Importing and Exporting Text Files

Importing Text Files
Exporting Text Files

Exporting Options

Importing and Exporting

Importing Text Files

Reunion imports tab- and return-delimited text files saved by software applications such as spreadsheets and databases. For example, if you have been storing information in FileMaker or Excel, you may be able to transfer the data into Reunion.

Only person data can be imported using this feature. If you have a flat-file database and one of the fields is for "spouse," you can't import the links between people — only the data for each person (such as name, birth date, birth place, etc.).

As explained elsewhere, Reunion also imports text files into note fields; however, here we are concerned with importing records.

Step 1

In Reunion, open a family file or make a new, empty family file.

When you're ready to import a tab- and return-delimited text file into Reunion, the first decision you must make is whether to import records into a new, empty family file or into an existing Reunion family file.

Note: It's important to understand that importing records into an existing family file will add data to the family file. There is no simple way to undo this! We recommend inspecting the data before adding it to your family file. Or at least choose File > Save A Backup Copy before importing.

Step 2

Be sure that Family View is selected in the navbar and choose File > Import > TEXT and select a text file.

Step 3

Set up the Import Text File window.

When you select a text file, Reunion will analyze the file and then open the Import Text File window, shown above. This window contains a list with two columns. The first column shows information found in one record of the text file. The second column contains menu buttons that let you assign incoming data to fields in Reunion. Using the second column, you can also tell Reunion to ignore fields in the text file.

To examine records in the text file prior to importing, use the Up/Down arrow buttons.

If you don't want to import a particular record, uncheck the Import this record button.

To add new fields for incoming data, click the Field Settings button.

To mark each imported person, check the Mark new records button. We recommend you do this when importing records into an existing family file to facilitate examining the newly imported records.

Step 4

When the Import Text File window is ready, click Import.

Exporting Text Files

Reunion exports tab- and return-delimited text files containing information about people in a family file. Such a file can be read into a spreadsheet or database program where data can be manipulated in interesting ways. In a spreadsheet, for example, each column will contain data from one field in Reunion; each row represents a person's record from the family file. The example below is from Apple's Numbers application.

To export a Text file...

  1. Be sure that Family View is selected in the navbar.
  2. Choose File > Export > TEXT. This opens the Export Text File window, shown below.

Exporting Options

The Export Text File window contains the list of fields that will be exported to a text file. To include fields in this list, use the Add Field button. To remove fields in the list, select a field and click the Remove Field button.

To set the order of fields to be exported, you can drag field names up and down in the list.

Who

Reunion can export a text file that includes everybody in your file or only people who are marked.

Sorting Records

You can sort the exported records using the Sort button.

Choosing a Field Separator

You can choose the separator or delimiter that is inserted between each field in the output file. Normally, the correct choice is Tab (without quotes). Check your database or spreadsheet documentation for the correct field delimiter. If you export a text file with commas as a separator but without quotes, Reunion will remove commas from within fields in the output file.

Citations

Source citations are not exported with text data.

Notes Limitation

Reunion's Export Text feature exports a maximum of 255 characters for each field. This limitation will impact the exporting of note and memo fields.

Converting Return Characters

Your note and memo fields will probably contain return characters (between paragraphs). Since a tab- and return-delimited text file uses the return character to indicate the end of each record, the return characters must be converted to some other character. For example, FileMaker Pro uses ASCII character number 11, a vertical tab, for this purpose. Please consult the manual for your spreadsheet or database software for instructions on selecting the appropriate character.