ItemTracker Data Export and Import 1 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
Data Export and Import The export and import functionality that ItemTracker provides is extremely powerful. Data can be easily exported to other applications, e.g. spreadsheet applications, manipulated and then the changes imported back into ItemTracker. This document discusses the functionality that is available in ItemTracker Version 3.0 and later. It can be used at any time, and is extremely useful, saving potentially a large number of keystrokes/time, especially on initial setup and configuration. Exporting Data Data can be exported from the Items window in the following way: 1. Filter and retrieve the records you want to export. 2. Select either all records or just those that you want to export. 3. Select Tools > Export and then choose to export either with or without headers. The four options that could be selected are: a) Clipboard (no headers) b) Clipboard (with headers) c) File (no headers) d) File (with headers) Recommended option N.B. To import data back into ItemTracker you will need column headers. 4. Once you have selected to export the data, it will be placed on the system clipboard (or in a file). You can then open another application, paste in the data and manipulate it as required. 5. If you choose the option Clipboard (no headers), the data will be pasted on the spreadsheet without the column headers. Alternatively, if you choose the option Clipboard (with headers), the data will be pasted on the spreadsheet with the headers for each column. If you choose one of the two File options, 2 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
Save As window will open as below: 6. Choose the destination to save the file and then type in the file name where it says, File name: and click on the Save button. 7. A message will appear on your screen as the below figure: 8. If you specify the file name as Sample1.txt, you will find it created in the specified location. 9. If you open the file you will see the data you have selected from the Items window. See figure below: 3 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
Similarly, if you selected File (with headers) and follow the above steps, after saving a file with name Sample2.txt, the file will appear as below: As you can see the column headers appear against all the columns. 4 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
Importing Data Importing Data (Delimited) ItemTracker has extensive data import functionality. This includes being able to import and/or update owners, items and storage parts. This functionality is accessed from the Control Centre by selecting Tools > Data Import. Commonly, users have their data in, for example, Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet program. From such applications, data can be copied and pasted directly into the input window or saved to file in the tab delimited format. To import un-stored data, the only value that already has to exist in ItemTracker is the ItemType. Therefore, for this example, we will start by creating the ItemType Blood. From the Control Centre select Admin > ItemTypes. In the window that appears, create the ItemType Blood. Close the ItemType window and from the Control Centre window select the Tools > Data Import > Delimited menu option. 5 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
The following window will then appear. In the window that appears, type-in the details for the un-stored items that you want to create. The minimum information required to import new item(s) is Identifier, ItemType and ItemName. In this example, we are going to use the following data: Identifier ItemType ItemName ExtBarCode Patient 01 Blood Sample 01 00004B65F Patient 01 Blood Sample 01 00004B607 Patient 01 Blood Sample 01 00004B62A Patient 01 Blood Sample 01 00004B601 You can either copy and paste your tab-delimited data into the input text box in the Delimited Data Import Input window. Alternatively, if the data you want to import is in a file, let click the Open button and navigate to the file you want to open. Then select the file and click the Open button. 6 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
After either pasting the data into the window, or opening it from file, the data import window should look similar to that below. If you have Items in ItemTracker that already have the same ExtBarCode you can choose to create new Items by unchecking the option Update using ExtBarCode. Leaving the option checked will mean that ItemTracker will try to locate existing Items with a matching ExtBarCode and update the Items using the data from the Input tab. 7 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
With the data in the Input window, left click the Analyse button. The Configure tab will be shown with the columns in the input text box having been matched up with those in ItemTracker. If the headings in the file being imported match those in ItemTracker, they will be automatically mapped. However, if some headings in the file don t map to fields in ItemTracker, (DON T IMPORT) will be shown in the ItemTracker Fields column. Simply click the downward facing triangle, and select the field that the column in the file should map to, as shown below. 8 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
