What's In A FileMaker File

What does FMDiff report?

Please note: this page - as well as a FMDiff report requires a current browser to be properly shown.

Hidden, But Important File Information

Let's look at a Comparison Report as shown in a browser. The report unveils details you've never seen before:

Timestamp - The date and time the original file was created, regardless of any later recoveries or clones
Recover Count - How many times the file was recovered
Used with FileMaker versions - in the order of first usage
Used with System versions - in the order of first usage

The samples shown here were taken from various files to show many aspects. You may download a real life example (44 kByte) as html file.

Report Header

The header shows the file name, the FMDiff version, the date and time of the comparison, and the elapsed time for the comparison. More fields can be set via preference settings, like who did the test, the machine configuration, location.

FMDiff™ Report: “bps_Email.fp7”

Tool

FMDiff (v2.0.1)

Date

2011-01-23 08:13:07

Elapsed Time

00:00:00.097

Tester

Winfried Huslik

Files

The Creation Time of a file remains permanent, regardless whether the file was duplicated, saved as, cloned or recovered. The Modified timestamp is the same as given in the finder. The file Size (in Bytes) must always be a multiple of 4096.

Files

Old: bps_Email.fp7

New: bps_Email.fp7

Path

Users/

winfried/

Desktop/

BPS/

1.0/

bps_Email.fp7

Users/

winfried/

Desktop/

BPS/

3.0/

bps_Email.fp7

Creation Time

2003-11-07 07:17:58

Modified

2010-06-02 22:54:02

2010-04-21 01:16:22

Size

864 KB (884736 Byte)

1.1 MB (1171456 Byte)

Use Counts

The FileMaker and OS version counts the file was opened with. Please note that simply opening and closing a file without any kind of modification does not increase the counter.

Used with
FileMaker Version
Count
 
FileMaker Version
Count
 
Developer 7.0v1
35
 
Developer 7.0v1
35
 
Pro 7.0v1
2
 
Pro 7.0v1
2
 
ProAdvanced 8.0v1
263
 
ProAdvanced 8.0v1
263
 
Developer 7.0v3
110
 
Developer 7.0v3
112
 
Server 7.0
1
 
Server 7.0
1
 
ProAdvanced 11.0v1
1
 
ProAdvanced 8.5v1
18
 
ProAdvanced 9.0v1
53
 
ProAdvanced 10.0v1
82
 
Pro 10.0v1
5
 
ProAdvanced 10.0v3
4
 
ProAdvanced 11.0v1
37
 
Pro 11.0v1
7

Used with
OS Version
Count
 
OS Version
Count
 
Windows
2
 
Windows
2
 
Windows 2000
24
 
Windows 2000
24
 
Mac PPC 10.2.8
2
 
Mac PPC 10.2.8
2
 
Mac PPC 
10
 
Mac PPC 
10
 
Windows XP
109
 
Windows XP
109
 
Mac PPC 10.3.9
135
 
Mac PPC 10.3.9
135
 
Mac PPC 10.4.2
17
 
Mac PPC 10.4.2
17
 
Mac PPC 10.3.8
122
 
Mac PPC 10.3.8
122
 
Mac Intel 10.6.3
1
 
Mac PPC 10.4.6
11
 
Mac Intel 10.4.9
61
 
Mac PPC 10.4.9
1
 
Mac Intel 10.5.4
60
 
Mac Intel 10.4.11
14
 
Mac Intel 10.5.5
8
 
Mac Intel 10.5.6
5
 
Mac Intel 10.5.8
48

Result

In case there are no errors or warnings:

No apparent errors or warnings.

Errors

Problems with the file will be reported here (and possibly no further difference reporting will take place).

Errors (indicates some kind of damage)

Block 2172 has wrong link to previous block.

Orphaned blocks: 622-721, 723-727, 729, 730

What are "Orphaned blocks"?

FileMaker files are divided in blocks (elsewhere called "pages") of 4 kB. All blocks belong to one of three linked lists and are either free, contain the internal "table of contents", or are used for the structure and data. Orphaned blocks may appear under certain circumstances.

The main reason is testing a file while it is in use by FileMaker. Since FileMaker keeps elements being modified in a separate cache, the file is not complete or links between blocks are not yet updated. The same thing happens when a file is copied or backed up while in use.

