How does exporting and importing work

This support notes are suitable for:

• ABSS Accounting
• ABSS Premier

Introduction

This support note will explain how does exporting and importing data in ABSS. It will explain how to export the data, import the data, and how to edit the exported data.

How does exporting and importing work?

Exporting and importing enables you to transfer data between company files. The purpose of this is to allow the data to be shared with, or analysed by, other programs.

As exporting and importing is a standard feature of most business applications, a common text file format is used. When exporting, a text file containing the exported data is created. The data within this text file can be imported into another program or file.

What data can be exported and imported?

To access a list of data that can be exported and imported:

1. Open your company file.
2. Go to the File menu and choose Export Data or Import Data.

The data which can be exported or imported will be displayed in the menu. Some menu items will have additional extended menus, for example Tax Code List, Cards, Sales and Purchases.

The Import menu has two additional extended menus for Disbursements and Receipts. These extended menus provide for a more specific export or import selection. For example, the extended Cards menu allows you to specify whether you want to import or export Customer, Supplier, Employee or Personal cards.

Note: Data that isn't listed in these menus can't be exported or imported.

How to export data?

1. Open the Premier company file you want to export from.
2. Go to the File menu and choose Import/Export Assistant.
3. Select Export data then click Next.
4. At the Export field, select the type of data you want to export, such as Cards, Items, etc, then click Next.
5. Depending on your selection, you may be able to narrow down the type of data. For example, if you're exporting cards you can specify the type of cards. 
6. Specify the format of the export file (how you want to separate the data in the export file, and whether or not you want to include field headers). Then click Next.
7. Select the fields you want to export:
   • To select one field at a time, click the name of the field in the Available fields column then click Add.
   • To export all fields, click Add All.
   • Note: Fields with an asterisk (*) next to them must be exported if importing the data into another ABSS company file.
8. Click Export. The Save As window appears.
9. Specify where you want to save the export file. If you like, you can also change the file name. Then click Save.
10. When the data has finished exporting, click Close.

How to import data?

Before importing, create a backup of your company file (go to the File menu and choose Back Up).

You're now ready to import:

1. Open the Premier company file you want to import into.
2. Go to the File menu and choose Import/Export Assistant.
3. Select Import data then click Next.
4. At the Import field, select what you want to import (Cards, Items, etc.).
   • You might also be able to narrow down the type of data, e.g. if importing cards you can specify the type of cards.
5. Click Browse to select the file to be imported (this will be a text file such as ITEMS.TXT). Then click Next.
6. Specify the format of the data in the import file, and how you want to handle imported data that already exists in your company file. Then click Next.
7. Match the import fields with the fields in the Available fields column. Note that fields with an asterisk (*) next to them must have matching import file fields assigned.
   • To match one field at a time, click the name of the field in the Import fields column then click the matching field in the Available fields column.
   • If all fields in the import file match those in the Available fields column, including their order, click Match All.
   • If the fields in your import file are not in the same order, click Auto Match to match the fields that have the same names.
   • Note: lf your import file has afield called Record ID, don't match this to any fields in the Available fields column, as it can cause import issues.
8. Click Next.
9. If you haven't already done so, click Back up to create a backup.
10. Click Import. If you get a message that the import was unsuccessful, refer to the import log file (accessible from the Conclusion step of the assistant).
11. When the data has finished importing, click Close.

How to edit using Microsoft Excel?

Import/export files can be opened in Microsoft Excel, or a similar spreadsheet program, to view or update the file's contents. You might need to do this to fix an import file which isn't importing properly, or to bulk update multiple records in your company file.

The images below might look different in your Excel version, but the steps will be the same.

1. Open Microsoft Excel.
2. Go to the File menu and choose Open.
3. In the Files of type field, select All Files (*.*). 
4. Locate and click the exported text file then click Open. Step 1 of the Text Import Wizard is displayed.
5. Select the Delimited option.
6. Click Next.
7. At Step 2 of the Text Import Wizard, select the Tab option.
8. Note: If you exported your file as Comma-separated, select the Comma option instead.
9. Click Next.
10. At Step 3 of the Text Import Wizard, select all columns then select the Text option. All column headings should be "Text" as shown below.

Saving the file in Excel

When you save the modified file in Excel, be sure to save it as the same type of file. So when you save it, click Yes to the following Excel message:

This will ensure you can import the file back into your ABSS software as the same type of file it was exported as (tab-delimited or comma-separated).