Importing Data

Instead of adding fields as described above, you can import both the field names and data from a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file.  In fact, the file does not have to be comma separated.  The tab character or any other user-defined character can be used.

Most modern database and spreadsheet programs can output data in CSV format.  So if you have badge data in this format you can output a CSV file and import it with this feature.

The first line of the file can optionally contain the field names.  If it does, they must conform to the normal rules for field name selection, including avoiding reserved words.  If the file does not contain the field names, the fields will be called "field1", "field2", etc.  But either way you will be able to assign aliases to make the field names more meaningful to the user.

You can either manually define fields as described previously, or import them, not both.  So when you click the Import Data button, any fields you may have created manually will be cleared.

The process for importing data consists of 2 steps and a wizard dialog helps you with this process.  The first step determines how the CSV file is read and the second how the fields are configured.

When you are ready to import click the Import Data button and select the CSV file to import.  After you have done this the wizard will start and display a dialog as follows:

This dialog allows you to select the separator character and to indicate if the first line contains field names.  It also shows you the first few lines of data to show you have it will break up the records into fields.  Do not proceed until this is correct for your data.  When it is, click Next>.

A dialog will appear as follows:

In this dialog the fields are shown down the left with the characteristics across the top.  As you highlight each row the related field's characteristics can be set in the dialog section at the top left.

Each field has a type.  The most commonly used type will be User.  However, if your import file contains data intended for one of the 3 special fields (Photo File Named, Changed Flag and Template Number) then you can change the type using the pull-down menu.  Only one field can be designated as to be used for the special field, for each of the 3 fields.  In fact, if your field names are PhotoFile, Changed or Template then they will automatically be assigned to the respective type and you will not be able to change that.

It is important that the data for the 3 special fields is correct if you intend to include it on your CSV file.  The Photo File Named must contain the name of the photo file associated with the record, without a path  The Changed Flag must be empty to indicate the record has not changed since the last printing, or a letter X if it has. The Template Number must be a positive integer starting a zero.  If you have template numbers higher than the number of templates assigned to the database, then the first template will show for all those records with too high a template number.

Normally, however, each field will be assigned a type of User. The field can be defined as Alphanumeric or Numeric.  An optional alias name for the field can be provided, and there is a checkbox called Skip Field which will cause the field to be totally ignored during the import.

When Alphanumeric is selected, you can choose between General, Date, Time or Date/Time as the sub-type.  When General is selected you can also specify the maximum number of characters the field is intended to hold.  The maximum number is 255.  There is also a check box labeled Reject record on truncation.  If this is not checked and a field is encountered with more characters than those allowed for it, the excess will be silently truncated.  If it is checked, the record will be rejected and placed in the rejected records file, described later.

If you choose Date, Time or Date/Time as the sub-type, the field must contain data consistent with the associated type.  If not the record will be placed in the rejected records file. This means dates must be in the format defined in your Windows^®  Control Panel and times must be 24 hour with seconds, for example 12:45:00.

If you select Numeric as the type, then you can select the number of decimal places to store the data with.  If the record does not contain numeric data it will be placed in the rejected records file.

Each User type field can have an optional alias name associated with it and this can be entered in the box labeled Optional Alias.

There is a also a button labeled Reset All Fields which will set all field characteristics back to their original values.

The table displaying the field characteristics can be scrolled with either scroll bar and the column widths can be set by clicking and dragging the separator bar between the column titles.

When you are satisfied with the set up of the fields click Finish.  The underlying dialog will have its Database Field Names area filled in with the imported data.  Also, the Add a Field and Delete a Field will be disabled.  The button which originally said Import Data now says Cancel Import.  Click this if you want to cancel the import and start over.

The actual importing of data will occur at the last stage of the database creation.  So do not delete the original CSV file until the creation phase is completed.