As a conclusion, life copies of FileMaker files in use are worthless. Only closed files can safely be backed up or copied. The way to go is to use FileMaker Server and only to keep copies of the backups produced by FileMaker Server, while excluding the life files.

Other reasons may be not properly closed files or file damages.

Severe Error:

Errors (indicates some kind of damage)

Severe format error prevented complete file traversal.

File traversal stopped due to fatal error in other file.

Illegal ID sequence in block 7.

Database structure truncated in block 1.

Warnings

Traversal was stopped in block 12.

You may just check a file for corruption with a specific procedure. Read how to test a file for corruption

Warnings

Here you can tell how many times a file has been recovered. Unless you have the complete recover.log history and it shows no errors or data losses, you can't trust the file. In real life this means you never can trust a recovered file.

Warnings

File was recovered 1 times on Mac OS (Intel).

Modifications Overview

Changes within the file with direct links to the sections

Differences Overview

Removed

Modified

Added

External Data Sources

Global Settings

Window positions zoomed and un-zoomed, onOpen and onClose scripts, default password...

Global Settings

Window Settings

ID #"06"

currBounds

{top: 0, left: 0, bottom: 690, right: 911}

{top: 1, left: 1, bottom: 691, right: 912}

prevBounds

{top: 0, left: 0, bottom: 753, right: 1067}

{top: 1, left: 1, bottom: 690, right: 912}

Language Dictionary

ID #"0B"

dictionary

2 entries

[0]

filemac:/ Mac Heinz/Applications/FileMaker Pro 10 Advanced/Extensions/Dictionaries/UKENGLSH.MPR

:usenglsh.mpr

[1]

:/ Mac Heinz/Applications/FileMaker Pro 10 Advanced/FileMaker Pro Advanced.app/Contents/MacOS/

:/MacProHD/Applications/FileMaker 10 Adv v3/FileMaker Pro Advanced.app/Contents/MacOS/

Default Locale

ID #"0D"

daysAbbr

"So", "Mo", "Di", "Mi", "Do", "Fr", "Sa"

"Son", "Mon", "Die", "Mit", "Don", "Fre", "Sam"

File Options

ID #"18"

options

asianLineBreaking, romanLineBreaking, smartQuotes, useFileSettings

asianLineBreaking, romanLineBreaking, smartQuotes, useSystemSettings

onOpenScript

» Fenster ausblenden

Account Settings

ID #"01"

DefaultPassword

DefaultAccountName

Admin

Base Tables, Fields, Table Occurrences

The Tables section lists the Base Tables, their Table Occurrences and Fields. For every Field more details are listed.
Please note: TO, Field, and other names are shown for elements within the same file only. To see names from related files, a folder comparison must be done.

Base Table “Sales Orders”

ID #"8001"

RecordsChangeCount

498

617

With the Base Tables the Record Change Count is shown, which is an accumulation of all data modifications. This provides a clue about the usage of each table.
Please note: The Base Table IDs cannot be retrieved with any FileMaker Function. TableIDs ( fileName ) returns TableOccurrence IDs, not BaseTable IDs.

Field “Invoice ID”

ID #"01"

nextAutoEnterValue

modifications

Field “Bill To Name”

ID #"02"

indexLanguage

Not assigned

English

autoEnterOptions

useAutoEnterCalculation, replaceExistingValue

calculation

Contacts Bill To::Full Name

modifications

Field “Bill To Street”

ID #"07"

indexLanguage

Not assigned

English

calculation

Case( Sales Orders::Bill To Name = Contacts Bill To::Full Name; Contacts Bill To::Street 1; 1; "" )

Contacts Bill To::Street 1

modifications

Field “Product Unit Price”

ID #"2A"

Field “Product Extended Amount”

ID #"2B"

Field “Subtotal”

ID #"2C"

storageOptions

doNotStoreResults

calculation

Sum( Sales Orders::Product Extended Amount )

Sum( Line Items::Amount )

calcModifications

modifications

Field “Sales Tax Rate”

ID #"2D"

autoEnterOptions

useAutoEnterCalculation

calculation

Contacts Bill To::Tax Rate

nextAutoEnterValue

modifications

Field “Weight”

ID #"3B"

storageOptions

doNotStoreResults

calculation

Sum( Sales Orders::Product Weight; Sales Orders::Product Weight[2]; Sales Orders::Product Weight[3]; Sales Orders::Product Weight[4]; Sales Orders::Product Weight[5]; Sales Orders::Product Weight[6]; Sales Orders::Product Weight[7]; Sales Orders::Product Weight[8] )

