and
transactions cannot be completed. If a client application attempts to connect to an unavailable FileMaker
database file, a message explains that the connection failed.
Limitations with third-party tools

Microsoft Access: When using Microsoft Access to view data in a FileMaker data source, do not use data
from a summary field. The summary field’s data should not be edited in Microsoft Access, and the data value
that is displayed in Microsoft Access may not be accurate.
Networking requirements
You need a TCP/IP network when using FileMaker Server Advanced to host a FileMaker database file as a
data source over a network. FileMaker Pro supports local access (same computer) only.
Updating files from previous versions

Installing current drivers
If you installed a driver from prior versions of FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Server Advanced, you must
install the driver for version 11.
The driver for FileMaker version 11 is not compatible with earlier versions of FileMaker Pro or FileMaker
Server Advanced.
For more information on installing drivers, see chapter 3, “Installing FileMaker ODBC client drivers” and
chapter 5, “Installing FileMaker JDBC client drivers.”
Note You have to create a Data Source Name (DSN) for each FileMaker database file you want to access
as a data source. If you have previously set up access through one DSN that allows tables to be spread among
several FileMaker database files, you’ll need to consolidate those tables into a single database file (or create
several DSNs).
Chapter 2
Accessing external SQL data sources
As an ODBC client application, FileMaker software can access data in external SQL data sources.
FileMaker software connects to the external SQL data source using the client driver for the ODBC data
source, and either imports ODBC data or works with ODBC tables in the relationships graph.
Whether you are importing ODBC data or working with ODBC tables in the relationships graph, you must
configure a driver for the ODBC data source you’re using. For example, to access records from an Oracle
database, you configure an Oracle client driver.
Importing ODBC data

When you import ODBC data, you need an ODBC client driver for the external SQL data source configured
on the client machine.
FileMaker Driver Client

Pro Manager Driver SQL Data
Source
After configuring an ODBC client driver, you can interact with records, import records into an existing
FileMaker Pro database file, or create a new FileMaker Pro database file from an ODBC data source (such
as Oracle or Microsoft Access databases).
First, you access the data source you want to import from. Then you construct a query for the records you
want to import from the data source. Finally, if you’re importing data into an existing file, you map fields
from your data source to fields in your FileMaker Pro database file.
You can access your ODBC data source through the File menu, with the Import Records script step, or with
the Execute SQL script step.
To import ODBC data, follow this general process:
1 Install and configure specific ODBC drivers for the external data sources you want to access.
1 On the computer that hosts the current FileMaker Pro file, define a system Data Source Name (DSN) for
each ODBC data source you want to access.
1 Determine any additional considerations for the ODBC data sources you want to access (for example,
whether users are prompted for a user name and password).
1 In FileMaker Pro, do one of the following:

1 To import into an existing FileMaker Pro file, choose File menu > Import Records > ODBC Data
Source.
1 To create a FileMaker Pro file from the data source records, choose File menu > Open. In the Open
dialog box, choose ODBC Data Source for Files of type (Windows) or Show (Mac OS).
Choose your data source, enter the user name and password (if any), and click OK to open the FileMaker
Pro SQL Query builder dialog box.
Using the FileMaker Pro SQL Query builder dialog box, you can construct a query. Select the table from
which you want to import, and then select specific columns you want to use in your SQL query. Use the
WHERE tab to construct search criteria and the ORDER BY tab to specify a sort order.
You can also type an SQL statement directly into the SQL Query builder dialog box.
You can execute the query immediately, or you can use the Import Records or Execute SQL script step
to execute a query as part of a FileMaker script.
Note ODBC import, the Execute SQL script step, and external SQL data sources are not supported in
runtime solutions created with FileMaker Pro Advanced.
See FileMaker Pro Help for more information on importing data, using the SQL Query builder dialog box,
and creating FileMaker scripts.
Executing SQL to interact with data sources via ODBC

In addition to importing data into a FileMaker Pro database file via ODBC, you can also interact with data
sources using SQL statements through the Execute SQL script step. You can use any SQL statement
supported by the data source, such as INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE.
You can also use SQL statements that go beyond simply importing data into a FileMaker Pro database file.
For example, you could execute SQL statements that add records to a database table in SQL Server, using
information from a FileMaker Pro database file.
See FileMaker Pro Help for more information on creating FileMaker scripts that use the Execute SQL script step.
Working with ODBC tables in the relationships graph

When you add an ODBC table to the relationships graph, you can connect to and work with data in external
SQL data sources in much the same way that you work with data in the current, active FileMaker database file.
Chapter 2 | Accessing external SQL data sources 13
When you use FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Server as the host for a solution that includes ODBC tables in the
relationships graph, you configure the ODBC client driver for the external SQL data source on the host machine.
FileMaker
Pro user
FileMaker Pro
FileMaker or Driver Client
Pro user FileMaker Manager Driver SQL Data
Server host Source
machine
FileMaker
Pro user
Data sources supported in FileMaker 11

As an ODBC client application, FileMaker supports the following external SQL data sources as ODBC
tables in the relationships graph:
1 Oracle 9i
1 Oracle 10g
1 Oracle 11g
1 SQL Server 2000
1 SQL Server 2005
1 SQL Server 2008
1 MySQL 5.0 Community Edition (free)
1 MySQL 5.1 Community Edition (free)
For information on supported client drivers, see http://www.filemaker.com/support/technologies.
Adding ODBC tables to the relationships graph

To set up a FileMaker Pro database to access data in supported ODBC data sources:
1 Install and configure specific ODBC drivers for the external data sources you want to access.
1 On the computer that hosts the current FileMaker Pro file, define a system Data Source Name (DSN) for
each ODBC data source you want to access.
1 Determine any additional considerations for ODBC data sources you want to access (for example,
whether users are prompted for a user name and password).
1 Add one or more tables from the ODBC data source to the relationships graph in the current FileMaker
Pro file.
1 Add fields to layouts in the FileMaker Pro file to display external data.
1 Optionally, add supplemental fields to external tables and layouts to display calculation and summary
results based on data stored in external ODBC data sources.
See FileMaker Pro Help for detailed steps and additional information on configuring an ODBC client driver,
connecting to ODBC data sources, editing ODBC data sources, and setting up an ODBC table in the
relationships graph.
Chapter 3
Installing FileMaker ODBC client drivers
These instructions help you install the ODBC client driver needed to access FileMaker as a data source from
third-party and custom applications via ODBC (Open Database Connectivity). The ODBC client driver is
available through a separate installation on your FileMaker installation disk or electronic download in the
xDBC folder.
The latest versions of the client drivers are also available from this URL:
www.filemaker.com/support/technologies
If you’ll be hosting a FileMaker database file using FileMaker Server Advanced, make the client drivers
available to remote users.
After installing the client driver you need, you can configure the driver to access a FileMaker data source
and construct SQL (Structured Query Language) queries to interact with the data.
Hardware and software requirements

To install and use the ODBC client drivers, you need the following minimum equipment and software:
ODBC client driver requirements (Windows)

1 Pentium III 700MHz or higher
1 256 MB RAM minimum, 2 GB RAM recommended, for Windows XP; 1 GB RAM minimum for
Windows Vista and Windows 7
1 Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.8 SP1
1 Windows MDAC 6.0 for Vista
ODBC client driver requirements (Mac OS)

1 Apple G4 or G5; or Mac OS computer with an Intel processor
1 1 GB RAM minimum; 2 GB RAM recommended
1 Mac OS X version 10.5.7 or 10.6 (the software may also work with later versions certified by FileMaker)
If you’ll be accessing a FileMaker data source hosted on another computer, you’ll need network access via
TCP/IP.
ODBC client driver installation (Windows)

Note You need MDAC 2.8 SP1 (available from www.microsoft.com) to install the ODBC client driver on
a 32-bit Windows operating system.
To install the ODBC client driver:
1. Do one of the following:

1 If you received your software electronically, double-click the installation icon (.exe file).
1 If you have an installation disk, insert the disk into the drive.
2. In the FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Server window, double-click the xDBC folder.
3. In the xDBC folder, double-click the ODBC Client Driver Installer folder.
4. In the ODBC Client Driver Installer folder, double-click the FMODBC_Installer_Win32.msi file.
The FileMaker ODBC Driver Setup Wizard opens.
5. Install the ODBC client driver by following the on-screen instructions.
6. When the installation is complete, click Close.

By default, the ODBC client driver will be installed in this folder:
c:\windows\system32
The ODBC client driver, FileMaker ODBC, is now available for you to configure for accessing a
FileMaker data source.
Configuring client drivers (Windows)

Before using a client application to access a FileMaker data source, you must configure a client driver for
the data source. Configuration settings identify the client driver you’re using, the location of the data source,
and details on how you intend to connect.
Important When using a FileMaker client driver, you must reserve 2399 as the port.
To configure the ODBC client driver:
1. In the Windows Control Panel, open Administrative Tools > Data Sources (ODBC).
1 In Windows XP, Administrative Tools appear in the Performance and Maintenance category.
1 In Windows Vista and Windows 7, Administrative Tools appear in the System and Security category.
The ODBC Data Source Administrator opens.
2. Select the System DSN or User DSN tab

3. Click Add.
The Create New Data Source dialog box opens.
4. Select FileMaker ODBC, and click Finish.

The FileMaker DSN Configuration dialog box opens.
5. Click Next.
6. For Name, enter a name that will be meaningful to others accessing the FileMaker data source. For
Description, enter an optional description of the FileMaker data source. Click Next.
Chapter 3 | Installing FileMaker ODBC client drivers 17
7. For Host:
1 If you’re connecting to a database file hosted by FileMaker Pro on your local machine, enter localhost
or the IP address 127.0.0.1.
1 If you’re connecting to a database file hosted by FileMaker Server Advanced over a network, enter
the IP address of the FileMaker Server.
If you have enabled sharing via ODBC/JDBC in the host application, you can select Connect to host to
obtain the names of available databases. Click Next.
Otherwise, click Finish to save your data source information.
8. For Database, select a database from the list of available databases, or type the filename of the FileMaker
database file you’re using as a data source.
Note For database files hosted by FileMaker Server Advanced, the list of databases may be filtered based
on the File Display Filter setting. See FileMaker Server Help for information.
If you need special handling of non-English text, click Advanced Language. The Advanced Language
Options dialog box opens.
1 To auto-detect language settings, select the Auto-detect language settings for application option.
1 To specify the language setting, clear the Auto-detect language settings for application option and
select the system setting you want to use.
If you want to create a log file for long-running queries, select the Save long-running queries to a log file
option, and enter the name for the log file.
Click Finish to save your data source information.
9. Review the information about your FileMaker DSN.

1 Click Test to verify that you have correctly configured the ODBC client driver to access the FileMaker
data source.
If you receive an error message, you can correct the connection information.
You may also need to check that the FileMaker database file is hosted and available, that the
FileMaker account specified uses a privilege set with the extended privilege Access via ODBC/JDBC,
and that host application (FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Server Advanced) has been set up for sharing
via ODBC/JDBC.
1 Click Done to save your data source information.
ODBC client driver installation (Mac OS)

To install the ODBC client driver:

1 If you received your software electronically, double-click the disk image icon (.dmg file).
3. In the xDBC folder, double-click the ODBC Client Driver Installer folder.
4. In the ODBC Client Driver Installer folder, double-click FileMaker ODBC.mpkg.

