Exporting data is the process
of extracting data from one program / database so it can be transferred
(imported) into another database or program for use. Importing and
exporting data is a very common procedure and has been used for
years.
I.C.E. can accept CSV (comma
delimited files) and XLS (Microsoft
Excel spreadsheet) file formats.
It is recommended to use Excel whenever
possible because of the advantages of a spreadsheet as well as xls files can
handle larger data fields better than CSV files.
Please see the appropriate topic to learn on how to
import or export data.
Importing
Outlook Contacts
Importing Outlook Express
Contacts
Importing Contacts from other
programs
Importing Items
Exporting Data
(Contacts or Items)
Why import or export data? There
are times when you may be using a program that asks for the same data that you may have
stored in another program. Instead of retyping all of that
information it is much easier to extract the data (called exporting) from that
program and then transfer it (called importing) into the
program you need it in.
I.C.E.
allows you to export in CSV (common
delimited) or XLS (Microsoft
Excel)
format.
There are many file formats in which data
is stored within a program. Many times the file format of one software program
can not be used by another. However most programs that have an import / export
option will allow the data to be imported or exported using a text file
format called CSV (common separated values) or the use of text file format
called TXT for importing or exporting purposes. These are filenames that end
with .csv as in mydata.csv or .txt as in
mydata.txt
.
These text file formats are basically the same because they use either a comma or
a tab and a semi colon to separate the values in the file.
Thus when importing into a program that allows imports, using these file types the standard is
applied and the program knows how to place that data into its own database so it can
be used. You may have to correct the names of data fields or match them up
to insure that your data gets imported
correctly.
