Import CSV Data into FileMaker Pro

One of the strengths of the CData ODBC driver is its ubiquitous support across many applications and platforms. In this article, you will configure the ODBC driver in FileMaker Pro and create data visualizations with CSV data.

Query CSV Data in FileMaker Pro

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to creating a DSN on Windows or Unix-based systems like Mac OS X and Linux.

The DataSource property must be set to a valid local folder name.

Also, specify the IncludeFiles property to work with text files having extensions that differ from .csv, .tab, or .txt. Specify multiple file extensions in a comma-separated list. You can also set Extended Properties compatible with the Microsoft Jet OLE DB 4.0 driver. Alternatively, you can provide the format of text files in a Schema.ini file.

Set UseRowNumbers to true if you are deleting or updating in CSV. This will create a new column with the name RowNumber which will be used as key for that table.

When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

You can then load CSV data into tables in Filemaker Pro:

1. In your solution, click File -> Import Records -> ODBC Data Source, and select the CData CSV DSN.

2. In the resulting SQL Query Builder wizard, select tables and columns and then click Insert into SQL Query. You can edit this query directly. For example:

   SELECT City, SUM(TotalDue) FROM Customer GROUP BY City

   You can use the UI to build filters in the WHERE clause by clicking the WHERE tab.

3. In the resulting Import Field Mapping wizard, you can define mappings from columns in the data source to the columns in a destination table. To create a new table for the query results, select New Table ("CData CSV Source") from the Target box, and click Import.

For more information on the SQL that the driver supports out of the box, see the help documentation.

Process Data at Design Time

You can sort and aggregate data, as well as calculate summary functions, while you browse tables. To manipulate the view of data at design time, first complete the two steps below:

1. Switch to Browse mode: Click the Mode pop-up menu in the footer of the application.
2. Switch to Table view: Click the table icon in the View As menu in the main toolbar of the application.

Aggregate and Summarize

Follow the procedure below to group column values and then display a summary, as shown in the screenshot below:

1. Sort: Click the arrow in the City column header and then click Sort Ascending in the resulting menu.
2. Group: In the menu for the City column click Add Trailing Group by City to group the values and create a subsequent row where summary calculations can be inserted. Click Add Leading Group to introduce the group with a summary.
3. Summarize: In the menu for a column that has been grouped, select a summary from the Trailing Subtotals menu.

the procedure below to create a simple bar chart that shows the total TotalDue for each City.

1. Click the arrow in the TotalDue column header and click "Chart by TotalDue" in the menu. If you have already grouped on a column in the Table view, City, for example, you can select the option to chart TotalDue by City.
2. In the Chart Setup window, select columns to draw the chart: To add the column for the x-axis, click the button next to the Data box.

Selecting the x-axis and y-axis will draw the chart. You can also process data in the Chart Setup: Set the following options to create a basic chart.

1. Click the button next to the Data box and select Specify Field Value. Select a column in the resulting dialog.
2. Select a summary for the y-axis in the Summary menu.