CSV Roll Documentation Version 1.1 March 2015
INTRODUCTION The CSV Roll is designed to display the contents of a Microsoft Excel worksheet in a Breeze playlist. The Excel worksheet must be exported as a Comma Separated Value (.csv) file. This file format is a common way for data to be exchanged between applications in different system types. The CSV Roll may be used to display any information in a table, simply by creating and exporting an Excel worksheet. When changes are made to the Excel worksheet, simply upload a new CSV file and the changes are automatically implemented in corresponding playlists. The first row in the Excel worksheet forms the table s header and the following rows of information are scrolled vertically in columns below. 2
EXCEL WORKSHEET FORMAT The Excel worksheet is read from the first row to the last, preserving blank lines that exist between these two rows. The first row in the Excel worksheet forms the table s header, and the number of cells in the first row determines the number of columns in the table. If the Excel worksheet has a title in the first row, this row is used as the table s header and only one column of information will be displayed in the playlist. This is because there is just one cell in the header row, the title, and so just the first column of information is passed to the CSV file. In addition, spaces typed in a cell or any formatting applied to an empty cell is considered a row in use, and empty lines will appear in the table. This is also true of copying and pasting empty rows from one worksheet to another. Formatting applied to the text or cells in the Excel worksheet will not be retained through the exportation process. However, the CSV Roll widget in the Breeze Editor offers settings to adjust many aesthetic properties, such as font size, background colors, and more. If the Excel worksheet has an even number of rows, the first and last rows of information will be the same background color. This is because without counting the header row, there are an odd number of rows of information, and odd numbers do not alternate evenly. This may be avoided by inserting an empty row after the header (or the first row) of the Excel worksheet, essentially adding another row to the worksheet to produce an even number of rows of information. 3
EXPORT IN CSV FILE FORMAT The Excel worksheet must be exported, or saved, in a Comma Separated Value (.csv) file format to be successfully uploaded to the Breeze server. Excel offers three different *.csv file formats, but only two of these are compatible with Breeze: CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv) and CSV (MS-DOS) (*.csv). Note: The CSV (Macintosh) (*.csv) format is not compatible with Breeze! TO EXPORT AN EXCEL WORKSHEET AS A CSV FILE: 1. Click on File in the Tool Ribbon, and select Save As from the menu. 2. Navigate to the location where the CSV file will be saved. If needed, the file name may be edited at this time. 3. Below the File name field is the Save as Type field. Click on the arrow to see a list of possible file formats, as pictured in the image above. 4. Select either CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv) or CSV (MS-DOS) (*.csv) 5. Click the Save button. A window opens informing the user that only one worksheet can be saved as a CSV file. To show multiple worksheets from one Excel workbook, each worksheet must be exported as a separate CSV file. Click OK to proceed. 4
EXPORT IN CSV FILE FORMAT (CONTINUED) Another window opens, this one informing the user some Excel features are not compatible with the CSV file format. This is warning the formatting will be lost in the transfer from an Excel worksheet to a CSV file. Click Yes to finish exportation process. The active Excel worksheet (*.xlsx) becomes a CSV file (*.csv). The name of the CSV file is now the title of the worksheet tab, and although tabs for multiple worksheets may still be displayed, only the information in the named, or active, worksheet is conveyed to the CSV file. Reviewing the CSV file in a File Explorer window reveals it is simply a text file with information separated by commas, as the name Comma Separated Value implies. 5
CSV UPLOADER TOOL Once the Excel worksheet has been saved in CSV format, the next step is to upload the CSV file to the Breeze server. This is done in the Breeze CSV Uploader tool. Click on Choose File to open a File Explorer window, navigate to the desired CSV file, and click Open. Once a file has been selected, the filename will be shown to the right of the Choose File button. Click on Upload to begin the upload process. When the upload is successful, a URL is created that identifies the CSV file on the Breeze server. This URL, or web address, must be entered into the CSV Roll widget exactly as it appears in the CSV Uploader tool. For this reason, it is recommended users copy and paste the URL into the CSV Roll widget in the Breeze Editor. To update the table, modify the Excel worksheet, export a new CSV file with the same name used previously, and upload the new CSV file to the Breeze server. The changes will be implemented in the table without altering the playlist. TO UPDATE THE TABLE: 1. Make the necessary changes to the Excel worksheet. 2. Repeat the steps To Export an Excel Worksheet as a CSV file on page 3. The name of the previously uploaded CSV file must be used for the updated CSV file for the changes to be implemented automatically. 3. Upload the new CSV to the Breeze server in the CSV Uploader Tool. 4. It is not necessary to alter the playlist; simply update the player to see changes reflected in the table. 6
