Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Connecting FileMaker to a SQL Data Source
Suppose you've decided to harness the power of the Web to grow your private investigation
business. You hired a hotshot programmer to build you a sweet little website that's sure to
put you at the top of the Google search results. Even better, visitors to your website can fill
out an inquiry form asking for your help. The programmer set up the site so the form submis-
sions go directly into a MySQL database. Now you want to work with that data in FileMaker.
First you need to obtain the necessary connection information from the programmer to con-
figure an ODBC data source. Your next step is to tell your FileMaker database about the
SQL database:
1.
Open the FileMaker database you've been building. Then choose File
→
Man-
age
→
External Data Sources
.
Here's where you tell your database about other places it can find data. You used this
same window to connect one FileMaker database to another. This time, though,
you're going to connect to a non-FileMaker database.
2.
Click New
.
FileMaker shows you the Edit Data Source window.
3.
In the Name box, type
Web Leads
.
You can name the data source anything you want. This name will show up when
you're choosing tables to add to the Relationships graph.
4.
Click the ODBC radio button below the Name box
.
FileMaker revamps the dialog box so it looks like the one in
Figure 21-8
.
5.
Click Specify
.
You see a list of all the system ODBC data sources defined on your computer.
6.
Choose the data source you want to connect to and then click OK
.
FileMaker puts the data source name in the box next to DSN.
At this point you have a decision to make. When someone opens this database, how does it
log in to the remote database? You have three options here:
▪ Turn on
Prompt user for user name and password
if you want people to enter the lo-
gin information when FileMaker makes the connection. This option means everyone has
to log in to the SQL database every time they open the FileMaker database (in addition to
any password they need to open the FileMaker file).
