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Data Import Profile Screen
Features
Measurement units, measuring
equipment and samples of measurement data can be imported into
Uncertainty Sidekick Pro from external sources. The Data Import
Profile Screen is used to develop an import profile, cross-reference
external field data to Uncertainty Sidekick Pro fields and to run imports.
It can be accessed from the
Measurement Units Database Screen,
Measurement Data Entry Worksheets, and the
Instrument Database Screen.
The Data Import Profile Screen
contains several Menu selections and the Profile Data and Field
Definitions tabs. Brief descriptions of the features and functions on
the menu bar and screen tabs are given below.
Menu
Bar
Import Profiles may be saved, opened or
cleared from the
File menu. Import Profile files have the .imp file extension.
Clicking OK accepts Import Profile changes and retains them during
UncertaintyAnalyzer operation. Accepted profiles are also saved along with
analysis files. Clicking
Cancel discards profile changes. Both selections close the Data Import
Profile Screen.
The Run menu provides the External Application, Spreadsheet,
Calculator and Run Options selections found on Run menus throughout
Uncertainty Sidekick Pro.
Records shown in the Data Table at the bottom of the screen can be sorted in
ascending or descending order via the Sort menu. To sort the data,
click the column of the table containing the field to be used as a sort key
(only one column at a time). Next, select either Ascending or Descending from
the Sort menu.
Clicking Help opens the Uncertainty Sidekick Pro Help file to the topic
Importing Data from an External Source.
Profile Name
Profile Names are the labels by
which Import Profiles are identified. A Profile Name may be any text
string and should imply the format and content of the Source File to
be imported. For instance, if the Source File is in dBase III format
and the import is a measurement units import, then the Profile Name
should be something like "dBase3 Units Import." It may be desired to
include other information as well, such as the source of the imported
units.
Find
To find a specific entry in the external data source, column
containing the item to be searched for is clicked and then the item
you want to find is typed in the Find box.
Profile Data
The Data Source Type refers to
the database application with which the external data are maintained.
The types of external file formats supported by Uncertainty Sidekick Pro are
selected from a dropdown list and include:
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Microsoft Access 2000 and
earlier
dBase III and IV
Microsoft Excel 3.0 or 4.0
Microsoft Excel 5.0 and 95
Microsoft Excel 97 and 2000
Lotus 1-2-3 WK1
Lotus 1-2-3 WK3
Lotus 1-2-3 WK4
HTML
Delimited Text
ODBC |
The Connect String is a key that participates in unlocking access to
the database or file containing the data to be imported. The Connect
String is created by Uncertainty Sidekick Pro for each selected Database Type.
The Source File includes the full directory path and file name of the
data file from which data will be imported. The location may be typed or
selected by browsing the PC or network on which the Source File resides.
The Data Source is the table or
other object of the Source File where the service history records are kept.
Data Source information is not required for dBase, Microsoft Excel 3.0 and
4.0, Lotus 1-2-3 and delimited text files. Data Source information for
other file formats are summarized below.
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Microsoft Access - the name of either a Table or a Query within the
external database.
Microsoft Excel 5.0 and higher- the name of a Worksheet in the Excel
file.
HTML - the name of the page containing the data to be imported. |
A User Name and
Password may be required for connecting to the Source File for ODBC
Database Types.
When importing from spreadsheet or delimited text files, the field names
should be the first row of the file. If so, the
First Row Contains Headers box should be checked. For imports from
delimited text files, the character that separates the data fields is called
the
Text Delimiter. Uncertainty Sidekick Pro accepts a variety of text
delimiters. The most common are Tab and Comma.
Once the Profile Data have been entered, the Connect button is clicked
to establish the parameters needed by Uncertainty Sidekick Pro to connect to the
external database or file.
Field
Definitions
This portion of the screen is used to
assign the data fields that can be imported for a given type of import (units,
instruments, parameter, sampled data). These fields are cross-referenced
between Uncertainty Sidekick Pro fields and the fields of the Data Source of the
Source File. They are defined as follows:
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Click the Connect button
on the Profile Data tab. If the correct Profile Data have been
entered, a Data Table will appear at the bottom of the screen
showing both the data and the fields of the Data Source.
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Click the Field Definitions
tab. If the connection has been successful, a list of the fields
found in the Data Source of the Source File database will appear
in the External Fields list.
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Drag each relevant field
name from the External Fields list and drop it in the External
Field column adjacent to the appropriate Uncertainty Sidekick Pro
Internal Field.
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Click OK to retain the
Import Profile. Import Profiles may also be saved to file via the
File menu. Import Profile changes may be discarded by clicking
Cancel.
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Once an Import Profile has been
developed and the relevant data fields of the external Data Source have been
mapped to Uncertainty Sidekick Pro fields, the data are imported by clicking the
Import Data button. Before executing the import, you can select
from the following options:
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Overwrite Existing Data - this option causes the import process to
overwrite existing data and disables any overwrite warning messages for each
record that bears the same identifying information as a record being imported.
Import All - this option causes
the import procedure to provide a warning message each time a record is being
imported that has the same identifying information as a record already in the
Uncertainty Sidekick Pro data.
Import Selected - this option
causes the import process to import only the records selected on the Data
Table at the bottom of the screen.
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Uncertainty Sidekick Pro -
Data Import Profile Screen