At the bottom of the Configure tab are three checkboxes. The first dictates whether the data will be imported for real, or just a test run performed (no data imported). The last two checkboxes dictate what should be done if the location specified for an item (sample) is not found or in use. After ensuring all fields are correctly mapped and the different checkboxes appropriately checked (or unchecked), left click on the Import button. The output tab will be shown. If you chose to not perform a test run, you will be shown the following window. 9 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
You will then be shown a message saying the items (samples) have been successfully imported. If you did choose to perform a test run, then the following message box will be shown. 10 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
If there were any errors, they will be shown in the grid. If there are any errors, go back and fix the errors and try importing again. Once your data has been imported, close the Data Import window. If you want to, you can view the samples that have been created (or updated) in the Items window. 11 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
Importing Data (Configured) In this example we are going to create a box in the map, create an ItemType called Blood, create some unstored samples and then import a configuration file which will put the unstored samples into storage. Start by opening the Map window and creating the following path. Ensure that the container GridType is set to Alpha Rows, Numeric Columns. Although the names at the different levels can be different, the actually bottom level must be exactly as shown. Next we are going to create an ItemType blood. To do this, from the Control Centre, select Admin > ItemTypes. In the window that appears, create the ItemType Blood. 12 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
Next we are going to create some un-stored samples using the delimited data import window. Open the delimited data import window, and paste the following data into the input window. Identifier ItemType ItemName ExtBarCode Patient 01 Blood Sample 01 00004B65F Patient 01 Blood Sample 02 00004B607 Patient 01 Blood Sample 03 00004B62A Patient 01 Blood Sample 04 00004B601 Then click analyze and check your mappings are correct. Then perform a test run and if everything is fine, import the samples for real. If you look in the items window, you will see that the imported samples do not have a location. The next part of this tutorial assigns a location to the samples. After you have imported the data above, from the control centre window, select the menu option, Tools-->Data Import-->Configured Into the Input text box, copy and paste the following data: 13 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
Current User: SupervisorNoPWD ~1-25-2001~10-56-33~ RACK:EDC00341 A1,00004B65F, A2,00004B607, A3,00004B62A, A4,00004B601, The window will then look as shown below. Left click on the configure tab and enter the configuration as shown below: 14 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
You can save the configuration for future use by left clicking the Save button. Then simply enter the name to use and click OK. If the configuration is successfully saved, you will be shown the following message. 15 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
With the configuration set up, left click the Import button. You will then be told how many records were successfully imported (hopefully all). Finally, you should look at the contents of your box in the map and check that the items have been moved to the correct location. 16 ItemTracker Software Ltd.
Using Data Import to Update Properties for Existing Items You can use data import to update the properties for Items that are already entered into ItemTracker. You must however have either the ItemID or ExtBarCode (External Barcode) for each Item. See section 7.2 above for importing delimited data. The simplest method for updating Items in ItemTracker is to update using either the ItemID OR the ExtBarCode. To update using the ItemID field to match Items ensure that the Update using ExtBarCode option is unchecked To update using the ExtBarCode ensure that the Update using ExtBarCode option is checked For this example we will update two fields for some Items. You may update as many fields as you like at once. Replace Blood Group/Cell Count with the name of your fields. ItemID ExtBarCode Blood Group Cell Count PT6638 O+ 11.1 20 A+ 12.0 35 PT9945 AB- 11.5 It is important to note the behaviour of ItemTracker depending on the setting of the Update using ExtBarCode option. If the option is enabled then ItemTracker will try to do the following according to the data rows above: Row 1) The Item with ExtBarCode PT6638 will be updated with Blood Group O+ and Cell Count 11.1. Row 2) The Item with ItemID 20 will be updated with Blood Group A+ and Cell Count 12.0 Row 3) ItemTracker will ignore the ItemID and try to find a matching Item with the ExtBarCode PT9945. If no matching Item is found then import will fail stating that the ItemType is missing. If the option is disabled then ItemTracker will try to do the following according to the data rows above: Row 1) Create a new Item this will fail as the ItemType information is missing. Row 2) The Item with ItemID 20 will be updated with Blood Group A+ and Cell Count 12.0 Row 3) The Item with ItemID 35 will be updated with Blood Group AB- and Cell Count 11.5. Also, the ExtBarCode field will have the value PT9945 added. 17 ItemTracker Software Ltd.