Import Wizard
Import wizard for tab separated lists
With this import routine, you can import data from text files (as
tab-separated lists) into the database. For an introduction see a short
tutorial
.
Choose Data -> Import ->
Wizard and then
the type of data that should be imported, e.g.
import Series ... from the menu. A
window as shown below will open that will lead you through the import of
the data. The window is separated in 3 areas. On the left side, you see
a list of possible data related import steps according to the type of
data you choose for the import. On the right side you see the list of
currently selected import steps. In the middle part the details of the
selected import steps are shown.
Choosing the File
As a first step, choose the 
[File] from where the data should be imported. For an
introduction see a short tutorial
.
The currently supported format is [tab-separated text]. Then
choose the Encoding of the file, e.g. Unicode. The preferred
encoding is UTF8. The Start line and End line will automatically
be set according to your data. You may change these to restrict the data
lines that should be imported. The [not imported
parts] in the file
are indicated as shown below with a gray background. If the
First line contains the column definition
this line will not be imported as well. If your data contains e.g. date
information where notations differ between countries (e.g. 31.4.2013 -
4.31.2013), choose the Language / Country to ensure a correct
interpretation of your data. Finally you can select a prepared
Schema (see chapter Schema below) for the import.
Choosing the data ranges
In the selection list on the left side of the window (see below) all possible import steps for the data are listed according to the type of data you want to import.
The import of certain tables can be paralleled. To add parallels click
on the 
button (see below). To remove parallels, use
the 
button. Only selected ranges will appear in
the list of the steps on the right (see below).
To import information of logging columns like who created and changed
the data, click on 
button in the header line.
This will include an additional substeps for every step containing the
logging columns (see below). If you do not import these data, they will
be automatically filled by default values like the current time and
user.
Attaching data
You can either import your data as new data or
[Attach]
them to data in the database. For an introduction see a short tutorial
.
Select the import step
[Attachment]
from the list. All tables that are selected and contain columns at which
you can attach data are listed (see below). Either choose the first
option 
Import as new data or one of the
columns the attachment columns offered like SeriesCode in the table
Series in the example below.
If you select a column for attachment, this column will be marked with a blue background (see below and chapter Table data).
Merging data
You can either import your data as new data or 
[
Merge] them with data in the
database. For an introduction see a short tutorial
.
Select the import step [
Merge] from the list. For
every table you can choose between 
Insert, Merge,
Update and
Attach (see below).
The Insert option will import the data
from the file independent of existing data in the database.
The Merge option will compare the data
from the file with those in the database according to the
Key columns (see below). If no matching data are
found in the database, the data from the file will be imported.
Otherwise the data will be updated.
The Update option will compare the data
from the file with those in the database according to the
Key columns. Only matching data found in the
database will be updated.
The Attach option will compare the data from
the file with those in the database according to the
Key columns. The found data will not be changed, but used as a
reference data in depending tables.
Empty content will be ignored e.g. for the
Merge or Update option. To remove
content you have to enter the value NULL. As long as the column will
allow emty values, the content will be removed using the NULL value.
Table data
To set the source for the columns in the file, select the step of a
table listed underneath the Merge step. All
columns available for importing data will be listed in the central part
of the window. In the example shown below, the first column is used to
attach the new data to data in the database.
A reminder in the header line will show you what actions are still needed to import the data into the table:
- Please select at least one column = No
column has been selected so far.
- Please select at least one decisive column
= If data will be imported depends on the content of decisive
columns, so at least one must be selected. - Please select the position in the file
=
The position in the file must be given if the data for a column
should be taken from the file. - Please select at least one column for comparison
= For all merge types other than insert columns
for comparison with data in the database are needed.
- From file or For all = For every you
have to decide whether the data are taken from the file or a value
is entered for all
- Please select a value from the list
= You have
to select a value from the provided list - Please enter a value
= You have to enter
a value used for all datasets
The handling of the columns in described in the chapter columns.
Testing
To test if all requirements for the import are met use the
Testing step. You can use a certain line in
the file for you test and then click on the Test data in line:
button. If there are still unmet requirements, these will be listed in a
window as shown below.
If finally all requirements are met, the testing function will try to write the data into the database and display any errors that occurred as shown below. All datasets marked with a [red background], produced some error.
To see the list of all errors, double click in the [error list window] in the header line (see below).
If finally no errors are left, your data are ready for import. The
colors in the table nodes in the tree indicate the handling of the
datasets: [INSERT],
[MERGE],
[UPDATE], [No
difference].
[Attach], [No
data]. The colors of the table
columns indicate whether a column is [decisive], a [key
column] or an
[attachment column] [].
If you suspect, that the import file contains data already present in
the database, you may test this and extract only the missing lines in a
new file. Choose the attachment column (see chapter Attaching data) and
click on the button Check for already present data. The data already
present in the database will be marked red
(see below). Click on the button
Save missing data as text file 
to store the
data not present in the database in a new file for the import. The
import of specimen contains the option Use
default duplicate check for AccessionNumber that is selected by
default.
If you happen to get a file with a content as shown below, you may have seleted the wrong encoding or the encoding is incompatible. Please try to save the original file as UTF8 and select this encoding for the import.
Import
With the last step you can finally start to import the data into the
database. If you want to repeat the import with the same settings and
data of the same structure, you can save a schema of the current
settings (see below). You optionally can include a description of you
schema and with the 
button you can
generate a file containing only the description.
Lines that could not be imported will be marked with a red background while imported lines are marked green (see below).
If you want to save lines that produce errors during the import in a separate file, use the Save failed lines option. The protocol of the import will contain all settings according to the used schema and an overview containing the number of inserted, updated, unchanged and failed lines (see below).
Description
A description of the schema may be included in the schema itself or with
a click on the button generated as a
separate file. This file will be located in a separate directory
Description to avoid confusion with import schemas. An example for a
description file is shown below, containing common settings, the
treatment of the file columns and interface settings as defined in the
schema.