Importing Records
In all of our products, including Scan Station, there is an option in the Manage Records tool to import records from a file or database. To access this feature, the software needs to be running under an Administrators group account. If you have not created any custom groups or logins or you are using a Standard edition product and your software is running under the Administrator account, then you can continue with the steps below.
Step 1. Open Manage Records
Click on the Manage Records button in the lower right corner of the Main Menu. If this button is not available, then go to Settings > This Workstation > Tasks in order to turn on the Manage Records task.
Step 2. Go to the Import Records tool
Within Manage Records, the Import Records… task is located under More > Records > Import Records….
Opening up that task will bring up the Import Settings window. If you have previously imported into this group and your source file is available, you may see a list of records to import. Otherwise, you will see a screen saying “Unable to connect to the database.”
Click Import Settings to set up your import.
Step 3. Set up your import
Within the Import Settings, the first step is to select a data source. Click Select Database to choose from a number of different database types.
Note: Depending on your needs, you may wish to connect your software directly to the database that holds your user list. You can turn off or limit editing within the Users settings.
Otherwise select the database type that holds your source data. The most common choices are Microsoft Excel or Text File. Browse to your file, and select it.
Step 4. Import Settings for Excel files
For Excel files, you will have two additional settings. First if you have a multiple page workbook, then you need to select a single worksheet. You also need to select a table primary key, which should be a unique field that identifies each record as unique. Common choices include employee ID or student number. Once you have made these choices, click OK and go to Step 6.
Step 5. Import Settings for text files
Browse to your CSV or TXT file, and then click the Text File Format button. The most common set up is that the first line is a header, indicating what the different columns are. If that is true of your file, make sure the First Line is a Header box is selected.
Go to the Fields tab, and click the Auto Scan Fields button. This will replace the default column designations (F1, F2, F3…) with the field names from your file. Here you can edit your field names, delete them from the list of items to import, and change their expected type. For some complex files, such as batch files, you will need to edit your field list. Please do not include in your field names any of the following: quotes (single and double), periods, question marks, or the number sign. Including these in your field names can cause errors in importing your records. Click OK when done in order to get to the main data source settings screen.
Step 6. Map your columns from the file to your database
Once you are back to the Import Settings screen, there will be two columns. The Existing Database Fields are the list of fields being used by your group database. The Import Database Fields are the columns or fields in your data source. The software will match as many fields as it can. If a field from your file is not matched, you can click in the white space next to the corresponding Existing Database Fields to select a field from your file.
The software can check for duplicates during import. Select the field from your data source that is unique to the record, and indicate whether the software should merge or replace the record. It will check for duplicates based on the import field and whatever database field to which you have mapped it. Click OK to go to the Record Selection Screen.
Step 7. Selecting records
Now that you have mapped your data source fields, you will be on the main Import Records screen. This screen will show you all fields and entries from your data file regardless of whether you have included them in your import. You can select records in three different ways.
Method 1. Click the small check box to select all records in the data source
Method 2. Select individual entries.
You can also select individual entries by checking the boxes next to each record.
Method 3. Enter line numbers or ranges in the Record Selection box
You can manually type a range in the Record Selection box. Tabbing out of the box will activate any changes you made.
Once you have selected your records, click the large Import button. You will receive a confirmation screen indicating what records you are importing. Click Yes to confirm your selection or No to reselect your records. Once the import is complete, you will see an import summary screen indicating how many records were added, merged or replaced depending on your earlier settings.
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