CSV ROLL WIDGET The CSV Roll widget is drag-and-dropped into a playlist zone. The Excel information can be the focus of a playlist, or just part of the media content displayed. Like all Breeze widgets, a pop-up window opens to obtain the additional information needed for the widget to function when the widget is added to a zone. The URL for the CSV file is entered in the first field in this window. The only information required for the table is the URL to the CSV file, but the CSV Roll widget contains settings to adjust the table s appearance. Adjust the settings if desired, click ok, and the table is displayed in the canvas. The table s appearance may be adjusted after it is created by modifying the settings and replacing the table with a new one. Dropping another CSV Roll widget into a zone reveals the previously selected settings are retained in this window. (In fact, all Breeze widgets retain the previously entered settings in the pop-up window until the Editor web page is exited.) Adjust the desired setting or settings and click OK to see the updated table. Repeat this process until the desired look is achieved. Don t forget to delete the unwanted tables! Note: All table settings will be lost upon navigating away from the Editor web page. The CSV Roll widget window is pictured below, along with a table displaying the default widget settings. 7
CSV ROLL WIDGET TEXT The font size determines not only the size of letters, but also the height of the scrolling rows. The height of the rows will determine how many rows are displayed at a time. The example table used throughout most of this document was created with using mostly default settings, except for a font size of 38-pt. This font size adjusts the text size, and row size, to display just the right amount of rows to show all rows of information at once. As a row is scrolled off the bottom of the table, it is also the next entry being scrolled onto the top of the table. Attaining the perfect font size can be a bit of a trial and error process. The table is scaled horizontally to fit the zone, using the longest text entry in each column to determine column size. A large font size may produce letters that are more narrow and thin, as the information is scaled to fit the width of the table. In a similar manner, a small font size may produce letters that are more wide and thick as they are stretched to fill the row width. This is demonstrated in the image on the previous page using the default settings of the CSV Roll widget (including the 20-pt. font size). The scaling of text may also be manipulated by increasing or decreasing the width of the zone the table is placed in. 8
CSV ROLL WIDGET COLORS Each color field displays the selected color s hexadecimal code and displays the color as the background color of the field. When a color field is selected, a window pops-up with a color selection control. Clicking in the color gradient area selects the color, and the slide control to the right adjusts the hue of the color. Hexadecimal color codes may also be entered as text in the color fields. The CSV Roll widget window may be dragged about the canvas to move the color field closer to a color in the playlist, so as to match a color when the exact hexadecimal code is not available. Click in the blue header area and drag the CSV Roll window to the desired position in the canvas. 9
CSV ROLL WIDGET COLORS (CONTINUED) Utilizing the hue tool can be any easy way to obtain pleasing groups of colors for the header and background rows. Simply chose the desired color, copy and paste the hexadecimal code to each background field, and adjust the hue for each field. 10
OTHER CVS ROLL WIDGET SETTINGS Border size increases the size of the table s borders. The image below demonstrates a border size of 5. Because the additional border size adds height to the overall table, all events can no longer be displayed at once using a 38-pt font size. The Ignore Column List omits worksheet columns from the table. For example, if the word Time is placed in the Ignore Column List, the above example would no longer have two columns. The Time column would be omitted from the table leaving just the Event column to be displayed. Multiple columns may be omitted from the table by entering the heading of multiple columns, separating each with a comma. The Transparent checkbox at the bottom of the window removes the Header Background, Row Back Color 1, and Row Back Color 2 colors to leave complete transparency behind the table text and borders. All other settings are implemented as usual. 11