The FileMaker ODBC Driver Installer opens.
5. Install the ODBC client driver by following the on-screen instructions.

6. When the installation is complete, click Close.
The ODBC client driver will be installed in this folder:
/Library/ODBC
Note You cannot change the installation folder for the ODBC client driver.
The ODBC client driver, FileMaker ODBC, is now available for you to configure for accessing a
Configuring client drivers (Mac OS)

Before using a client application to access a FileMaker data source, you must configure a client driver for
the data source. Configuration settings identify the client driver you’re using, the location of the data source,
and details on how you intend to connect.
These instructions assume you have installed the ODBC Manager from Actual Technologies, available at
www.odbcmanager.net, which is a freeware product not supported by FileMaker.
You may also use Apple’s ODBC Administrator Tool for Mac OS X. For Mac OS X version 10.5, ODBC
Administrator is installed as part of the operating system. For Mac OS X version 10.6, ODBC Administrator
is available at www.apple.com/support.
Important When using a FileMaker client driver, you must reserve 2399 as the port.
To configure the ODBC client driver:
1. Launch the ODBC Manager utility. (The ODBC Manager is installed in the Utilities folder in the
Applications folder.)
2. Select the System DSN or User DSN tab, and click Add.
The Choose a driver dialog box opens.
3. Select FileMaker ODBC, and click OK.

4. Click Continue.
Description, enter an optional description of the FileMaker data source. Click Continue.
Chapter 3 | Installing FileMaker ODBC client drivers 19
6. For Host:
1 If you’re connecting to a database file hosted by FileMaker Pro on your local machine, enter localhost
or the IP address 127.0.0.1.
1 If you’re connecting to a database file hosted by FileMaker Server Advanced over a network, enter
the IP address of the FileMaker Server.
If you have enabled sharing via ODBC/JDBC in the host application, you can select Connect to host to
obtain the names of available databases. Click Continue.
Otherwise, click Finish to save your data source information.
Click Finish to save your data source information.
8. Review the information about your FileMaker DSN.

1 Click Test to verify that you have correctly configured the ODBC client driver to access the FileMaker
data source.
If you receive an error message, you can correct the connection information.
You may also need to check that the FileMaker database file is hosted and available, that the
FileMaker account specified uses a privilege set with the extended privilege Access via ODBC/JDBC,
and that host application (FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Server Advanced) has been set up for sharing
via ODBC/JDBC.
1 Click Done to save your data source information.
Where to go from here

After you install and configure a client driver, you can construct and execute SQL queries to access a
Client applications sometimes use different terminology for accessing a data source via ODBC. Many
applications have menu items with names such as Get external data or SQL query. Review the documentation
or Help that comes with your application for details.
For more information on using FileMaker as an ODBC data source, see chapter 4, “Using ODBC to share
FileMaker data.”
Chapter 4
Using ODBC to share FileMaker data
Use the ODBC client driver to connect to a FileMaker data source from another application. The application
that uses the ODBC client driver can directly access the data in a FileMaker database file.
The FileMaker ODBC client driver is FileMaker ODBC.
Note You can also use FileMaker Pro as an ODBC client application, interacting with records from another
data source via ODBC using SQL. See chapter 2, “Accessing external SQL data sources,” for details about
accessing an external SQL data source via ODBC.
About ODBC
ODBC is an API that enables applications to access data from many database management systems. ODBC
gives client applications a common language for interacting with data sources and database services.
All applications that support ODBC recognize a basic subset of SQL (Structured Query Language)
statements. SQL lets you use other applications (such as spreadsheets, word processors, and reporting tools)
to view, analyze, and modify FileMaker data. See chapter 7, “Supported standards,” for the SQL statements,
functions, and expressions that the ODBC client driver supports.
Your application can talk directly to a FileMaker database file by using the ODBC client driver. Your SQL
statements are delivered to the FileMaker host of the database file and the results of those statements are sent
back to you. If you use FileMaker Server Advanced to host a FileMaker database file as a data source, the
database file can be located on another machine (the server machine) connected to the network, while your client
application is located on your machine (the client machine). This is referred to as a client/server configuration.
Client
Application
Driver
Manager
FileMaker
Oracle SQL Server ODBC Client
ODBC Driver ODBC Driver Driver
Microsoft
Oracle SQL Server FileMaker
Using the ODBC client driver

You can use the ODBC client driver with any ODBC-compliant application. Sharing your FileMaker
database file as a data source, you can:
1 perform mail merges with Microsoft Word
1 create charts with Microsoft Excel
1 move FileMaker data to a DBMS like Microsoft SQL Server
1 further analyze your FileMaker data with query or reporting tools to create charts, construct ad-hoc
queries, and perform drill-down analysis
1 create a Microsoft Visual Basic application that shares information with FileMaker Pro
To share a FileMaker database file as a data source, use FileMaker Pro to define accounts that need access to the
database file. Then, control access to the database file by assigning privilege sets to the accounts, including the
extended privilege of access via ODBC/JDBC. Finally, enable the FileMaker Server Advanced or FileMaker Pro
host application to share data via ODBC/JDBC. For details, see FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Server Help.
Important Prior versions of the FileMaker ODBC client driver are not compatible with FileMaker
version 11. To connect to a FileMaker version 11 database file, you need to install and configure the new
ODBC client driver.
Note To confirm that the FileMaker xDBC Listener is currently running, you can use the Activity Monitor
on Mac OS or the Task Manager on Windows to check the status of the FileMaker xDBC Listener process.
When the process is started, it is named fmxdbc_listener, and events are logged by that name. The FileMaker
xDBC Listener process is separate from the FileMaker Server process.
Overview of accessing a FileMaker database file

From an ODBC-compliant application, you can construct SQL queries to access a FileMaker database file.
The ODBC client driver must be installed on the computer generating the SQL query.
To access a FileMaker database file:
1. In FileMaker Pro, review the privilege sets you’ve assigned to accounts that will access the database file.
Accounts that need access must use a privilege set with the extended privilege of Access via ODBC/JDBC.
2. Enable the FileMaker Server Advanced (via FileMaker Server Admin Console) or FileMaker Pro host
application to share data via ODBC/JDBC.
FileMaker Server Admin Console: Click ODBC/JDBC then select Enable ODBC/JDBC.
FileMaker Pro: Choose File menu > Sharing > ODBC/JDBC and set ODBC/JDBC Sharing to On.
3. Make sure the FileMaker database file you want to access is hosted and available.
If your FileMaker database solution uses more than one FileMaker database file, all of the database files
must be on the same computer.
4. Connect to the FileMaker data source.

Chapter 4 | Using ODBC to share FileMaker data 23
5. Construct and execute an SQL query in the client application.

Each FileMaker database file that is open and set up for access is a separate data source (you create a
DSN for each FileMaker database file you want to access as a data source).
Each database can have one or more tables. FileMaker fields are represented as columns. The complete
field name, including any non-alphanumeric characters, displays as the column name.
Accessing a FileMaker database file from a Windows application

Specifying ODBC client driver properties for a FileMaker DSN (Windows)
Create a DSN for each FileMaker database file you want to access as a data source. The DSN identifies the
FileMaker ODBC client driver, the location of the FileMaker host application, and the FileMaker database
file you’re accessing as a data source.
To configure a new ODBC client driver, see “Configuring client drivers (Windows)” on page 16.
To change an existing ODBC client driver:
2. Select the System DSN or User DSN tab (select the tab used when you previously configured).
3. Choose the FileMaker data source that you previously configured.

The data source name you originally entered appears under Name, and FileMaker ODBC appears as the Driver.
4. Click Configure.
The FileMaker DSN Configuration dialog box appears.
Description, enter an optional description of the FileMaker data source. Click Next.
6. For Host, enter the location of your data source.
If you’re connecting to a FileMaker database file hosted by FileMaker Pro on your local machine, type
localhost (or 127.0.0.1).
If you’re connecting to a FileMaker database file hosted by FileMaker Server Advanced over a network,
type the IP address of FileMaker Server.
If you’ve enabled sharing via ODBC/JDBC in the host application, select Connect to host to obtain the
names of available databases.
8. Click Finish to save your data source information.
9. Click Done to close the FileMaker DSN Configuration dialog box.
Verifying access via ODBC (Windows)

To verify that you’ve correctly configured the ODBC client driver to access the FileMaker data source:

The data source name you originally entered appears under Name, and FileMaker ODBC appears as the
Driver.
4. Click Configure.
The FileMaker DSN Configuration dialog box appears.
5. Click Next until you reach the Conclusion page.
6. Click Test.
You are prompted to enter your FileMaker account name (in Database User Name) and password (in
Database Password).
If the connection is OK, you receive the message Test completed successfully.
If the connection fails:
1 Make sure the FileMaker database file is hosted and available.
1 Update or correct your connection information.
Chapter 4 | Using ODBC to share FileMaker data 25
1 Make sure your FileMaker account uses a privilege set with the extended privilege of Access via ODBC/
JDBC.
1 Verify that the FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Server host application has been set up for sharing via
ODBC/JDBC.
Accessing a FileMaker database file from a Mac OS application

Specifying ODBC client driver properties for a FileMaker DSN (Mac OS)
Create a DSN for each FileMaker database file you want to access as a data source. The DSN identifies the
FileMaker ODBC client driver, the location of the FileMaker host application, and the FileMaker database
file you’re accessing as a data source.
To configure a new ODBC client driver, see “Configuring client drivers (Mac OS)” on page 18.
To change an existing ODBC client driver:
1. Launch the ODBC Manager utility. (The ODBC Manager is installed in the Utilities folder in the
2. Click the System DSN or User DSN tab.

The data source name you originally entered appears under Name, and FileMaker ODBC appears as the Driver.
4. Click Configure.
5. Click Continue.
6. For Name, type a name that will be meaningful to others accessing the FileMaker data source.
An additional Description is optional.
7. For Host, enter the location of your data source.

