Creating Formats for Importing and Exporting
If you wish to import or export student data with spreadsheet, database, school administration and other software, you may need to create a porting format. This section explains how to create formats that appear under the Other Formats tab in the Import and Export windows.
Creating formats requires a certain amount of knowledge of file formats and ASCII codes. In addition, it requires 100% accuracy or else unpredictable results may occur. Proceed with caution!
By default, Easy Grade Pro separates fields (pieces of data) using tabs (ASCII 9) and separates records using a CR (carriage return, ASCII 13). Many word processing, spreadsheet and consumer database program also use this format when porting. In the PC world, many programs use a CR/LF (carriage return/line feed, ASCII 13/10) combination instead of a CR. You may need to modify a format to include a CR/LF. For help with this, see FAQ: How do I set the record delimiter to the CR/LF used by most Windows programs?.
If you will be porting to or from school administration software, things can be much more difficult because these programs tend to use custom formats. For example, some files may use fixed-length fields (instead of variable length fields) that are left or right justified, with special fill characters and no delimiters except at the end of a record. In many but not all cases, formats can be created in Easy Grade Pro to work with school administrative software.
To create a format:
- From the Import or Export window, select the Other Formats tab. Then click the New button. The New Format window will open. On the left side of this window is a list of fields that are available for use in the format.
- To add a field to your format, select it in the list on the left and click the Copy button. The field is copied to the format list on the right. If a field is in the wrong position in the format list, press on it and drag it to the new location. A format is limited to thirty fields per record.
- (Optional) Select the Quotes button. Set this item if the data has (if importing) or should have (if exporting) quotation marks around each field. Under many circumstances, Easy Grade Pro will remove quotation marks automatically during importing.
- (Optional) To customize a field, select it and click the Edit button. Easy Grade Pro automatically uses a tab-delimited format in which each field is variable in length and is followed by a tab (ASCII 9) for most fields and a CR (ASCII 13) for the last field in a record. To change this formatting, or to make a field required (for export formats), select the field in the list on the right and click the Edit button. A small window will open with options for changing the format of a field.
Only those with sufficient knowledge of file formats should attempt to make changes in this window. Any field that has been customized will have an asterisk appended to its name in the list.
If you set the Field Data Required item in an export format, Easy Grade Pro will block exporting until all required data are complete.
- Name the format in the text field at the top of the window and click Done. The name will appear under the Other Formats tab in the Import or Export window.