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If the files you want to convert are currently open in a previous version of FileMaker Pro, close the files. If you attempt to convert files that are currently open, an alert message will appear indicating that the files are already in use, and they won't convert.
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In Windows Explorer or in a Finder window (Mac OS) create a new, empty folder for the converted files.
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Do one of the following to select and open the files you want to convert:
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Files method: In Windows Explorer or in a Finder window (Mac OS) select the files you want to convert, and then drag them onto the FileMaker Pro 8 application icon.
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Folder method: If a folder contains all of the files you want to convert, drag the folder onto the FileMaker Pro 8 application icon. If you are converting a multi-file relational database in which files are organized in subfolders, you need to convert each folder separately. First create new folders in the same structure for the converted files. Then convert files in subfolders at the lowest level first by dragging the subfolder onto the FileMaker Pro 8 application icon, indicating the correct new destination folder when prompted. When all related files in subfolders have been converted, use the "Files method" described above to convert files located in the original parent folder.
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Open dialog box method: In FileMaker Pro 8, choose File menu > Open, and select the files you want to convert in the Open dialog box by holding down Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac OS), and clicking each file. (You can also select a range of adjacent files by clicking the first file and then Shift-clicking the last file in the range.) Then click Open. The Open Multiple Files dialog box appears.
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Choose Open all files and convert when necessary.
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Click Specify, choose the folder you created in Step 2 where you want to save the converted files, and click OK (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS).
Important: Do not choose a folder that contains any of your original files. If you do, then converted files may be renamed (by appending a number to the filename) to prevent the converted files from replacing the original files. This renaming of files could cause file references to convert improperly, which affects relationships and other features that rely on file references.
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Click Open in the Open Multiple files dialog box to start the conversion.
During a prolonged conversion, the File Format Conversion dialog box will appear and show the conversion progress. If a file being converted contains indexed fields, you can save time by clicking Skip when the index is being re-created, which postpones indexing until later.
FileMaker Pro 8 creates converted files in the folder you specified and opens them, leaving your original files unchanged. On Windows, the filename extension .fp7 is added to all converted files. On Mac OS, the .fp7 extension is added to all converted files that previously had an .fp3, .fp5, or .fmj extension.
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Using a text editor such as Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac OS), open the Conversion.log file located in the folder that contains your converted database files.
The Conversion.log file contains a journal of the conversion process that you just completed. Much of it contains status messages that indicate the different file components that were converted. But it also may contain error messages that indicate areas where you may need to make manual corrections to the converted files before testing them further.
Note: If you later need to convert the same files again, make sure you convert the files into an empty folder; move or delete any files from the previous conversion attempt, or create a new folder for the next conversion. This prevents converted files from being renamed during the next conversion, which could cause file references to convert improperly.