If you’re connecting to a FileMaker database file hosted by FileMaker Pro on your local machine, type
localhost (or 127.0.0.1).
If you’re connecting to a FileMaker database file hosted by FileMaker Server Advanced over a network,
type the IP address of FileMaker Server.
If you’ve enabled sharing via ODBC/JDBC in the host application, select Connect to host to obtain the
names of available databases.
9. Click Finish to save your data source information.
10. Click Done to close the FileMaker DSN Configuration dialog box.
Verifying access via ODBC (Mac OS)

To verify that you’ve correctly configured the ODBC client driver to access the FileMaker data source:
1. Launch the ODBC Manager utility. (The ODBC Manager is located in the Utilities folder in the

The data source name you originally entered appears under Name, and FileMaker ODBC appears as the
Driver.
4. Click Configure.
5. Click Continue until you recheck the Conclusion page.
6. Click Test.
You are prompted to enter your FileMaker account name (in Database User Name) and password (in
Database Password).
If the connection is OK, you receive the message Test completed successfully.
If the connection fails:
1 Make sure the FileMaker database file is hosted and available.
1 Update or correct your connection information.
1 Make sure your FileMaker account uses a privilege set with the extended privilege of Access via ODBC/
JDBC.
1 Verify that the FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Server host application has been set up for sharing via
ODBC/JDBC.
Chapter 5
Installing FileMaker JDBC client drivers
These instructions help you install the client driver needed to access FileMaker as a data source from third-
party and custom applications via JDBC (Java Database Connectivity). The client driver is available on your
FileMaker DVD or electronic download in the xDBC folder. The latest versions of the client drivers are also
available from this URL:
www.filemaker.com/support/technologies
If you’ll be hosting a FileMaker database file using FileMaker Server Advanced, make the client drivers
available to remote users.
After installing the client driver you need, you can configure the driver to access a FileMaker data source
and construct SQL (Structured Query Language) queries to interact with the data.
The JDBC client driver is the driver portions of the FileMaker software that allow third-party applications
or custom applications to access FileMaker files as JDBC data sources.
Software requirements
To install and use the JDBC client drivers, you need JDK 1.4 or later.
To find which version of Java you’re running, open a command window (Windows) or Terminal window
(Mac OS) and type java -version.
If you’ll be accessing a FileMaker data source hosted on another computer, you’ll need network access via
TCP/IP.
JDBC client driver installation

You must have write access to the folder where you’re installing the JDBC client driver.
To install the JDBC client driver:

1 Windows: If you received your software electronically, double-click the installation icon (.exe file).
1 Mac OS: If you received your software electronically, double-click the disk image icon (.dmg file).
3. In the xDBC folder, double-click the JDBC Client Driver Installer folder.
4. Copy the fmjdbc.jar file to the appropriate folder for your operating system:
1 Windows: Copy the fmjdbc.jar file to the folder that includes your Java executable file (java.exe) or
to another folder location included in the ClassPath of your Java application.
1 Mac OS: Copy the fmjdbc.jar file to the /Library/Java/Extensions folder or to another folder location
included in the ClassPath of your Java application.
The JDBC client driver is now available for you to use to access a FileMaker data source.
Using the JDBC client driver

Your Java application or applet must register the JDBC client driver with the JDBC driver manager, and you
must specify the correct JDBC URL from within the application or applet.
Important You must reserve the port 2399 for the FileMaker JDBC client driver. The port number is always
2399. You can’t change the JDBC sharing to a different port.
For more information on using the JDBC client driver, see chapter 6, “Using JDBC to share FileMaker data.”
Chapter 6
Using JDBC to share FileMaker data
If you’re a Java programmer, you can use the JDBC client driver with any Rapid Application Development
(RAD) tool to visually create a Java application or applet that connects to a FileMaker data source. The Java
application or applet that uses the JDBC client driver can directly access the data in a FileMaker database file.
About JDBC
JDBC is a Java API for executing SQL statements, the standard language for accessing relational databases.
JDBC is a name and not an acronym — although it is thought of as standing for “Java Database Connectivity”
because it is the Java equivalent for ODBC. JDBC is a low-level interface, which means that it is used to call
SQL commands directly. It is also designed to be used as a base for higher level interfaces and tools.
Your Java applet or application can talk directly to a FileMaker database file by using the JDBC client driver.
Your SQL statements are delivered to the FileMaker host of the database file and the results of those
statements are sent back to you. If you use FileMaker Server to host, the FileMaker database file you’re
using as a data source can be located on another machine (the server machine) connected to the network,
while your Java applet or client application is located on your machine (the client machine). This is referred
to as a client/server configuration.
Java application
JDBC driver FileMaker
Client machine Database server
Using the JDBC client driver

You can use the JDBC client driver with a Java compiler or RAD tool to connect with your database while
you build the code for your Java application or applet. After the Java application or applet has been created,
the JDBC client driver must be present with the files or included within the code in order for the application
or applet to communicate with the database.
To use the JDBC client driver, your Java application or applet must register the driver with the JDBC driver
manager and you must specify the correct JDBC URL from within the application or applet. You need the
JDBC URL to make the connection to the database.
About the JDBC client driver

The JDBC client driver provides partial support for the JDBC 3.0 specification. The following features are
not supported by FileMaker:
1 Savepoint support
1 Retrieval of auto-generated keys
1 Passing parameters to a callable statement object by name
1 Holdable cursor support
1 Retrieving and updating the object referenced by a Ref object

1 Updating of columns containing CLOB, ARRAY and REF data types
1 Boolean data type
1 DATALINK data type
1 Transform groups and type mapping
1 Relationship between the JDBC SPI and the Connector architecture
For additional details, see www.filemaker.com/support/technologies.

The JDBC client driver has been tested against the Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.5 (Mac OS) and 1.6
(Windows). It is a Type 4 driver — a native protocol, pure Java driver that converts JDBC calls directly into
the network protocol used by FileMaker. This type of driver offers all the advantages of Java including
automatic installation (for example, downloading the JDBC driver with an applet that uses it).
The driver class and main entry point for the driver is named:
com.filemaker.jdbc.Driver
Important The JDBC client driver replaces the FileMaker JDBC driver released with a previous version of
FileMaker. If you have previously set up access to a FileMaker data source using the older driver, you’ll
need to re-define access by using and configuring the new driver.
Note To confirm that the FileMaker xDBC Listener is currently running, you can use the Activity Monitor
on Mac OS or the Task Manager on Windows to check the status of the FileMaker xDBC Listener process.
When the process is started, it is named fmxdbc_listener, and events are logged by that name. The FileMaker
xDBC Listener process is separate from the FileMaker Server process.
Using a JDBC URL to connect to your database

In Java, most resources are accessed through URLs (Uniform Resource Locators). A JDBC URL is used to
identify the database so the JDBC client driver can recognize and establish a connection with the database.
The JDBC URL consists of three main parts separated by colons:
jdbc:<subprotocol>:<subname>
The first part in the JDBC URL is always the JDBC protocol (“jdbc”). The subprotocol is the driver name
or the mechanism that supports multiple drivers. For the JDBC client driver, the subprotocol is filemaker.
The subname is the IP address of the machine that is hosting the FileMaker data source.
Registering the JDBC client driver and connecting to a FileMaker data source (an example)
Here is a snippet of a JDBC client application that:
1. Registers the JDBC client driver with the JDBC driver manager.
2. Establishes a connection with the FileMaker data source. The JDBC URL is
jdbc:filemaker://192.168.1.1/database
Chapter 6 | Using JDBC to share FileMaker data 31
3. Returns error codes.

import java.sql.*;
class FMPJDBCTest
{
public static void main(String[ ] args)
{
// register the JDBC client driver
try {
Driver d =
(Driver)Class.forName("com.filemaker.jdbc.Driver").newInstance();
} catch(Exception e) {
System.out.println(e);
}
// establish a connection to FileMaker
Connection con;
try {
con = DriverManager.getConnection(“jdbc:filemaker://192.168.1.1/mydatabase”,”username”,
“password”);
} catch(Exception e) {
System.out.println(e);
}
// get connection warnings
SQLWarning warning = null;
try {
warning = con.getWarnings();
if (warning == null) {
System.out.println("No warnings");
return;
}
while (warning != null) {
System.out.println("Warning: "+warning);
warning = warning.getNextWarning();
}
} catch (Exception e) {
Sysem.out.println(e);
}
}
}þ
Note This example is not meant to be compiled.

Specifying driver properties in the URL subname

Specify the user and password driver properties in the subname of the JDBC URL. These are the properties
that could be passed to the connection when calling the DriverManager.getConnection method via the
Properties parameter.
1 user: an account in the FileMaker database file that uses a privilege set with the extended privilege
Access via ODBC/JDBC
1 password: the password for the account in the FileMaker database file
JDBC URL connection with the database name specified in the URL
Format:
jdbc:filemaker://<filemaker host IP address>/<databasename>
Example:
jdbc:filemaker://192.168.1.1/publications
JDBC URL connection with the database name, user name, and password specified in the URL
Format:
jdbc:filemaker://<filemaker host IP address>/
<databasename>?user=<databaseusername>&password=<databasepassword>
Example:
jdbc:filemaker://192.168.1.1/customers?user=Collections&password=admin
Note Because of the use of the ampersand character (&) in this syntax, you cannot use an ampersand
character in the user name or the password.
Invalid user name example:

jdbc:filemaker://localhost/sales_db?user=ad&min&password=admin
Invalid password example:
jdbc:filemaker://localhost/sales_db?user=admin1&password=ad&min
Solutions with multiple FileMaker database files

If your FileMaker database solution uses many FileMaker database files, create an additional database file
that contains all the necessary external data source references, table occurrences, and relationships for your
solution. Then define this additional database file as your data source in the JDBC URL. All of the
FileMaker database files must be on the same computer.
Chapter 6 | Using JDBC to share FileMaker data 33
Verifying access via JDBC

When verifying access to a FileMaker database file via JDBC, make sure:
1 The FileMaker database file is hosted and available.
1 Your FileMaker account uses a privilege set with the extended privilege of Access via ODBC/JDBC.
1 The FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Server Advanced host application has been set up for sharing via
ODBC/JDBC.
To share a FileMaker database file as a data source, use FileMaker Pro to define accounts that need
access to the database file. Then, control access to the database file by assigning privilege sets to the
accounts, including the extended privilege of access via ODBC/JDBC. Finally, enable the
FileMaker Server Advanced or FileMaker Pro host application to share data via ODBC/JDBC. For
details, see FileMaker Pro Help.
1 The JDBC client driver registration and the JDBC URL are correct (the driver can be included inside the
Java Application or located on the client machine).
For additional information on using JDBC to share FileMaker data, see www.filemaker.com/support/technologies.
Chapter 7
Supported standards
This chapter describes the SQL statements and constructs supported by the FileMaker ODBC and JDBC
client drivers. Use the client drivers to access a FileMaker database solution from an ODBC- or JDBC-
compliant application. The FileMaker database solution can be hosted by either FileMaker Pro or
FileMaker Server Advanced.
The ODBC client driver supports ODBC 3.5 Level 1 with some features of Level 2. The JDBC client driver
provides partial support for the JDBC 3.0 specification. See www.filemaker.com/support/technologies for
more information. The ODBC and JDBC client drivers support SQL-92 entry-level conformance, with some
SQL-92 intermediate features.
Support for Unicode characters

