Import data window

Top  Previous  Next

The impt_16Import data window allows you to import data into your plan from other applications, for example from an Excel, CSV or text file. This can save you a lot of typing. To display this window select File>impt_16 Import... or the equivalent Main tool bar button. The impt_16Import window will be displayed. Select Excel/CSV/text file and click OK. An Open window will be displayed. Select the file you wish to import. The impt_16Import data window will be displayed.

Note PerfectTablePlan can only read Excel .xls/.xlsx files if you have Excel installed. Otherwise you will have to import a .csv file.

Mapping imported columns to guest properties

Setting up common titles will often help PerfectTablePlan to make better sense of the data you are importing. Click on the Titles button to set your title preferences.

Select File type to import a pre-defined file type. Select custom to define your own. Click on the more_button_50_pc button to show more options.

Map imported columns to guest properties shows you how the file data will be imported, including the effects of various options described below.

If you have selected the File type as custom you need to tell PerfectTablePlan which columns in the import file correspond to which guest properties. Select from the drop-down lists at the top of each column to do this. For example the column 1 might correspond to the guest title, column 2 column to the guest last name and the column 4 column to the guest meal choice. Leave the drop-down list as <ignore> to ignore the contents of a column.

ptp007

Empty lines in your import file are ignored.

If you have multiple guests in one row or the title, first name or last name are not in separate columns, PerfectTablePlan will do it's best to unravel them. For example it can handle all the following:

import_names

If title is imported, but not gender or age, the import will attempt to guess the gender or age from the title using the titles set in the prefs_16Preferences window.

Note You can edit information in the table. This will change the information imported, but not affect the contents of the file you are importing. Make sure you press Enter to confirm any edits before clicking on Apply or OK.

Text is imported directly except for Gender, Age, VIP and RSVP, which are based on the values below:

Column

Values

Gender

Text must start with:

'F' or 'f' for a female
'M' or 'm' for male

otherwise the guest is imported with unknown gender

Age

Text must start with:

'C' or 'c' for a child

otherwise the guest is imported as an adult

VIP

Text must start with:

'V', 'v', 'Y' or 'y' for a VIP

otherwise the guest is imported as an non-VIP

RSVP

Text must start with:

'S' or 's' for sent
'A', 'a', 'Y' or 'y' for accepted
'C' or 'c' for cancelled
'D', 'd', 'N' or 'n' for declined

Or be:

'Delivered' for sent, case unimportant (for integration with pingg.com)

otherwise the RSVP status is unset.

You can easily edit any of these properties at a later point.

Importing groups

If you wish to import guests as couples, families and/or group you need to:

1.have a groups column in your input data
2.use the same name in the group column for each person in the couple, family or group
3.make this column the group field during import

ptp008

If no group is set then consecutive guests with the same surname will be added to the same group. You can choose the proximity to use for members of the same group from the Proximity for guests in the same group drop-down list.

num_guests

The Num. guests field is the number of additional guests to be added for a given guest in the same group. It can be from 0 to 999. For example if the guest is "John Smith" and Num. guests field is 2 the guests "John Smith", "guest 1 of John Smith" and "guest 2 of John Smith" will be added (all in the same group).

You can easily change the grouping of guests later by dragging them to another group in the couple_16Groups pane.

Further options

Location shows the location of the import file. Worksheet shows the name of the worksheet (tab) selected from the Excel spreadsheet. Click on the Browse... button to change the file/worksheet you wish to import.

Use Ignore first if you wish to ignore one or more rows in the file. Often the first row is a header and you won't want to import it.

Use the Format drop-down list to choose whether the imported file is in Excel format, CSV format or a custom format (e.g. columns separated by Tab characters). If you are using a custom format, set Column separator and Row separator to the field and record separators in the import file.

Click on Add row to add an additional row to be input. This is useful if you want to type in the data for additional guests. If a row is selected the new row will be added below, otherwise it will be added to the end.

Click on Delete row to delete the currently selected row.

Click on Add column to add an additional column to be input. This is useful if you want to type in some additional data for each guest, e.g. their gender or group. If a column is selected the new row will be added to the right, otherwise it will be added to the end.

Click on Delete column to delete the currently selected column.

Buttons

Click Apply to import the data. Click OK to import the data and close the window. Click Cancel to discard the changes.

See also:

Importing

Insert guests scratch-pad window

Importing guests from Excel files

Importing guests from text and CSV files

Importing guests from vCards

Import guest details from Outlook

Import guest details from Outlook Express