How do I import HTML, ODBC, or other sources of data into SmartList To Go?
| Document ID: 13372 |
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| Last Reviewed: 6/3/2008
This document applies to:
SmartList To Go Win 3.5
SmartList To Go Win 3.0
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Question:
How do I import HTML, ODBC or other sources of data into SmartList To Go?
Answer:
The SmartList To Go desktop application has the ability to import data from text files and Excel spreadsheets. To import data into a SmartList, follow these steps:
- Open SmartList To Go on the computer.
- Select the SmartList from the left side of the SmartList To Go program window.
- Click the Data Link tab.
- Click the "New Import" button.
- The wizard will walk you through importing data.
Importing from other data sources:
If your data is not stored in a format or location that can be imported into a SmartList by using the New Import option, try to export that data to a text file. Most applications support some means of exporting to a text file. The text file can then be imported into a SmartList by specifying the correct separator, header row setting, and date formats when using the New Import method described above.
Another way to access many kinds of data is to make use of Microsoft Excel's powerful feature called "Import External Data". You can use this feature to set up a spreadsheet that pulls data from a data source (for example, a web page or an ODBC database). You can then set up an import in SmartList To Go that extracts the data from the spreadsheet.
Below are some steps to import data into Excel from some data sources. These are just examples to help get started exploring this feature.
Import from a live web page:
- Create a new spreadsheet in Excel.
- From the Data menu, choose the option for "Import External Data\New Web Query".
- This will display a window that shows a web page. Enter the URL of your web page into the address field.
- You will see your web page with yellow boxes with arrows annotating each section of the page.
- Find the area of the page you want to import and click the arrow. You will see a green box with a check mark appear.
- Click the Import button and click OK on the next Import Data window.
- You should see data from the web page appear in the spreadsheet after a few seconds.
- Save the spreadsheet and do the import in SmartList To Go.
- Note that this will work best for data that is displayed in an HTML table on the page.
Import from an HTML file:
- Create a new spreadsheet in Excel.
- From the Data menu, choose the option "Import External Data\Import Data".
- Choose "Web Pages" for the "Files of type:" dropdown.
- Browse for your HTML file, select it, and click Open.
- Follow the steps above for importing a live web page.
Import from ODBC, Access, dBase, etc:
- Create a new spreadsheet in Excel.
- From the Data menu, choose the option "Import External Data\New Database Query".
- Choose an existing data source (such as ODBC DSN), or choose <New Data Source>.
- Fill in the information about your database/table/query.
- Choose the fields that you want imported and any sorting or filtering options.
- Choose to save the data back into the spreadsheet and click OK on the Import Data screen.
- After a few seconds, you will see your data appear in the spreadsheet.
- Save the spreadsheet and do the import in SmartList To Go.