The ODBC and JDBC client drivers support the Unicode API. However, if you’re creating a custom
application that uses the client drivers, use ASCII for field names, table names, and filenames (in case a non-
Unicode query tool or application is used).
Note To insert and retrieve Unicode data, use SQL_C_WCHAR.
SQL statements
The ODBC and JDBC client drivers provide support for the following SQL statements:
SELECT (see below) DELETE (page 42) INSERT (page 42) UPDATE (page 43)
CREATE TABLE (page 44) ALTER TABLE (page 44) CREATE INDEX (page 45) DROP INDEX (page 45)
The client drivers also support FileMaker data type mapping to ODBC SQL and JDBC SQL data types. See
“Mapping FileMaker fields to ODBC data types” on page 59 and “Mapping FileMaker fields to JDBC data
types” on page 59 for data type conversions. For more information on constructing SQL queries, refer to a
third-party book.
Note The ODBC and JDBC client drivers do not support FileMaker portals.
SELECT statement
Use the SELECT statement to specify which columns you're requesting. Follow the SELECT statement with
the column expressions (similar to field names) you want to retrieve (for example, last_name).
Expressions can include mathematical operations or string manipulation (for example, SALARY * 1.05).
The SELECT statement can use a variety of clauses:

SELECT [DISTINCT] {* | column_expression [[AS] column_alias],...}
FROM table_name [table_alias], ...
[ WHERE expr1 rel_operator expr2 ]
[ GROUP BY {column_expression, ...} ]
[ HAVING expr1 rel_operator expr2 ]
[ UNION [ALL] (SELECT...) ]
[ ORDER BY {sort_expression [DESC | ASC]}, ... ]
[ FOR UPDATE [OF {column_expression, ...}] ]
Items in brackets are optional.
column_alias can be used to give the column a more descriptive name, or to abbreviate a longer column
name. For example, to assign the alias department to the column dept:
SELECT dept AS department FROM emp
Field names can be prefixed with the table name or the table alias. For example, EMP.LAST_NAME or
E.LAST_NAME, where E is the alias for the table EMP.
The DISTINCT operator can precede the first column expression. This operator eliminates duplicate rows
from the result of a query. For example:
SELECT DISTINCT dept FROM emp
SQL clauses
The ODBC and JDBC client drivers provide support for the following SQL clauses.
Use this SQL clause To
FROM (page 37) Indicate which tables are used in the SELECT statement.
WHERE (page 37) Specify the conditions that records must meet to be retrieved (like a FileMaker Pro find request).
GROUP BY (page 38) Specify the names of one or more fields by which the returned values should be grouped. This clause
is used to return a set of aggregate values by returning one row for each group (like a FileMaker Pro
subsummary).
HAVING (page 38) Specify conditions for groups of records (for example, display only the departments that have
salaries totaling more than $200,000).
UNION (page 37) Combine the results of two or more SELECT statements into a single result.
ORDER BY (page 39) Indicate how the records are sorted
FOR UPDATE (page 39) To perform Positioned Updates or Positioned Deletes via SQL cursors
Note If you attempt to retrieve data from a table with no columns, the SELECT statement returns nothing.
Chapter 7 | Supported standards 37
FROM clause
The FROM clause indicates the tables that are used in the SELECT statement. The format is:
FROM table_name [table_alias] [, table_name [table_alias]]
table_name is the name of a table in the current database.
table_alias can be used to give the table a more descriptive name, to abbreviate a longer table name, or
to include the same table in the query more than once (for example, in self-joins).
Field names can be prefixed with the table name or the table alias. For example, given the table specification
FROM employee E, you can refer to the LAST_NAME field as E.LAST_NAME. Table aliases must be
used if the SELECT statement joins a table to itself. For example:
SELECT * FROM employee E, employee F WHERE E.manager_id = F.employee_id
The equal sign (=) includes only matching rows in the results.
If you are joining more than one table, and you want to discard all rows that don’t have corresponding rows
in both source tables, you can use INNER JOIN. For example:
SELECT *
FROM Salespeople INNER JOIN Sales_Data
ON Salespeople.Salesperson_ID = Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID
If you are joining two tables, but you don’t want to discard rows of the first table (the “left” table), you can
use LEFT JOIN.
SELECT *
FROM Salespeople LEFT JOIN Sales Data
ON Salespeople.Salesperson ID = Sales Data.DepartmentID
Every row from the “Salespeople” table will appear in the joined table.
If you are joining two tables, but you don’t want to discard rows of the second table (the “right” table), you
can use RIGHT JOIN.
SELECT *
FROM Salespeople RIGHT JOIN Sales Data
ON Salespeople.Salesperson ID = Sales Data.DepartmentID
Every row from the “Sales Data” table will appear in the joined table.
Notes
1 LEFT JOIN is supported, but the grammar LEFT OUTER JOIN is not currently supported.
1 RIGHT JOIN is supported, but the grammar RIGHT OUTER JOIN is not currently supported.
1 FULL OUTER JOIN is not currently supported.
WHERE clause
The WHERE clause specifies the conditions that records must meet to be retrieved. The WHERE clause
contains conditions in the form:
WHERE expr1 rel_operator expr2
expr1 and expr2 can be field names, constant values, or expressions.
rel_operator is the relational operator that links the two expressions. For example, the following
SELECT statement retrieves the names of employees who make $20,000 or more.
SELECT last_name,first_name FROM emp WHERE salary >= 20000
The WHERE clause can also use expressions such as these:

WHERE expr1 IS NULL
WHERE NOT expr2
Note If you use fully qualified names in the SELECT (projection) list, you must also use fully qualified
names in the related WHERE clause.
GROUP BY clause
The GROUP BY clause specifies the names of one or more fields by which the returned values should be
grouped. This clause is used to return a set of aggregate values. It has the following format:
GROUP BY columns
columns must match the column expression used in the SELECT clause. A column expression can be one
or more field names of the database table separated by commas.
The following example sums the salaries in each department.
SELECT dept_id, SUM (salary) FROM emp GROUP BY dept_id
This statement returns one row for each distinct department ID. Each row contains the department ID and
the sum of the salaries of the employees in the department.
HAVING clause
The HAVING clause enables you to specify conditions for groups of records (for example, display only the
departments that have salaries totaling more than $200,000). It has the following format:
HAVING expr1 rel_operator expr2
expr1 and expr2 can be field names, constant values, or expressions. These expressions do not have to
match a column expression in the SELECT clause.
rel_operator is the relational operator that links the two expressions. The following example returns only
the departments whose sums of salaries are greater than $200,000:
SELECT dept_id, SUM (salary) FROM emp
GROUP BY dept_id HAVING SUM (salary) > 200000
UNION operator
The UNION operator combines the results of two or more SELECT statements into a single result. The
single result is all of the returned records from the SELECT statements. By default, duplicate records are
not returned. To return duplicate records, use the ALL keyword (UNION ALL). The format is:
SELECT statement UNION [ALL] SELECT statement
When using the UNION operator, the select lists for each SELECT statement must have the same number
of column expressions, with the same data types, and must be specified in the same order. For example:
SELECT last_name, salary, hire_date FROM emp UNION SELECT name, pay,
birth_date FROM person
This example has the same number of column expressions, and each column expression, in order, has the
same data type.
The following example is not valid because the data types of the column expressions are different (SALARY
from EMP has a different data type than LAST_NAME from RAISES). This example has the same number
of column expressions in each SELECT statement, but the expressions are not in the same order by data type.
SELECT last_name, salary FROM emp UNION SELECT salary, last_name FROM raises
ORDER BY clause
The ORDER BY clause indicates how the records are to be sorted. The format is:
ORDER BY {sort_expression [DESC | ASC]}, ...
sort_expression can be field names, expressions, or the positional number of the column expression to
use. The default is to perform an ascending (ASC) sort.
For example, to sort by last_name then by first_name, you could use either of the following SELECT
statements:
SELECT emp_id, last_name, first_name FROM emp ORDER BY last_name, first_name
or
SELECT emp_id, last_name, first_name FROM emp ORDER BY 2,3
In the second example, last_name is the second column expression following SELECT, so ORDER BY 2
sorts by last_name.
FOR UPDATE clause

The FOR UPDATE clause locks records for Positioned Updates or Positioned Deletes via SQL cursors. The
format is:
FOR UPDATE [OF column_expressions]
column_expressions is a list of field names in the database table that you intend to update, separated by
a comma. column_expressions is optional, and is ignored.
The following example returns all records in the employee database that have a SALARY field value of more
than $20,000. When each record is fetched, it is locked. If the record is updated or deleted, the lock is held
until you commit the change. Otherwise, the lock is released when you fetch the next record.
SELECT * FROM emp WHERE salary > 20000
FOR UPDATE OF last_name, first_name, salary
Additional examples:
Using Sample SQL
text constant SELECT 'CatDog' FROM Salespeople
numeric constant SELECT 999 FROM Salespeople
date constant SELECT DATE '2011-06-05' FROM Salespeople
time constant SELECT TIME '02:49:03' FROM Salespeople
timestamp constant SELECT TIMESTAMP '2011-06-05 02:49:03' FROM Salespeople
text column SELECT Company_Name FROM Sales_Data

SELECT DISTINCT Company_Name FROM Sales_Data
numeric column SELECT Amount FROM Sales_Data

SELECT DISTINCT Amount FROM Sales_Data
date column SELECT Date_Sold FROM Sales_Data

SELECT DISTINCT Date_Sold FROM Sales_Data
time column SELECT Time_Sold FROM Sales_Data

SELECT DISTINCT Time_Sold FROM Sales_Data
timestamp column SELECT Timestamp_Sold FROM Sales_Data

SELECT DISTINCT Timestamp_Sold FROM Sales_Data
BLOBa column SELECT Company_Brochures FROM Sales_Data

SELECT GETAS(Company_Logo, 'JPEG') FROM Sales_Data
Wildcard * SELECT * FROM Salespeople

SELECT DISTINCT * FROM Salespeople
a. A BLOB is a FileMaker database file container field.
Notes from the examples

A column is a reference to a field in the FileMaker database file (the field can contain many distinct values).
The asterisk (*) wildcard character is shorthand for “everything”. For the example SELECT * FROM
Salespeople, the result is all the columns in the Salespeople table. For the example SELECT
DISTINCT * FROM Salespeople, the result is all the unique rows in the Salespeople table (no
duplicates).
1 FileMaker does not store data for empty strings, so the following queries always return no records:
SELECT * FROM test WHERE c =’’
SELECT * FROM test WHERE c <>’’
1 If you use SELECT with binary data, you must use the GetAs() function to specify the stream to return.
See the following section “Retrieving the contents of a container field: CAST() function and GetAs()
function,” for more information.
Retrieving the contents of a container field: CAST() function and GetAs() function
You can retrieve binary data, file reference information, or data of a specific file type from a container field.
To retrieve binary data, use a standard SELECT statement. For example:
SELECT Company_Brochures FROM Sales_Data
If file or JPEG data exists, the SELECT statement retrieves the data in binary form; otherwise, the SELECT
statement returns <null>.
To retrieve file reference information from a container field, such as the file path to a file, picture, or
Quicktime movie, use the CAST function with a SELECT statement. For example:
SELECT CAST(Company_Brochures AS VARCHAR(NNN)) FROM Sales_Data
In this example, if you:
1 Inserted a file into the container field using FileMaker Pro but stored only a reference to the file, the
SELECT statement retrieves the file reference information as type SQL_VARCHAR.
1 Inserted the contents of a file into the container field using FileMaker Pro, the SELECT statement
retrieves the name of the file.
1 Imported a file into the container field from another application, the SELECT statement displays '?' (the
file displays as Untitled.dat in FileMaker Pro).
To retrieve data from a container field, use the GetAs function and specify the file’s type depending on how
the data was inserted into the container field in FileMaker Pro.
1 If the data was inserted using the Insert > File command, specify 'FILE' in the GetAs function. For
example:
SELECT GetAs(Company_Brochures, 'FILE') FROM Sales_Data
1 If the data was inserted using the Insert > Sound command (Standard sound — Mac OS raw format),
specify 'snd' in the GetAs function. For example:
SELECT GetAs(Company_Meeting, 'snd ') FROM Company_Newsletter
1 If the data was inserted using the Insert > Object command (OLE container data), specify 'EMBO' in the
GetAs function. For example:
SELECT GetAs(Company_Results, 'EMBO') FROM Annual_Report
1 If the data was inserted using the Insert > Picture command, drag and drop, or paste from the clipboard,
specify one of the file types listed in the following table. For example:
SELECT GetAs(Company_Logo, 'JPEG') FROM Company_Icons
File type Description File type Description

