Importing and Exporting Data From Data Structures

Overview 

Data Structures and their data may be transported between environments. 

Data can be exported as a dec.obj file via a simple action on the Data Structure itself and then easily imported into another system. Additionally, users may export the data into an Excel file.

Due to the varying complexity of Data structures, it is not advised to import and export all Data Structures the same way. To assist users with these complex structures, users have the option to attach the Data Structure to an existing Project to instead import/export the Project rather than the Data Structure or data itself.

Exporting a Data Structure

1. Right-click a Data Structure. Navigate to Import/Export > Export. 
2. In the Select Project panel there are two options: Add to Existing Project or Create New Project. Selecting Add to Existing Project prompts the Designer to select an existing project from a drop-down menu while selecting Create New Project then asks for a name for the New Project. 
3. After choosing the Project, select CONTINUE.
4. In the next panel, select what to include in the download: Item Only, Project with Dependencies, Project. Select CONTINUE.
5. Select which dependencies to include, select ADD, then choose DOWNLOAD.

Importing a Data Structure 

1. Right-click a Designer Folder. Then, navigate to Import/Export > Import.
2. Either click Choose File or drag and drop either the Data Structure or a project containing the data structure.
3. From the Import Entities panel,  select IMPORT
4. In the Import Summary dialog, confirm the included items to import.
5. Select COMPLETE IMPORT.

The imported Data Structure will appear in the environment in the folder that the import action was performed on.

Exporting/Importing Data (v9.3+)

Users can also export data out of a Data Structure, or import data into a Data Structure. Data can be imported or exported as Excel or CSV files.

Exporting Data

1. Right-click a Data Structure. Select Manage Data under the Manage section.
2. On the Pick Fields screen, select the fields to be exported. The id field must be selected.
3. The fields and data will appear. These can be edited. Press the Export Data button.
4. A final screen will appear asking for confirmation and providing the choice of either Excel or CSV format. The file will download to the location set in the browser.

Importing Data

1. Right-click a Data Structure. Select Manage Data under the Manage section.

2. 
   On the Pick Fields screen, select the fields to be imported. The id field must be selected. The data to be imported does not have to have an id value.
3. The fields and data will appear. These can be edited. Press the Import Data button.
4. The Import Data menu will appear. Pressing the DOWNLOAD SAMPLE FILE button will provide a CSV example of how the data should be formatted for import. Drag the desired file into the box, or press the UPLOAD FILE TO IMPORT to chose a file from a local directory. Then press IMPORT DATA.
   
5.  The Edit Entities screen will appear again showing the new data with the current data in that Data Structure. The new data is automatically assigned ID values.

Exporting/Importing Data (v9.0 - v9.2)

The following example demonstrates the Export Data to CSV and Import Data From CSV options.

Exporting Data

1. Select a Data Structure, right-click then navigate to Import/Export Data > Export Data To CSV. 
2. Select the desired Field Names to be included in the spreadsheet. To select or de-select a field, click on the checkbox beside each of the Existing Entities.
3. Select Download Existing Entities. 
4. From the Exports panel, select Download Sample/Export File to download pre-existing data to a spreadsheet. If this is not the desired action, or if there was an error in configuration, users may select Close to cancel the export and close out the panel.

Importing Data 

1. Select a Data Structure, right click then navigate to Import/Export Data > Import Data From CSV. 
2. Select the desired Field Names to be included in the spreadsheet. To select or de-select a field, click on the checkbox beside each of the Existing Fields.
3. Pick Get Sample File or Download Existing Entities: this navigates to the Get Sample screen.
4. Either import or export a sample file via the buttons on the panel. These buttons function as follows:

Feature Changes