Advertisement

Readers offer solution to crossed platforms

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
SCMP Reporter

I might not have allocated enough space in last week's column to answer reader Sylvia Wong's question about importing a FileMaker Pro database from a friend's Macintosh to her PC-based Palm Pilot.

A number of issues have been pointed out to me since that are worth mentioning. An utility called Aladdin Expander for Windows apparently can expand a Mac .sea file easily enough.

As one reader pointed out, FileMaker Pro files are cross-platform, so one saved on a Mac can be opened on a PC. However, FileMaker Pro has to be installed on the PC first.

Advertisement

I had suggested that the person sending the file export it as a CSV file, or some other format that would make it easy to import directly into the Palm Desktop software. CSV uses commas to separate fields in a database and might not be a great idea if commas are present in the data itself. This is quite common, and will mess up the file completely. Exporting data with tab separators might be a better idea.

It has also been pointed out that although the original Palm Desktop software does not contain a utility to eliminate duplicates from an imported database, a program called Undupe available from www.stevenscreek.
Advertisement

com/pilot can do the job.

Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x