'EMF+' Windows Enhanced Metafile Plus 'PDF ' Portable Document Format
'EPS ' Embedded PostScript 'PICT' Mac OS (does not have 512-byte file-based header)
'FPix' Flash (FPX) 'PNGf' Bitmap image format
'FORK' Resource fork (Mac OS) 'PNTG' MacPaint
'GIFf' Graphics Interchange Format 'qtif' QuickTime image file
'JPEG' Photographic images '.SGI' Generic bitmap format
'JP2 ' JPEG 2000 'TIFF' Raster file format for digital images
'META' Windows Metafile (enhanced) 'TPIC' Targa
'METO' Windows Metafile (original) 'XMLO' Layout objects
'moov' Old QuickTime format (Mac OS) '8BPS' PhotoShop (PSD)
DELETE statement
Use the DELETE statement to delete records from a database table. The format of the DELETE statement is:
DELETE FROM table_name [ WHERE { conditions } ]
Note The WHERE clause determines which records are to be deleted. If you don’t include the WHERE
keyword, all records in the table are deleted (but the table is left intact).
An example of a DELETE statement on the Employee table is:

DELETE FROM emp WHERE emp_id = 'E10001'
Each DELETE statement removes every record that meets the conditions in the WHERE clause. In this case,
every record having the employee ID E10001 is deleted. Because employee IDs are unique in the Employee
table, only one record is deleted.
INSERT statement
Use the INSERT statement to create records in a database table. You can specify either:
1 A list of values to be inserted as a new record
1 A SELECT statement that copies data from another table to be inserted as a set of new records
The format of the INSERT statement is:

INSERT INTO table_name [(column_name, ...)] VALUES (expr, ...)
[, VALUES (expr, ...)]
column_name is an optional list of column names that provides the name and order of the columns whose
values are specified in the VALUES clause. If you omit column_name, the value expressions (expr) must
provide values for all columns defined in the table and must be in the same order that the columns are defined
for the table. column_name may also specify a field repetition, for example lastDates[4].
expr is the list of expressions giving the values for the columns of the new record. Usually the expressions
are constant values for the columns (but they can also be a subquery). You must enclose character string
values in pairs of single quotation marks ('). To include a single quotation mark in a character string value
enclosed by single quotation marks, use two single quotation marks together (for example, 'Don''t').
Subqueries must be enclosed in parentheses.
The following example inserts a list of expressions:
INSERT INTO emp (last_name, first_name, emp_id, salary, hire_date)
VALUES ('Smith', 'John', 'E22345', 27500, {d ‘2008/06/05’})
Each INSERT statement adds one record to the database table. In this case a record has been added to the
employee database table, EMP. Values are specified for five columns. The remaining columns in the table
are assigned a blank value, meaning Null.
Note In container fields, you can INSERT text only, unless you prepare a parameterized statement and
stream the data from your application. To use binary data, you must specify the type in a PutAs() function:
PutAs(col, ‘type’), where the type value is a type as described in “Retrieving the contents of a
container field: CAST() function and GetAs() function” on page 40.
The SELECT statement is a query that returns values for each column_name value specified in the column
name list. Using a SELECT statement instead of a list of value expressions lets you select a set of rows from
one table and insert it into another table using a single INSERT statement.
Here's an example of an INSERT statement that uses a SELECT statement:

INSERT INTO emp1 (first_name, last_name, emp_id, dept, salary)
SELECT first_name, last_name, emp_id, dept, salary from emp
WHERE dept = ‘D050’
In this type of INSERT statement, the number of columns to be inserted must match the number of columns
in the SELECT statement. The list of columns to be inserted must correspond to the columns in the SELECT
statement just as it would to a list of value expressions in the other type of INSERT statement. For example,
the first column inserted corresponds to the first column selected; the second inserted to the second, and so on.
The size and data type of these corresponding columns must be compatible. Each column in the SELECT
list should have a data type that the ODBC or JDBC client driver accepts on a regular INSERT/UPDATE of
the corresponding column in the INSERT list. Values are truncated when the size of the value in the
SELECT list column is greater than the size of the corresponding INSERT list column.
The SELECT statement is evaluated before any values are inserted.
UPDATE statement
Use the UPDATE statement to change records in a database table. The format of the UPDATE statement is:
UPDATE table_name SET column_name = expr, ... [ WHERE { conditions } ]
column_name is the name of a column whose value is to be changed. Several columns can be changed in
one statement.
expr is the new value for the column.
Usually the expressions are constant values for the columns (but they can also be a subquery). You must
enclose character string values in pairs of single quotation marks ('). To include a single quotation mark in
a character string value enclosed by single quotation marks, use two single quotation marks together (for
example, 'Don''t').
Subqueries must be enclosed in parentheses.
The WHERE clause is any valid clause. It determines which records are updated.
An example of an UPDATE statement on the Employee table is:
UPDATE emp SET salary=32000, exempt=1 WHERE emp_id = 'E10001'
The UPDATE statement changes every record that meets the conditions in the WHERE clause. In this case
the salary and exempt status are changed for all employees having the employee ID E10001. Because
employee IDs are unique in the Employee table, only one record is updated.
Here's an example using a subquery:
UPDATE emp SET salary = (SELECT avg(salary) from emp) WHERE emp_id = 'E10001'
In this case, the salary is changed to the average salary in the company for the employee having employee
ID E10001.
Note In container fields, you can UPDATE with text only, unless you prepare a parameterized statement
and stream the data from your application. To use binary data, you must specify the type in a PutAs()
function: PutAs(col, ‘type’), where the type value is a type as described in “Retrieving the contents
of a container field: CAST() function and GetAs() function” on page 40.
CREATE TABLE statement

Use the CREATE TABLE statement to create a table in a database file. The format of the CREATE TABLE
statement is:
CREATE TABLE table_name table_element_list [DEFAULT expr][UNIQUE][NOT NULL]
Within the statement, you specify the name and data type of each column.
1 table_name and table_element_list have a 100 character limit.
1 The DEFAULT keyword allows you to set a default value for a column. You may use a literal such as
CURRENT_USER, CURRENT_DATE, CURRENT_TIME, or CURRENT_TIMESTAMP.
1 Defining a column to be UNIQUE automatically selects the Unique Validation Option for the
corresponding field in the FileMaker database file.
1 Defining a column to be NOT NULL automatically selects the Not Empty Validation Option for the
corresponding field in the FileMaker database file. The field is flagged as a Required Value in the Fields
tab of the Manage Database dialog box in FileMaker Pro.
Examples
Using Sample SQL
text column CREATE TABLE T1 (C1 VARCHAR, C2 VARCHAR (50), C3 VARCHAR (1001), C4 VARCHAR
(500276))
text column, NOT NULL CREATE TABLE T1NN (C1 VARCHAR NOT NULL, C2 VARCHAR (50) NOT NULL, C3 VARCHAR
(1001) NOT NULL, C4 VARCHAR (500276) NOT NULL)
numeric column CREATE TABLE T2 (C1 DECIMAL, C2 DECIMAL (10,0), C3 DECIMAL (7539,2),
C4 DECIMAL (497925,301))
date column CREATE TABLE T3 (C1 DATE, C2 DATE, C3 DATE, C4 DATE)
time column CREATE TABLE T4 (C1 TIME, C2 TIME, C3 TIME, C4 TIME)
timestamp column CREATE TABLE T5 (C1 TIMESTAMP, C2 TIMESTAMP, C3 TIMESTAMP, C4 TIMESTAMP)
BLOB column CREATE TABLE T6 (C1 BLOB, C2 BLOB, C3 BLOB, C4 BLOB)
ALTER TABLE statement

Use the ALTER TABLE statement to change the structure of an existing table in a database file. You can
modify only one column in each statement. The formats of the ALTER TABLE statement are:
ALTER TABLE table_name ADD [COLUMN] column_definition
ALTER TABLE table_name DROP [COLUMN] unqualified_column_name
ALTER TABLE table_name ALTER [COLUMN] column_definition SET DEFAULT expr
ALTER TABLE table_name ALTER [COLUMN] column_definition DROP DEFAULT
You must know the table’s structure and how you want to modify it before using the ALTER TABLE statement.
Examples
To Sample SQL
add columns ALTER TABLE Salespeople ADD C1 VARCHAR
remove columns ALTER TABLE Salespeople DROP C1
set the default value for a ALTER TABLE Salespeople ALTER Company SET DEFAULT ‘FileMaker’
column
remove the default value for ALTER TABLE Salespeople ALTER Company DROP DEFAULT
a column
Note SET DEFAULT and DROP DEFAULT do not affect existing rows in the table, but change the default
value for rows that are subsequently added to the table.
CREATE INDEX statement

Use the CREATE INDEX statement to speed searches in your database file. The format of the CREATE
INDEX statement is:
CREATE INDEX ON table_name.column_name
CREATE INDEX ON table_name (column_name)
CREATE INDEX is supported for a single column (multi-column indexes are not supported). Indexes are
not allowed on columns that correspond to container field types, summary fields, fields that have the global
storage option, or unstored calculation fields in a FileMaker database file.
Creating an index for a text column automatically selects the Storage Option of Minimal in Indexing for the
corresponding field in the FileMaker database file. Creating an index for a non-text column (or a column
formatted as Japanese text) automatically selects the Storage Option of All in Indexing for the corresponding
field in the FileMaker database file.
Creating an index for any column automatically selects the Storage Option of Automatically create indexes
as needed in Indexing for the corresponding field in the FileMaker database file.
FileMaker automatically creates indexes as needed. Using CREATE INDEX causes the index to be built
immediately rather than on demand.
Example
CREATE INDEX ON Salespeople.Salesperson_ID
DROP INDEX statement

