Exporting Data

TBS now has a built in export function that is accessible typically by administrator logins

Typically all lists in TBS include an Export button which allows the displayed columns to be exported in to a tab delimited file, however there are times when the raw data including the hidden keys is also required - this is now available via the Import Data option of Administration

Go to System Administration -> Import Data :

In this screen - the top list is for your named import/export titles - or the 'layouts' of the text files you may want to import or export.

The lower list contains all of the table columns required to complete this export split into the 'exported columns' (left hand list) and any other columns of the table not required for the export on the right hand list

Note : currently only exports of single table lists is allowed

In the example shown here, the first exported column we will see in our exported spreadsheet is the column called 'fclients_id' - this is the 'primary key' of the clients table i.e. we can use the contents of this column to 'match' if later we wish to update changes back in

Note : there must be a 'Primary Key' of the table in the list for an export to occur

Creating a new export entry

To create a new export entry use the New button of the top list to create a header entry :

After saving the name you wish to use for the new format, you are shown an empty lower entry area.

Although you can add each column individually, the 'easiest' way to populate your lists here is to click the checkbox to the left of the Table Name field, this indicates to TBS that whichever table you then select should simply add ALL columns of that table to the Selectable columns list.

As your export must be for columns which are all from one table then you simply need to move the required column titles from the right hand list to the left hand list by highlighting each column in the order you wish to have them saved in your spreadsheet one column at a time and using the

Once your Import File Columns list is in the order for the spreadsheet you wish to export you can export the file by clicking the Export File button of the top list - this asks for information about your export file :

Here we tell TBS if the first record it should add in the export file is a row of column titles or real data - the default being to start with column titles. Then we have a choice of three export file formats : Tab Delimited text, Comma Delimited text (also known as CSV 'Comma Separated Value'), or Omnis Data transfer Format. We can choose to export only active records of the table, or the entire table including archived entries - and finally we have a choice of wrapping all text fields in the output file with double quotes - if your data contains double quotes you will not want to surround the text with quotes as it will interfere with applications like Excel if it tries to open the file - you will have to see which version works best for you in your own circumstances !

Once you have told it information about your file, click on OK to go ahead and select your export file name and location and run the export for you