Sum( Line Items::Product Weight )

calcModifications

modifications

Field “Product Weight”

ID #"75"

Field “Ship To Contact ID”

ID #"76"

Field “ShipDateLabel”

ID #"78"

Table Occurrence “Sales Orders”

ID #"D00001"

Occurrence.Bounds

{top: 20.0, left: 20.0, width: 131.0, height: 142.0}

{top: 20.0, left: 14.0, width: 131.0, height: 310.0}

modifications

Relation 1

R1: Sales Orders Inventory

R11: Sales Orders Contacts Bill To

R2: Sales Orders ↔ Contacts Bill To

R3: Sales Orders ↔ Contacts Ship To

R4: Sales Orders ↔ Sales One Record

R5: Sales Orders ↔ Contacts One

R6: Sales Orders ↔ Sales Inventory ID

R7: Line Items ↔ Sales Orders

Table Occurrence “Sales One Record”

ID #"D00006"

Occurrence.Bounds

{top: 236.0, left: 273.0, width: 162.0, height: 36.0}

{top: 265.0, left: 88.0, width: 179.0, height: 36.0}

modifications

Layouts

Layout “Liste”

ID #"01"

modifications

Layout “Copyright”

ID #"02"

modifications

Layout “EU_States”

ID #"03"

Custom Functions

Custom Function “nocr”

ID #"01"

Name

mailencode

nocr

Parameters

name

calculation

Case( PatternCount( name; "ä" ) + PatternCount( name; "ö" ) + PatternCount( name; "ü" ) + PatternCount( name; "ø" ) + PatternCount( name; "ß" ) + PatternCount( name; "Ä" ) + PatternCount( name; "Ö" ) + PatternCount( name; "Ü" ) + PatternCount( name; "Ø" ) + PatternCount( name; "á" ) + PatternCount( name; "à" ) + PatternCount( name; "Á" ) + PatternCount( name; "À" ) + PatternCount( name; "é" ) + PatternCount( name; "è" ) + PatternCount( name; "É" ) + PatternCount( name; "È" ) + PatternCount( name; "ó" ) + PatternCount( name; "Ó" ) + PatternCount( name; "ò" ) + PatternCount( name; "Ò" ) + PatternCount( name; "ú" ) + PatternCount( name; "Ú" ) + PatternCount( name; "ù" ) + PatternCount( name; "Ù" ); Substitute( name; ["ä"; "=E4"]; ["ö"; "=F6"]; ["ü"; "=FC"]; ["ø"; "=F8"]; ["ß"; "=DF"]; ["Ä"; "=C4"]; ["Ö"; "=D6"]; ["Ü"; "=DC"]; ["Ø"; "=D8"]; ["á"; "=E1"]; ["à"; "=E0"]; ["Á"; "=C1"]; ["À"; "=C0"]; ["é"; "=E9"]; ["è"; "=E8"]; ["É"; "=C9"]; ["È"; "=C8"]; ["ó"; "=F3"]; ["O"; "=D3"]; ["ò"; "=F2"]; ["Ò"; "=D2"]; ["ú"; "=FA"]; ["Ú"; "=DA"]; ["ù"; "=F9"]; ["Ù"; "=D9"]; [" "; "_"] ); 1; name )

Trim( Substitute( s; ¶; " " ) )

modifications

Scripts

Script “ » Fenster ausblenden”

ID #"02"

modifications

Go to Layout[ “Copyright” ]

Adjust Window[ Hide ]

Re-Login[ Account Name: "Admin" ]

Script “sort nach Vorwahl”

ID #"06"

Sort Records[ Specified Sort Order: Huslik Laender::Vorwahl ascending, Huslik Laender::Land de ascending ] [ No dialog; Restore ]

Sort Records[ Specified Sort Order: Huslik Länder::Vorwahl ascending, Huslik Länder::Land de ascending ] [ No dialog; Restore ]

Go to Record/Request/Page[ First ]

Script “Import normal text file”

ID #"08"

Name

import

Import normal text file

modifications

Import Records[ ]

Import Records[ Source: file: data.txt ; Target: listData ; Method: Matching names; Character Set: Unicode (UFT-8) ; Field Mapping: Source field 1 import to listData::Name, Source field 2 import to listData::Address ] [ Profile - Data Type: Tab-Separated Text ] [ No dialog ]