Use the DROP INDEX statement to remove an index from a database file. The format of the DROP INDEX
statement is:
DROP INDEX ON table_name.column_name
DROP INDEX ON table_name (column_name)
Remove an index when your database file is too large, or you don’t often use a field in queries.
If your queries are experiencing poor performance, and you’re working with an extremely large FileMaker
database file with many indexed text fields, consider dropping the indexes from some fields. Also consider
dropping the indexes from fields that you rarely use in SELECT statements.
Dropping an index for any column automatically selects the Storage Option of None and clears
Automatically create indexes as needed in Indexing for the corresponding field in the FileMaker database
file.
The PREVENT INDEX CREATION attribute is not supported.
Example
DROP INDEX ON Salespeople.Salesperson_ID
SQL aggregate functions

Aggregate functions return a single value from a set of records. You can use an aggregate function as part
of a SELECT statement, with a field name (for example, AVG(SALARY)), or in combination with a column
expression (for example, AVG(SALARY * 1.07)).
You can precede the column expression with the DISTINCT operator to eliminate duplicate values. For
example:
COUNT (DISTINCT last_name)
In this example, only unique last name values are counted.
Examples
Aggregate function Returns
SUM The total of the values in a numeric field expression. For example, SUM(SALARY) returns the sum
of all salary field values.
AVG The average of the values in a numeric field expression. For example, AVG(SALARY) returns the
average of all salary field values.
COUNT The number of values in any field expression. For example, COUNT(NAME) returns the number of
name values. When using COUNT with a field name, COUNT returns the number of non-null field
values. A special example is COUNT(*), which returns the number of records in the set, including
records with null values.
MAX The maximum value in any field expression. For example, MAX(SALARY) returns the maximum
salary field value.
MIN The minimum value in any field expression. For example, MIN(SALARY) returns the minimum
salary field value.
SELECT SUM (Sales_Data.Amount) AS agg FROM Sales_Data

SELECT AVG (Sales_Data.Amount) AS agg FROM Sales_Data
SELECT COUNT (Sales_Data.Amount) AS agg FROM Sales_Data
SELECT MAX (Sales_Data.Amount) AS agg FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.Amount < 3000
SELECT MIN (Sales_Data.Amount) AS agg FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.Amount > 3000
SQL expressions
Use expressions in WHERE, HAVING, and ORDER BY clauses of SELECT statements to form detailed
and sophisticated database queries.Valid expression elements are:
Field names Numeric operators Relational operators
Constants Character operators Logical operators
Exponential notation Date operators Functions
Field names
The most common expression is a simple field name, such as calc or Sales_Data.Invoice_ID.
Constants
Constants are values that do not change. For example, in the expression PRICE * 1.05, the value 1.05 is a
constant. Or you might assign a value of 30 to the constant Number_Of_Days_In_June.
You must enclose character constants in pairs of single quotation marks ('). To include a single quotation
mark in a character constant enclosed by single quotation marks, use two single quotation marks together
(for example, 'Don''t').
FileMaker accepts the ODBC/JDBC format date, time, and timestamp constants in braces ({}), for example:
1 {D '2010-06-05'}
1 {T '14:35:10'}
1 {TS '2010-06-05 14:35:10'}
FileMaker also accepts SQL-92 syntax ISO date and time formats with no braces:
1 DATE 'YYYY-MM-DD'
1 TIME 'HH:MM:SS'
1 TIMESTAMP 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS'
Constant Acceptable syntax (examples)
Text 'Paris'
Number 1.05
Date DATE '2010-06-05'
{ D '2010-06-05' }
{06/05/2010}
{06/05/10}
Note: The 2-digit year syntax is not supported for the ODBC/JDBC format or the SQL-92 format.
Time TIME '14:35:10'
{ T '14:35:10' }
{14:35:10}
Timestamp TIMESTAMP '2010-06-05 14:35:10'
{ TS '2010-06-05 14:35:10'}
{06/05/2010 14:35:10}
{06/05/10 14:35:10}
Make sure Strict data type: 4-Digit Year Date is not selected as a validation option in the FileMaker
database file for a field using this 2-digit year syntax.
Note: The 2-digit year syntax is not supported for the ODBC/JDBC format or the SQL-92 format.
When entering date and time values, match the format of the database file locale. For example, if the
database was created on an Italian language system, use Italian date and time formats.
Exponential/scientific notation
Numbers can be expressed using scientific notation.
Example
SELECT column1 / 3.4E+7 FROM table1 WHERE calc < 3.4E-6 * column2
Numeric operators
You can include the following operators in number expressions: +, -, *, /, and ^ or ** (exponentiation).
You can precede numeric expressions with a unary plus (+) or minus (-).
Character operators
You can concatenate characters.
Examples
In the following examples, last_name is 'JONES ' and first_name is 'ROBERT ':
Operator Concatenation Example Result
+ Keep trailing blank characters first_name + last_name 'ROBERT JONES '
- Move trailing blank characters to the end first_name - last_name 'ROBERTJONES '
Date operators
You can modify dates.
Examples
In the following examples, hire_date is {D '2008-30-01'}.
Operator Effect on date Example Result
+ Add a number of days to a date hire_date + 5 {D '2008-02-04'}
- Find the number of days between two dates, or hire_date - {D '2008-01-01'} 29
subtract a number of days from a date hire_date - 10 {D '2008-01-20'}
Additional examples:
SELECT Date_Sold, Date_Sold + 30 AS agg FROM Sales_Data
SELECT Date_Sold, Date_Sold - 30 AS agg FROM Sales_Data
Relational operators
Operator Meaning
= Equal
<> Not equal
> Greater than
>= Greater than or equal to
< Less than
<= Less than or equal to
LIKE Matching a pattern
NOT LIKE Not matching a pattern
IS NULL Equal to Null
IS NOT NULL Not equal to Null
BETWEEN Range of values between a lower and upper bound
IN A member of a set of specified values or a member of a subquery
NOT IN Not a member of a set of specified values or a member of a subquery
EXISTS ‘True’ if a subquery returned at least one record
ANY Compares a value to each value returned by a subquery (operator must be preceded by =, <>, >, >=,
<, or <=); =Any is equivalent to In
ALL Compares a value to each value returned by a subquery (operator must be preceded by =, <>, >, >=,
<, or <=)
Examples
SELECT Sales_Data.Invoice_ID FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID = 'SP-1'
SELECT Sales_Data.Amount FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Invoice_ID <> 125
SELECT Sales_Data.Amount FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Amount > 3000
SELECT Sales_Data.Time_Sold FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.Time_Sold < '12:00:00'
SELECT Sales_Data.Company_Name FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.Company_Name LIKE '%University'
SELECT Sales_Data.Company_Name FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.Company_Name NOT LIKE '%University'
SELECT Sales_Data.Amount FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Amount IS NULL
SELECT Sales_Data.Amount FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Amount IS NOT NULL
SELECT Sales_Data.Invoice_ID FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.Invoice_ID BETWEEN 1 AND 10
SELECT COUNT(Sales_Data.Invoice_ID) AS agg
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.INVOICE_ID IN (50,250,100)
SELECT COUNT(Sales_Data.Invoice_ID) AS agg
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.INVOICE_ID NOT IN (50,250,100)
SELECT COUNT(Sales_Data.Invoice_ID) AS agg FROM Sales_Data
WHERE Sales_Data.INVOICE_ID NOT IN (SELECT Sales_Data.Invoice_ID
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID = 'SP-4')
SELECT *
FROM Sales_Data WHERE EXISTS (SELECT Sales_Data.Amount
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID IS NOT NULL)
SELECT *
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Amount = ANY (SELECT Sales_Data.Amount
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID = 'SP-1')
SELECT *
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Amount = ALL (SELECT Sales_Data.Amount
FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID IS NULL)
Logical operators
You can combine two or more conditions. The conditions must be related by AND or OR, such as:
salary = 40000 AND exempt = 1
The logical NOT operator is used to reverse the meaning, such as:
NOT (salary = 40000 AND exempt = 1)
Examples
SELECT * FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Company_Name
NOT LIKE '%University' AND Sales_Data.Amount > 3000
SELECT * FROM Sales_Data WHERE (Sales_Data.Company_Name
LIKE '%University' OR Sales_Data.Amount > 3000)
AND Sales_Data.Salesperson_ID = 'SP-1'
Functions
FileMaker SQL supports many functions you can use in expressions. Some of the functions return characters
strings, some return numbers, and some return dates.
Functions that return character strings

Functions that
return character
strings Description Example
CHR Converts an ASCII code to a one-character string CHR(67) returns C
CURRENT_USER Returns the login ID specified at connect time

DAYNAME Returns the name of the day that corresponds to a
specified date.
RTRIM Removes trailing blanks from a string RTRIM(' ABC ') returns ' ABC'
TRIM Removes leading and trailing blanks from a string TRIM(' ABC ') returns 'ABC'
LTRIM Removes leading blanks from a string LTRIM(' ABC') returns 'ABC'
UPPER Changes each letter of a string to uppercase UPPER('Allen') returns 'ALLEN'
LOWER Changes each letter of a string to lowercase LOWER('Allen') returns 'allen'
LEFT Returns leftmost characters of a string LEFT('Mattson',3) returns 'Mat'
MONTHNAME Returns the names of the calendar month.

RIGHT Returns rightmost characters of a string RIGHT('Mattson',4) returns 'tson'
SUBSTR Returns a substring of a string, with parameters of the SUBSTR('Conrad',2,3) returns 'onr'
SUBSTRING string, the first character to extract, and the number of SUBSTR('Conrad',2) returns 'onrad'
characters to extract (optional)
SPACE Generates a string of blanks SPACE(5) returns ' '
STRVAL Converts a value of any type to a character string STRVAL('Woltman') returns 'Woltman'
STRVAL(5 * 3) returns '15'
STRVAL(4 = 5) returns 'False'
STRVAL({D '2008-12-25'})
returns '2008-12-25'
TIME Returns the time of day as a string At 9:49 PM, TIME() returns 21:49:00
TIMEVAL
USERNAME Returns the login ID specified at connect time
USER
Note The TIME() function is deprecated. Use the SQL standard CURRENT_TIME instead.
Examples
SELECT CHR(67) + SPACE(1) + CHR(70) FROM Salespeople
SELECT RTRIM(' ' + Salespeople.Salesperson_ID) AS agg FROM Salespeople
SELECT TRIM(SPACE(1) + Salespeople.Salesperson_ID) AS agg FROM Salespeople
SELECT LTRIM(' ' + Salespeople.Salesperson_ID) AS agg FROM Salespeople
SELECT UPPER(Salespeople.Salesperson) AS agg FROM Salespeople
SELECT LOWER(Salespeople.Salesperson) AS agg FROM Salespeople
SELECT LEFT(Salespeople.Salesperson, 5) AS agg FROM Salespeople
SELECT RIGHT(Salespeople.Salesperson, 7) AS agg FROM Salespeople
SELECT SUBSTR(Salespeople.Salesperson_ID, 2, 2) +
SUBSTR(Salespeople.Salesperson_ID, 4, 2) AS agg FROM Salespeople
SELECT SUBSTR(Salespeople.Salesperson_ID, 2) +
SUBSTR(Salespeople.Salesperson_ID, 4) AS agg FROM Salespeople
SELECT SPACE(2) + Salespeople.Salesperson_ID AS Salesperson_ID FROM
Salespeople
SELECT STRVAL('60506') AS agg FROM Sales_Data WHERE Sales_Data.Invoice = 1
Functions that return numbers

