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FM.SQL.Execute

Execute the SQL Statement against a FileMaker database.

Component Version macOS Windows Linux Server iOS SDK
FM FMSQL 5.1 ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
MBS( "FM.SQL.Execute"; FileName; SQL Statement { ; Params... } )   More

Parameters

Parameter Description Example Flags
FileName The target database name. Can be empty to not limit query to one database. ""
SQL Statement SQL Statement as a Text string
Params... Optional, pass here parameters. One parameter to this function for each parameter you want to pass to the SQL statement. 123 Optional

Result

Returns reference number or error.

Description

Execute the SQL Statement against a FileMaker database.
Returns a SQL Reference, so you can use functions like FM.SQL.RowCount, FM.SQL.FieldCount, FM.SQL.Field and FM.SQL.FieldType to query result.

Using FM.SQL.Execute avoids converting all result values to text like in FM.ExecuteSQL or FM.ExecuteFileSQL functions. Here you get result set stored in memory and back a reference number, so you can query individual values later. Like getting back container value and using it without just getting the file name as text.

Don't forget to use FM.SQL.Release to release the result from memory when you are done with it.

This function requires FileMaker 11 or newer. Please use FM.ExecuteSQL on FileMaker 10 or older.

This function takes variable number of parameters. Pass as much parameters as needed separated by the semicolon in FileMaker.
Please repeat Params parameter as often as you need.

Examples

Query only first row:

MBS( "FM.SQL.Execute"; ""; "SELECT * FROM ProductImages FETCH FIRST 1 ROWS ONLY")

SELECT records

MBS("FM.SQL.Execute"; ""; "select * from Contacts")

Select with parameter:

MBS("FM.SQL.Execute"; ""; "select Menge from Boxen where Artikel_Nr=? ORDER BY Menge DESC"; "ABC123")

Query some values:

Set Variable [$sql; Value:MBS( "FM.SQL.Execute"; ""; "select * from Clients")]
If [MBS("IsError")]
    Show Custom Dialog ["SQL error"; $sql]
Else
    Show Custom Dialog ["SQL result"; "got " & MBS( "FM.SQL.RowCount"; $sql ) &" rows with each " & MBS( "FM.SQL.FieldCount"; $sql ) & " …"]
    Set Variable [$r; Value:MBS( "FM.SQL.Release"; $sql )]
End If

Query record as JSON:

Let ( [
fields = MBS( "FM.QueryFieldsForTableName"; "Contacts");
Records = MBS( "FM.SQL.Execute"; ""; "SELECT \"" & substitute(fields; ¶; "\", \"") & "\" FROM \"Contacts\" WHERE \"First\" = ?"; "Joe");

json = MBS( "FM.SQL.JSONRecord"; Records; 0; fields);
r = MBS( "FM.SQL.Release"; Records )]
; json )

Make a JSON query in one Let statment:

Let (
    [
        $sdat = "10/1/2019 00:00";
        $edat = "10/10/2019 00:00";
        sku = "'PARbh50','PARgy50'";
        sql1 = MBS("FM.SQL.Execute"; ""; "Select docnum,linetotal,db from \"MyTable\" where ItemCode in (" & sku & ") and DocDate between ? and ?"; $sdat; $edat);
        json = MBS( "FM.SQL.JSONRecords"; sql1; "DocNum¶LineTotal¶DB"; 1);
        r = MBS( "FM.SQL.Release"; sql1 )
    ] ; json
)

Query related records as JSON:

# get related teams
Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "FM.SQL.Execute"; Get(FileName); "SELECT \"UUID\", \"ID\", \"ID_Department\", \"Team.Name\", \"MemberCount\" FROM \"Teams\" WHERE ID_Department=?"; Department::ID) ]
If [ MBS("IsError") ]
    Show Custom Dialog [ "SQL error" ; $r ]
Else
    # fill as json in field
    Set Field [ Department::JSON_Department ; MBS( "FM.SQL.JSONRecords"; $r; "UUID¶ID¶ID_Department¶Team.Name¶MemberCount") ]
    Set Variable [ $e ; Value: MBS( "FM.SQL.Release"; $r ) ]
End If

Query two JSON arrays, one for group names and ID list:

Set Variable [ $sql ; Value: MBS("FM.SQL.Execute"; ""; "SELECT DISTINCT \"ID\", \"Group\" FROM \"Contacts\" WHERE Length(\"Group\") > 0") ]
If [ MBS("IsError") ]
    Show Custom Dialog [ "Error" ; $sql ]
Else
    Set Variable [ $IDs ; Value: MBS("FM.SQL.JSONColumn"; $SQL; 0) ]
    Set Variable [ $Groups ; Value: MBS("FM.SQL.JSONColumn"; $SQL; 1) ]
    Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS("FM.SQL.Release"; $SQL) ]
    Show Custom Dialog [ "Values" ; $IDs & ¶ & $Groups ]
End If

Run query and add constant values:

Set Variable [ $Result; Value: MBS( "FM.SQL.Execute"; ""; "SELECT Field1, 'Some Text', 1234, Field2 FROM MyTable" ) ]

Query current record as JSON:

Let([
// get field list
fields = MBS( "FM.QueryFieldsForTableName"; Get(LayoutTableName));
// query the fields using that fieold list for current record
sql = MBS( "FM.SQL.Execute"; Get(FileName); "SELECT \"" & Substitute(fields; ¶; "\", \"") & "\" FROM \"" & Get ( LayoutTableName ) & "\" WHERE RowID = ?"; Get( RecordID ));
// and query JSON
json = MBS( "FM.SQL.JSONRecord"; sql; 0; fields );
// free SQL result
R = MBS("FM.SQL.Release"; sql)
]; json)

Query value lists via SQL in FileMaker 22:

Let([
    sql = MBS("FM.SQL.Execute"; ""; "SELECT ValueListName, ValueListId, Source, ModCount FROM FileMaker_ValueLists");
    json = MBS( "FM.SQL.JSONRecords"; sql; "ValueListName¶ValueListId¶Source¶ModCount" );
    r = MBS("FM.SQL.Release"; sql)
]; json)

See also

Release notes

Example Databases

Blog Entries

This function checks for a license.

Created 18th April 2015, last changed 13th June 2025


FM.SQL.CSV - FM.SQL.Field