Export your solution as XML

The XML export is everything FM Fathom knows about your solution, so this is the one step that happens in FileMaker rather than in FM Fathom. It takes about two minutes per file.

What you need

• FileMaker 2024, 2025, or 2026. FM Fathom reads the XML format these versions produce. An export from FileMaker 2023 or earlier is rejected at upload with a message saying so; the fix is to open the file in a newer version and export from there.
• A Full Access account on the file
• A local copy is the simplest path, but hosted files work too: see the server-side option below.

Create the export

1. Open the file in FileMaker Pro with your Full Access account.
2. If you don't see a Tools menu: open FileMaker's Preferences, turn on Use advanced tools, and restart FileMaker Pro.
3. Choose Tools then Save a Copy as XML.
4. Pick where to save it. You get one .xml file.
5. Multi-file solution? Repeat for each file. FM Fathom links the files back into one system after upload.

That's the whole job. Upload the export and FM Fathom takes it from there.

Hosted on FileMaker Server?

You don't need to take the file offline. The Save a Copy as XML script step can run server-side: call it in a script performed on server (PSOS), and the export lands in a folder on the server (the Documents folder is the usual choice). Collect the .xml from there and upload it as normal. Or let the server hand it over itself: Automate uploads sends the export to FM Fathom on a schedule, right after the script that saves it.

What's in the export, and what isn't

The export describes the file's structure: tables, fields, table occurrences, relationships, scripts, layouts, value lists, custom functions, accounts, and privilege sets. Two things it does not contain, straight from Claris's documentation:

• No record data. Your rows are not in the export, so they're never in FM Fathom.
• No passwords. Account names appear (they're part of the security structure), but passwords never enter the export at all. It isn't even an option.

More on how we handle the export itself in Your data.

Related

• Quick start: uploading what you just exported
• Your data: what we store and what we never see