Functions that
return numbers Description Example
ABS Returns the absolute value of the numeric expression
ATAN Returns the arc tangent of the argument as an angle
expressed in radians
ATAN2 Returns the arc tangent of x and y coordinates as an angle
expressed in radians
B Returns the decimal equivalent of a binary number B'1001' returns 9
CEIL Returns the smallest integer value that is greater than or

CEILING equal to the argument
DEG Returns the number of degrees of the argument, which is an

DEGREES angle expressed in radians
DAY Returns the day part of a date DAY({d '2010/01/30'}) returns 30
DAYOFWEEK Returns the day of week (1-7) of a date expression DAYOFWEEK({d '2004/05/01'})
returns 7
MOD Divides two numbers and returns the remainder of the MOD(10,3) returns 1
division
EXP Returns a value that is the base of the natural logarithm (e)
raised to a power specified by the argument
FLOOR Returns the largest integer value that is less than or equal to
the argument
HOUR Returns the hour part of a value.
INT Returns the integer part of a number INT(6.4321) returns 6
LEN Returns the length of a string LEN('ABC') returns 3

LENGTH
MONTH Returns the month part of a date MONTH({d '2010/01/30'}) returns 1
LN Returns the natural logarithm of the argument

LOG
MAX Returns the larger of two numbers MAX(66,89) returns 89
MIN Returns the smaller of two numbers MIN(66,89) returns 66
MINUTE Returns the minute part of a value

NUMVAL Converts a character string to a number; if the character NUMVAL('123') returns 123
string is not a valid number, returns 0
PI Returns the constant value of the mathematical constant pi
POW Raises a number to a power POW(7,2) returns 49
RADIANS Returns the number of radians for an argument that is

expressed in degrees
ROUND Rounds a number ROUND(123.456,0) returns 123
ROUND(123.456,2) returns 123.46
ROUND(123.456,-2) returns 100
SECOND Returns the seconds part of a value

Functions that
return numbers Description Example
SIGN An indicator of the sign of the argument: -1 for negative, 0
for 0, and 1 for positive.
SIN Returns the sine of the argument
SQRT Returns the square root of the argument
TAN Returns the tangent of the argument
VAL Converts a character string to a number; if the character VAL('123') returns 123
string is not a valid number, returns 0
X Returns the decimal equivalent of a hexadecimal number X'b9' returns 185
YEAR Returns the year part of a date YEAR({d '2010/01/30'}) returns 2010
Functions that return dates

Functions that return
dates Description Example
CURDATE Returns today’s date
CURRENT_DATE
CURTIME Returns the current time
CURRENT_TIME
CURTIMESTAMP Returns the current timestamp value
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
TIMESTAMPVAL
DATE Returns today’s date If today is 11/21/2010, DATE() returns 2010-11-21
TODAY
DATEVAL Converts a character string to a date DATEVAL('01/30/2011') returns 2011-01-30
Note The DATE() function is deprecated. Use the SQL standard CURRENT_DATE instead.
Operator precedence
As expressions become more complex, the order in which the expressions are evaluated becomes important.
This table shows the order in which the operators are evaluated. The operators in the first line are evaluated
first, and so on. Operators in the same line are evaluated left to right in the expression.
Precedence Operator
1 Unary '-', Unary '+'
2 ^, **
3 *, /
4 +, -
5 =, <>, <, <=, >, >=, Like, Not Like, Is Null, Is Not Null, Between, In, Exists, Any, All
6 Not
7 AND
8 OR
The following example shows the importance of precedence:

WHERE salary > 40000 OR hire_date > {d ‘2008/01/30’} AND dept = 'D101'
Because AND is evaluated first, this query retrieves employees in department D101 hired after January 30,
2008, as well as every employee making more than $40,000, no matter what department or hire date.
To force the clause to be evaluated in a different order, use parentheses to enclose the conditions to be
evaluated first. For example:
WHERE (salary > 40000 OR hire_date > {d ‘2008/01/30’}) AND dept = 'D101'
retrieves employees in department D101 that either make more than $40,000 or were hired after January 30, 2008.
ODBC Catalog functions

The ODBC client driver supports the following Catalog functions:
1 SQLTables - catalog information is stored and reported as single part names (table name only).
1 SQLColumns
1 SQLColumnPrivileges
1 SQLDescribeCol
1 SQLGetTypeInfo
JDBC Meta Data functions

The JDBC client driver supports the following Meta Data functions:
1 getColumns
1 getColumnPrivileges
1 getMetaData
1 getTypeInfo
1 getTables
1 getTableTypes
Reserved SQL keywords

The following table lists reserved keywords that should not be used as names for columns, tables, aliases,
or other user-defined objects. If you are getting syntax errors, these errors may be due to using one of these
reserved words. If you want to use one of these keywords, you need to use quotation marks to prevent the
word from being treated as a keyword.
For example, the following Create Table statement shows how to use the "OID" keyword as a data element name.
create table t ("oid" numeric)
ABSOLUTE COMMIT DOUBLE NSERT OF

ACTION CONNECT DROP INT ON
ADD CONNECTION ELSE INTEGER ONLY
ALL CONSTRAINT END INTERSECT OPEN
ALLOCATE CONSTRAINTS END_EXEC INTERVAL OPTION
ALTER CONTINUE ESCAPE INTO OR
AND CONVERT EVERY IS ORDER
ANY CORRESPONDING EXCEPT ISOLATION OUTER
ARE COUNT EXCEPTION JOIN OUTPUT
AS CREATE EXEC KEY OVERLAPS
ASC CROSS EXECUTE LANGUAGE PAD
ASSERTION CURDATE EXISTS LAST PART
AT CURRENT EXTERNAL LEADING PARTIAL
AUTHORIZATION CURRENT_DATE EXTRACT LEFT POSITION
AVG CURRENT_TIME FALSE LENGTH PRECISION
BEGIN CURRENT_TIMESTAMP FETCH LEVEL PREPARE
BETWEEN CURRENT_USER FIRST LIKE PRESERVE
BINARY CURSOR FLOAT LOCAL PRIMARY
BIT CURTIME FOR LONGVARBINARY PRIOR
BIT_LENGTH CURTIMESTAMP FOREIGN LOWER PRIVILEGES
BLOB DATE FOUND LTRIM PROCEDURE
BOOLEAN DATEVAL FROM MATCH PUBLIC
BOTH DAY FULL MAX READ
BY DAYNAME GET MIN REAL
CASCADE DAYOFWEEK GLOBAL MINUTE REFERENCES
CASCADED DEALLOCATE GO MODULE RELATIVE
CASE DEC GOTO MONTH RESTRICT
CAST DECIMAL GRANT MONTHNAME REVOKE
CATALOG DECLARE GROUP NAMES RIGHT
CHAR DEFAULT HAVING NATIONAL ROLLBACK
CHARACTER DEFERRABLE HOUR NATURAL ROUND
CHARACTER_LENGTH DEFERRED IDENTITY NCHAR ROWID
CHAR_LENGTH DELETE IMMEDIATE NEXT ROWS
CHECK DESC IN NO RTRIM
CHR DESCRIBE INDEX NOT SCHEMA
CLOSE DESCRIPTOR INDICATOR NULL SCROLL
COALESCE DIAGNOSTICS INITIALLY NULLIF SECOND
COLLATE DISCONNECT INNER NUMERIC SECTION
COLLATION DISTINCT INPUT NUMVAL SELECT
COLUMN DOMAIN INSENSITIVE OCTET_LENGTH SESSION
SESSION_USER USAGE
SET USER
SIZE USERNAME
SMALLINT USING
SOME VALUE
SPACE VALUES
SQL VARBINARY
SQLCODE VARCHAR
SQLERROR VARYING
SQLSTATE VIEW
STRVAL WHEN
SUBSTRING WHENEVER
SUM WHERE
SYSTEM_USER WITH
TABLE WORK
TEMPORARY WRITE
THEN YEAR
TIME ZONE
TIMESTAMP
TIMESTAMPVAL
TIMEVAL
TIMEZONE_HOUR
TIMEZONE_MINUTE
TO
TODAY
TRAILING
TRANSACTION
TRANSLATE
TRANSLATION
TRIM
TRUE
UNION
UNIQUE
UNKNOWN
UPDATE
UPPER
USAGE
USER
USERNAME
USING
Chapter 8
Reference Information
Mapping FileMaker fields to ODBC data types

This table illustrates how FileMaker field types map to the standard ODBC data types.
FileMaker field type Converts to ODBC data type About the data type
text SQL_VARCHAR The maximum column length of text is 1 million characters, unless
you specify a smaller Maximum number of characters for the text
field in FileMaker. FileMaker returns empty strings as NULL.
number SQL_DOUBLE The FileMaker number field type can contain positive or negatives
values as small as 10-308, and as large as 10+308, with up to 15
significant digits.
date SQL_DATE
time SQL_TIME The FileMaker time field type can contain the time of day or a time
interval. A time interval is returned as a time of day, unless it is less
than 0 or greater than 24 hours (both return a value of 0).
timestamp SQL_TIMESTAMP
container (BLOB) SQL_LONGVARBINARY You can retrieve binary data, file reference information, or data of
a specific file type from a container field.
Within a SELECT statement, use the CAST function to retrieve file
reference information, and use the GetAs function to retrieve data
of a specific file type.
calculation The result is mapped to the corresponding ODBC data type.
String length is optional in table declarations. All strings are stored and retrieved in Unicode.
Note FileMaker repeating fields are supported like arrays. Examples:
INSERT INTO mytable(repField[3]) VALUES (‘this is rep 3’)

SELECT repField[1], repField[2] FROM mytable
Mapping FileMaker fields to JDBC data types

The JDBC client driver uses the following mappings when converting FileMaker data types to JDBC SQL
types. (For information about these types, see the JDK 1.5 documentation web pages at www.javasoft.com.)
FileMaker field type Converts to JDBC SQL type
text java.sql.Types.VARCHAR
number java.sql.Types.DOUBLE
date java.sql.Types.DATE
time java.sql.Types.TIME
timestamp java.sql.Types.TIMESTAMP
FileMaker field type Converts to JDBC SQL type

container java.sql.Types.BLOB
calculation specified by the data type of the calculation’s result
The JDBC client driver converts the FileMaker calculation data type to the JDBC SQL type matching the
calculation’s result. For example, the JDBC client driver converts a FileMaker calculation that results in a
timestamp data type to java.sql.Types.TIMESTAMP.
ODBC and JDBC error messages

Here are the basic formats of error messages you receive when working with FileMaker and ODBC/JDBC.
ODBC error messages

Error messages can come from:
1 ODBC driver errors
1 FileMaker and FileMaker xDBC Listener errors
FileMaker ODBC error messages

