Monday, February 21, 2011

How to import data from Google Docs

Sample data:

Import Sample


Known limitations:

1. Data import will always create new entry in your Orange Diary.
You cannot update the existing entry by using same title.

2. You cannot use comma in Tag.
Comma is used as a delimiter for multiple tags. If you put "," in tag column, Import module will split the string and create new tags for each string pieces.
(i.e) "Cat,Dog" will be interpreted as two tags, "Cat" and "Dog"


Instruction:

Step 1) New spreadsheet

Go to "http://docs.google.com/" and click on "Create new"




Step 2) Header

Create header line in first row.
The header should contain four columns and each column should be titled as "odTitle", "odBody", "odTime" and "odTag".


Please make sure to use only the given titles listed above. If a column is not properly titled, all the values in the column will be ignored.


Step 3) Rows

Enter the entries from the second row.



Each row will become one entry and Texts in each columns are imported to (1) title, (2) entry body, (3) date and (4) tag fields.
When entering the data, please make sure the following data format requirements.


1. Date/time format
All the date,time values should be in 24 hour, "YYYY-MM-DD_HH:MM" format.
(i.e. 2011-12-31_23:59, 2012-02-28_15:30, 2012-06-02_03:30, ..)

2. Match the tag
The value in "odTag" column should match to the existing tag in Orange Dairy. Otherwise, new tag will be created for the entry. In case, the tag column is left blank, the entry will be imported into "Imported" tag by default.



Step 4) Save

Save the spreadsheet with "save" button.


Before leaving the screen, please make sure which worksheet the data are saved in. The name of worksheet can be found at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

Now, your job is done in Google Docs. Go to Orange Diary and start the import.


Step 5) Import

Go to Google Spreadsheets import screen and press the "Sign in" button.


Step 6) Sign in

Enter Google account email and Password and press "Sign in" button.

Then you will see the list of Spreadsheets in your account.


Step 7) Spreadsheets

Press the spreadsheet you just created.

Now you can see the list of worksheets in the Spreadsheet.


Step 8) Worksheets

Press the worksheet you saved your entries.

Then you will see the list of entries.


Step 9) Import

You can import either (1) individual items or (2) all entries.
"Import All" Button will import all the entries at once. For individual items, press on the entry item and select "Import" button.