Hi Brett,

I have done many imports recently, so I'm very familiar with the process.  Yes, you get the initial excel field headings from a pretend export.  After you have filled in your excel fields with the data to be IMported, you will run the application.  However, the application is not flexible in any way.  If you have added fields, you must remove them.  Sometimes formatting (wrap text) can trip up the import as well.  The application only pulls from the first "sheet" in a workbook, so I do sometimes fill in my data with some additional fields, and then I cut/paste my added fields into a separate sheet in the workbook.  I update that information on my own after the import goes through.

So yes, you can add fields to the sheet.  But you have to remove them before the import.  They won't be discarded by the application - they will just keep the application from finding your data and you'll see a blank sheet or just one row of data filled in.  I can give you a whole ton of tips and tricks if you'd like to contact me offline!  [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>

Caitlin Badowski
TMS Administrator
Smithsonian National Postal Museum
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE, MRC 570
Washington, DC 20013-7012
(202) 633-8735
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
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From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brett Lavoie
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2016 9:48 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: TMS Importer Documentation

Hello,

I'm preparing to import some data from a FileMaker Pro database to TMS.  I know this topic was brought up a bit ago, but I'm still unsure of a few things.  The main thing I'm looking for right now is some documentation on what fields need to be present in the Excel spreadsheet and which fields can be imported in total.  The User Guide shows pictures of a bunch of columns (which I'm assuming are probably from a TMS export), but the data that I have is not in that format and I can't find information for what structure it needs to be in.

Also, can I add fields into that structure or does any data that falls out of the scope of what the TMS Importer expects just get discarded?

Thanks,
Brett

--------------------------------------------
Brett Lavoie
University College
Computing Services Coordinator
Email:  [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Phone:  416-978-0422

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