Discovering Field Names

Fields, Tables and the Relational Key

Fields are place holders for data. Examples of fields would be "NameFirst" and "NameLast." Tables are a collection of fields. The "Students" table contains the "NameFirst" and "NameLast" fields, along with many other fields. Any field starting with the letter 'z' is used for programming purposes, and normally would not be a field your data would be imported into, with one exception.

This exception is the field: zk_Link_pk. This number field is a unique identifier for each student. In database terms, it is referred to as the primary Relational Key. If you will be importing into more than one Table, you must have a unique zk_Link_pk for each student. Here's an example:

Another table is the "Phones" table, which contains telephone fields such as "Phone," "Extension" and "Type," as well as a "zk_Link_fk" field. This last field is the foreign Relational Key, or link between the Students table, and the Phones table. The use of the word foreign only means there can be many occurs of the same key. For example:

There can be many Phone records for a student. Using the Relation Keys as a link, we know Bill Smith has three phone numbers, and his home phone number is 818-962-4587. Fred Jones has only one phone number: 719-458-8596.

If you will be importing into more than one table, you must always have matching "zk_Link" Relational fields in the data you are importing.

As explained below in Step 1, the way to access a related table is to open a window that displays that data. For example, to access the Phones table, click the + button on the Student Info screen to create a new Phone record, then select Import from the File menu.

Student #'s

If have Student numbers you would like to import, always import them into the "StudentNum" field of the Students table.

Importing Data

Since importing and exporting data requires quite a bit of trial and error, it's strongly suggested that you ask your computer guru for assistance with this process.

Export from the Source

Before you can import anything into Martial Arts Organizer 4, you first need to export the data from its' original source to a text file. This text file becomes the bridge between it's original source and Martial Arts Organizer 4.

How you will do this depends on the software you are using, but look for an 'Export' or 'Save as...' command which will allow you to create a text file.

Optional: You may want to open this text file in a word processor, such as Microsoft Word, and remove any unwanted characters which may be appended to the export. (Try using the Find & Replace command in your word processor.)

To Import Data

1. Open the Martial Arts Organizer 4 and go the a screen which contains the type of data you would like to import. For example, if you would like to import Student data, go to the Student Info screen. If you would like to import telephone numbers, click the + button on the Student Info screen to create a new telephone record. If you'd like to import Inventory, go to the Inventory screen.
   
   Always import your Student data first. After you've got that imported, you can tackle importing other types of data. If you will be importing into more than one table, you must have a "zk_Link_pk" field in the data you are importing.
   
   
2. Select 'Import Records' from the File menu.
   

   

   the Open dialog box (Macintosh)
   

3. In the Open dialog that appears:

   PC Users
   Click on the "Files of types:" drop down menu, scroll UP and select:
   All files (*.*)
   
   

4. Mac Users
   Click on the "Show:" drop down menu and select:
   All Available

5. Select the file you’d like to import from.
   
   
   
6. In the Import Field Mapping dialog set the importing order. To align fields, click on a field name on the right, and drag it up or down to align it with the data on the left.
   
   Use the Arrange By popup menu in the top left corner to get started, then adjust other fields by hand.
   
   
7. Click in the center row to place an arrow next to each field that will be imported.
   Uncheck any fields you do not want to import.
   
   
8. Leave 'Add New Records' selected, then click Import.
   
   
9. Be sure to check the “Perform auto-enter options while importing” box, otherwise the imported data will be unusable in Martial Arts Organizer 4.
   (You will receive an error message stating "Warning! This record has no Link #!")
   
   
   
   
   
10. Click Import and the importing will begin.

Deleting Imported Data

This whole process requires a fair amount of trial and error as you discover which fields contains which data, so it's very likely, no it's a guaranteed that you'll want to delete all of your imported data and try again.

You can now click the Delete button at the top of the screen, or select "Delete Record" from the records menu. A dialog box will appear with a 'Delete All' button. Click it to delete the entire Found Set, that is, the records you've just imported.

Now you can try your import again...