Accounts

Account “[Guest]”

ID #"01"

AccountHash

[16 bytes]

AccountSettingsHash

[42 bytes]

[34 bytes]

Account “Admin”

ID #"03"

Name

Admin

AccountHash

[16 bytes]

AccountSettingsHash

[53 bytes]

[37 bytes]

AccountSettings

[9 bytes]

Account “x”

ID #"04"

Privileges

Privilege “[Read-Only Access]”

ID #"03"

Name

[Nur Lesezugriff]

[Read-Only Access]

PrivilegeSetHash

[16 bytes]

Privilege “user”

ID #"04"

Extended Privilege “fmapp”

ID #"03"

ExtPrivilegeFlags

[2 bytes]

ExtPrivilegeHash

[16 bytes]

modifications

Extended Privileges

Extended Privilege “fmxml”

ID #"05"

Extended Privilege “fmxslt”

ID #"06"

Extended Privilege “fmphp”

ID #"07"

Fonts

Font “Arial”

ID #"0003"

Font “MS Sans Serif”

ID #"0004"

Graphics

Graphic “1: 45 ⨉ 32”

ID #"01"

Graphic “3: 45 ⨉ 32”

ID #"03"

External Data Source “fmcMailings”

ID #"01"

External Data Source “fmcMailsSent”

ID #"02"

External Data Source

Value Lists

The Value Lists section reports all custom values that have been changed.

Custom Menu Sets

Custom Menu Set “MenuSet 1”

ID #"03"

modifications

Menu 1

FileMaker Pro Copy

File Copy

Custom Menus

Custom Menu “Edit Copy”

ID #"03"

MenuItem 1

"Undo"; Platforms: Macintosh, Windows; Command: Undo

"MenuItem49320"; Platforms: Macintosh, Windows; Command: MenuItem49320

"MenuItem49321"; Platforms: Macintosh, Windows; Command: MenuItem49321

—

"Cut"; Platforms: Macintosh, Windows; Command: Cut

"Copy"; Platforms: Macintosh, Windows; Command: Copy

"Paste"; Platforms: Macintosh, Windows; Command: Paste

"Paste Special…"; Platform: Windows; Command: Paste Special…

"Clear"; Platforms: Macintosh, Windows; Command: Clear

—

"Select All"; Platforms: Macintosh, Windows; Command: Select All

—

Submenu

—

Submenu

—

"Export Field Contents…"; Platforms: Macintosh, Windows; Command: Export Field Contents…

—

Submenu

"Preferences "; Platform: Windows; Script: S_21; Command: Preferences

"Preferences…"; Platform: Windows; Script: import AB selection; Command: Preferences…

Relationship

 
 Relationship “⨝2: RepairService ↔ timeTable”ID #"02"   
Name
⨝2: Recipients ↔ MailsSent
 
⨝2: RepairService ↔ timeTable
Tables.LeftTable
Recipients
 
RepairService
RightTable
MailsSent
 
timeTable
RightSort
--
 
0 entries
LeftSort
--
 
0 entries
Flags
 
 
allowCreationRight
Predicate 1
Recipients::uid ​= MailsSent::pid ​
 
RepairService::uid ​= timeTable::pid ​

End of Report

Download a complete FMDiff report (44 kByte) as html file.

Provided with this information you can tell:

Whether an element was
deleted,
modified, or
added.
The element's ID or value label
The old and new value or name
The number of modifications applied to an item
With the free FMDiff edition a '*' is shown for any ID or undisclosed element.
What, where, on what machine, and who did the comparison.
All changes applied in a compact overview
The differences in detail
Which of two files is was most recently modified (which file is new?)
How intensively the table data was used
... and if the comparison passes without error, that the file is OK.

With FMDiff you can prove a FileMaker file is in good shape, has not been modified - or in case it has, where.

Any information about FMDiff and FMVis is subject to change without notice.

© 2005 - 2015 Winfried Huslik †. © 2024 Jürgen Geßwein. All Rights Reserved. FMDiff and FMVis are trademarks of Jürgen Geßwein, Augsburg, Germany. FileMaker is a trademark of FileMaker Inc., Santa Clara, CA, USA. Other trademarks mentioned are property of their respective owners. This web site has not been authorised, sponsored, or otherwise approved by FileMaker, Inc.