An error that occurs in the FileMaker listener or data source includes the data source name, in the following format:
[FileMaker] [FileMaker ODBC] message
For example, you might get the following message from your FileMaker data source:
[FileMaker] [FileMaker ODBC] Invalid Username/Password
If you get this type of error, you did something incorrectly with the database system. Check your FileMaker
documentation for more information or consult your database administrator.
Consecutive messages for errors in different columns can sometimes display an incorrect column name.
JDBC error messages

The FileMaker JDBC driver reports errors to the calling application by returning SQLExceptions. Error
messages can come from:
1 JDBC driver errors
1 FileMaker and FileMaker xDBC Listener errors
FileMaker JDBC error messages

An error that occurs in the FileMaker listener or data source includes the data source name, in the following format:
[FileMaker] [FileMaker JDBC] message
For example, you might get the following message from your FileMaker data source:
[FileMaker] [FileMaker JDBC] Invalid Username/Password
If you get this type of error, you did something incorrectly with the database system. Check your FileMaker
documentation for more information or consult your database administrator.
Index
A container field
JDBC data type mapping 60
ABS function 53 ODBC data type mapping 59
Access via ODBC/JDBC extended privilege 22 with INSERT statement 42
accounts and privileges 22 with SELECT statement 40
aggregate functions in SQL 46 with UPDATE statement 43
ALL operator 49 CREATE INDEX (SQL statement) 45
ALTER TABLE (SQL statement) 44 CREATE TABLE (SQL statement) 44
AND operator 50 CURDATE function 54
ANY operator 49 CURRENT USER function 51
ARRAY data type 30 CURRENT_DATE function 54
ATAN function 53 CURRENT_TIME function 54
ATAN2 function 53 CURRENT_TIMESTAMP function 54
auto-generated keys 29 CURRENT_USER function 51
cursors
B in JDBC 29
B function 53 in ODBC 39
BETWEEN operator 49 CURTIME function 54
binary data CURTIMESTAMP function 54
use in SELECT 40
bitmap files in container fields 41 D
blank characters 48 data source
blank value in columns 42 configuring for access via JDBC 31
BLOB data type configuring for access via ODBC (Mac OS) 25
use in CREATE TABLE 44 configuring for access via ODBC (Windows) 23
use in SELECT 40 disabling a shared FileMaker database file 9
one DSN for each FileMaker database file 10
Boolean data type 30
verifying access via JDBC 32
verifying access via ODBC (Mac OS) 26
C verifying access via ODBC (Windows) 24
CAST function 41, 59 data source names. See DSNs
catalog functions for ODBC 55 data type mapping
CEIL function 53 JDBC client driver 59
CEILING function 53 ODBC client driver 59
character operators in SQL expressions 48 database connections, number supported 9
CHR function 51 database, DSN 24
client application, using FileMaker as 7 DATALINK data type 30
CLOB data type 30 date formats 47
column aliases 36 DATE function 54
column names 23 date operators in SQL expressions 48
configuring a FileMaker data source DATEVAL function 54
via JDBC 31 DAY function 53
via ODBC (Mac OS) 25 DAYNAME function 51
via ODBC (Windows) 23 DAYOFWEEK function 53
connections, database 9 DEG function 53
constants in SQL expressions 47
DEGREES function 53 H
DELETE (SQL statement) 42
HAVING (SQL clause) 38
disabling a shared FileMaker database file 9
holdable cursor 29
DISTINCT operator 36
host, DSN 23, 25
driver properties
HOUR function 53
JDBC client driver 31
ODBC client driver (Mac OS) 25
ODBC client driver (Windows) 23 I
drivers image files in container fields 41
uninstalling old 10 IN operator 49
DROP INDEX (SQL statement) 45 INNER JOIN 37
DSNs INSERT (SQL statement) 42
creating (Mac OS) 25 installation requirements 15, 27
creating (Windows) 23 INT function 53
one per file 10 IS NOT NULL operator 49
IS NULL operator 49
E
empty string J
use in SELECT 40
Java Development Kit (JDK) 30
error message formats 60
Java version 27
EXISTS operator 49
JDBC
EXP function 53 client driver, described 29
exponential notation in SQL expressions 48 described 29
expressions in SQL 46 error messages 60
extended privileges 22 overview of using 7
JDBC client driver
F driver class and main entry point 30
field names in SQL expressions 47 mapping data types 59
meta data functions 55
fields
portals 35
mapping to JDBC 59
registering with the JDBC driver manager 30
mapping to ODBC 59
specifying the JDBC URL 30
FileMaker products 9 Unicode support 35
files verifying access 32
organizing on one computer 9 JDBC SPI 30
setting up access to 22
join 37
use in container fields 41
FLOOR function 53
K
FOR UPDATE (SQL clause) 39
FROM (SQL clause) 37 keywords, reserved SQL 55
FULL OUTER JOIN 37
functions in SQL expressions 50 L
LEFT function 51
G LEFT JOIN 37
GetAs function 41, 59 LEFT OUTER JOIN 37
GROUP BY (SQL clause) 38 LEN function 53
LIKE operator 49
literals in SQL expressions 47
LN function 53
| Index 63
LOG function 53 operator precedence in SQL expressions 54

logical operators in SQL expressions 50 OR operator 50
LOWER function 51 ORDER BY (SQL clause) 39
LTRIM function 51 OUTER JOIN 37
overview
M setting up privileges and sharing 22
using ODBC and JDBC with FileMaker 7
Mac OS
creating a DSN 25
JDBC client driver requirements 27 P
ODBC client driver requirements 15 password
verifying ODBC access 26 with JDBC 31
mapping data types with ODBC 24, 26
JDBC client driver 59 PI function 53
ODBC client driver 59 port, specifying for JDBC 28
MAX function 53 portals 35
meta data functions for JDBC 55 positioned updates and deletes 39
MIN function 53 POW function 53
MINUTE function 53 PREVENT INDEX CREATION 46
MOD function 53 privileges, extended 22
MONTH function 53
MONTHNAME function 51 Q
QuickTime files in container fields 41
N
network requirements 10 R
NOT IN operator 49
RADIANS function 53
NOT LIKE operator 49
Rapid Application Development (RAD) tools 29
NOT NULL (SQL clause) 44
REF data type 30
NOT operator 50
registering the JDBC client driver 30
null value 42, 59
relational operators in SQL expressions 49
numeric operators in SQL expressions 48
remote access 9
NUMVAL function 53
repeating fields 59
requirements for installation 15, 27
O reserved SQL keywords 55
ODBC RIGHT function 51
described 21 RIGHT JOIN 37
error messages 60
RIGHT OUTER JOIN 37
overview of using 7
repeating fields 59 ROUND function 53
standards compliance 35 RTRIM function 51
ODBC Administrator (Mac OS) 26
ODBC client driver S
catalog functions 55 savepoint support 29
mapping data types 59 scientific notation in SQL expressions 48
portals 35 SECOND function 53
Unicode support 35 SELECT (SQL statement) 35
verifying access (Mac OS) 26 binary data 40
verifying access (Windows) 24 BLOB data type 40
ODBC Data Source Administrator (Windows) 25 empty string 40
Server Data Source 26 ODBC client driver (Windows) 24

sharing, setting up ODBC/JDBC 22 time formats 47
SIGN function 54 TIME function 51
SIN function 54 timestamp formats 47
SPACE function 51 TIMESTAMPVAL function 54
SQL aggregate functions 46 TIMEVAL function 51
SQL expressions 46 TODAY function 54
character operators 48 TRIM function 51
constants 47
date operators 48 U
exponential or scientific notation 48
field names 47 Unicode support 35
functions 50 UNION (SQL operator) 38
literals 47 UPDATE (SQL statement) 43
logical operators 50 UPPER function 51
numeric operators 48 URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for the JDBC cli-
operator precedence 54 ent driver 30
relational operators 49 USERNAME function 51
SQL standards compliance 35
SQL statements V
ALTER TABLE 44
CREATE INDEX 45 VAL function 54
CREATE TABLE 44 VALUES (SQL clause) 42
DELETE 42 verifying access
DROP INDEX 45 JDBC client driver 32
INSERT 42 ODBC client driver (Mac OS) 26
reserved keywords 55 ODBC client driver (Windows) 24
SELECT 35
supported by client drivers 35 W
UPDATE 43 WHERE (SQL clause) 37
SQL_C_WCHAR data type 35 Windows
SQL-92 35 creating a DSN 23
SQLExceptions 60 JDBC client driver requirements 27
SQRT function 54 ODBC client driver requirements 15
standards compliance 35 verifying ODBC access 24
string functions 51
STRVAL function 51 X
subqueries 42 X function 54
SUBSTR function 51
SUBSTRING function 51 Y
syntax errors 55 YEAR function 54
system requirements 15, 27
T
table aliases 36, 37
TAN function 54
testing access
JDBC client driver 32
ODBC client driver (Mac OS) 26

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FileMaker 11®

ODBC and JDBC Guide

1 Use a FileMaker database as a 1. SQL queries 1 FileMaker Pro This guide,

About this guide

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

About ODBC and JDBC

Client Driver Client

FileMaker software can act either as a client application or as a data source.

Using FileMaker software as an ODBC client application

Importing ODBC data

Adding ODBC tables to the relationships graph

Using a FileMaker database as a data source

Accessing a hosted FileMaker Pro database

Limitations with third-party tools

Updating files from previous versions

Importing ODBC data

FileMaker Driver Client

1 In FileMaker Pro, do one of the following:

Executing SQL to interact with data sources via ODBC

Working with ODBC tables in the relationships graph

Data sources supported in FileMaker 11

Adding ODBC tables to the relationships graph

Hardware and software requirements

ODBC client driver requirements (Windows)

ODBC client driver requirements (Mac OS)

ODBC client driver installation (Windows)

To install the ODBC client driver:

1. Do one of the following:

6. When the installation is complete, click Close.

Configuring client drivers (Windows)

To configure the ODBC client driver:

2. Select the System DSN or User DSN tab

4. Select FileMaker ODBC, and click Finish.

9. Review the information about your FileMaker DSN.

ODBC client driver installation (Mac OS)

1. Do one of the following:

4. In the ODBC Client Driver Installer folder, double-click FileMaker ODBC.mpkg.

5. Install the ODBC client driver by following the on-screen instructions.

Configuring client drivers (Mac OS)

To configure the ODBC client driver:

3. Select FileMaker ODBC, and click OK.

8. Review the information about your FileMaker DSN.

Where to go from here

Using the ODBC client driver

Overview of accessing a FileMaker database file

4. Connect to the FileMaker data source.

5. Construct and execute an SQL query in the client application.

Accessing a FileMaker database file from a Windows application

3. Choose the FileMaker data source that you previously configured.

8. Click Finish to save your data source information.

9. Click Done to close the FileMaker DSN Configuration dialog box.

Verifying access via ODBC (Windows)

3. Choose the FileMaker data source that you previously configured.

5. Click Next until you reach the Conclusion page.

Accessing a FileMaker database file from a Mac OS application

2. Click the System DSN or User DSN tab.

3. Choose the FileMaker data source that you previously configured.

7. For Host, enter the location of your data source.

9. Click Finish to save your data source information.