DataLoad Community

[David]

When you import data from Excel into DataLoad, it would be nice to have the option to specify that the first row is the column heading data, and should be imported into the headings, rather than the data area.
_________________
When my time comes,
I want to die like my grandfather did:
quietly and in his sleep.
Not kicking and screaming like the passengers in his car.

David K. Dickson
DataLoad Forum Moderator

[DataLoad]

David,

This is straightforward to do but how would you want this to work? We could add a dialogue box that appears when you run the import action that gives you the option to treat the first row as headings (or not). We could also add to that the option to import all data from Excel or just the selected data. That option is currently available on the Options form but if we are adding an Import dialogue then we may as well add this option there too. What do you think?

Thanks,

Jonathan

[David]

Jonathan,

Yes, I like the idea of a dialogue box, because although I will usually want to import the first row of my spreadsheet data as my DataLoad column headings, that won't always be the case, and not all users will want this functionality,

Yes, including the option to import all or just the highlighted data would be a useful option, but I am going to suggest that the default should be just the highlighted data. Why? Because the first row in my spreadsheet might not be my column headings; I frequently have a block at the top of my spreadsheet with such control information as database, responsibility, navigation path, numbers of records, etc. Also, I might have raw data and interim calculations (e.g. lookups) in a block down the left hand side, and so my DataLoad column headings might not start until (say) cell H7.

I hope that these thoughts are useful, and look forward to hearing if any other users have any thoughts of their own that they would like to add.

David.
_________________
When my time comes,
I want to die like my grandfather did:
quietly and in his sleep.
Not kicking and screaming like the passengers in his car.

David K. Dickson
DataLoad Forum Moderator

[David]

Jonathan,

Can I please take this idea a step further?

In DataLoad Professional, the Header information (in the first row of the worksheet) cannot be imported as a block. Each individual field has to be cut and pasted manually. As mentioned in my post earlier today, I frequently keep this header information in a separate block at the top of my Excel spreadsheet. Would you please consider allowing the user to choose to import a block of Excel Data into the DataLoad Header (if it is a .fld file) or into the body?

I know that this is more than I originally requested, but it is in the same functional area.

David.
_________________
When my time comes,
I want to die like my grandfather did:
quietly and in his sleep.
Not kicking and screaming like the passengers in his car.

David K. Dickson
DataLoad Forum Moderator

[David]

The project I am working on has many Sets of Books (SOB), to allow for different requirements in many countries. However, there is a lot of data that has to be loaded into each SOB, with relativley few changes, which is an ideal task for DataLoad. However, it means using a different Responsibility for every batch of data to be loaded.

If you are going to implement the suggestion about the "Control Block" and the DataLoad "Header", would you please be prepared to consider moving the Responsibility from the Forms Playback tab on the Options and Preferences into the the DataLoad "Header"?

Sorry for doing this piecemeal, and not all at once, but these thoughts are appearing as I make more and more use of DataLoad Professional.

David.
_________________
When my time comes,
I want to die like my grandfather did:
quietly and in his sleep.
Not kicking and screaming like the passengers in his car.

David K. Dickson
DataLoad Forum Moderator