1. Overview

The export function lets you extract data from TimeCore into various standard formats that are recognised and can be manipulated by many third-party tools and applications.

Data is exported from TimeCore via the Export menu. The options that it offers depends on the current view - for example, in the Session Manager you have the option of selecting from one of a number of pre-defined session ranges or the Reminders list; in the Search view there is just one single export option, which is to export the Search results. Likewise, in views in which there is no export available the Export menu will be disabled.

Exporting is a simple process and is achieved via a single page Export Dialog. It consists of selecting the required format and setting the related properties as required. That's it. For any given export format, the property settings will be memorized between sessions.

The next sections will describe in more detail the common and specific properties that can be set in the TimeCore Export Dialog.

2. Common Features

Regardless of which export format is selected there will always be four common properties displayed in the Export Dialog.

Export Format
A drop-down list which can be used to select the required export format.

After Export
A drop-down list which indicates the action TimeCore should take after the export has finished. Consists of three options -

Open File
Will attempt to open the export file using the default application associated with the file extension. If no application is registered with the given format then this action will be ignored.

Open Folder
Opens the folder using the Windows explorer in which the export file resides.

Close Export Dialog
Do Nothing.

Folder
Indicates the path in which the export file will be created. For convenience remembers the last location and displays by default otherwise the drop-down list can be used to select from the last five locations.

File
Displays the name of the export file. This can one or more preset values, the specifics of which are determined by the individual export format (see format for more details).

3. Export Formats

3.1 TXT (Text Delimited)

Creates an export file containing text-delimited data. Please note that the Column/Text delimiters and the Decimal Symbol must all be different to avoid ambiguity in the resulting output.

Filename
The filename is automatically generated based on the data being exported and the export format.

tc{Export Type}_{UserID}.TXT
where {Export Type} is a short name describing what is being exported, eg. "Sessions", "Projects", etc and {UserID} represents the ID associated with the DAT file.

Include Headers
Read only drop-down list. Yes = Top row of export file lists names of fields. No = No header row.

Format
Read-only drop-down list. Currently only one value - "Delimited" - indicates that the format is a delimited text file.

Column Delimiter
Symbol used to separate fields. Editable drop-down list containing a standard set of symbols.

Text Delimiter
Symbol used to define start and end of a Text field. Editable drop-down list containing a standard set of symbols.

Decimal Symbol
Character used as decimal point. By default is set to the character specified in the Windows Regional Settings.

3.2 XML

The TimeCore XML export uses a free third-party component from Chilkat Software (http://www.chilkatsoft.com/). There appears to be problems registering this component on older versions of Windows 95 / NT.

Filename
The filename is automatically generated based on the data being exported and the export format.

tc{Export Type}_{UserID}.XML
where {Export Type} is a short name describing what is being exported, eg. "Sessions", "Projects", etc and {UserID} represents the ID associated with the DAT file.

Include Schema (XSD)
The XML Schema Definition (XSD) provides the syntax and defines a way in which elements and attributes can be represented in a XML document. It's use is best demonstrated if you tried to import the XML export file into Microsoft Access. Without the XSD, Access would still happily import the XML document but it has no way of knowing the data-type of each element so would use a generic data-type (ie. Text) for each element. When the XSD is included, it is able to use the equivalent Access data-type for the specified XML type.

3.3 XLS (Microsoft Excel)

Uses an ISAM driver that will create an export file in a format compatible with Microsoft Excel. Does not require Excel to be installed.

Filename
The filename is automatically generated based on the data being exported and the export format.

tc{Export Type}_{UserID}.XLS
where {Export Type} is a short name describing what is being exported, eg. "Sessions", "Projects", etc and {UserID} represents the ID associated with the DAT file.

Excel Version
Read-only drop-down list in which the target version of Excel can be selected.

3.4 MDB (Microsoft Access)

The Access export is arguably the most powerful export format currently offered by TimeCore Pro, especially in it's ability to reconcile data from more than one DAT file.

Filename
The nature of Access allows three different output filenames to be specified.

tcEXPORT.MDB
Specifies a single Access database into which exports from more than one TimeCore Pro source can be placed. The type of export determines the table into which the data is appended, for example Session exports will be inserted into a table within tcExport.MDB called "Sessions". Ideally, this MDB will be located in a shared location which can be accessed by multiple TimeCore Pro users.

tcEXPORT_{UserId}.MDB
Can be used to create a separate Access database for each TimeCore user where {UserID} represents the ID associated with the DAT file. All exports associated with that user will be placed in this one MDB file where the type of export determines the name of table as above.

tc{Export Type}_{UserID}.MDB
Creates a separate MDB for each type of export per user. Therefore exporting a Session list will create one MDB file whilst exporting the Reminders list will create another.

4. Export File Specification

4.1 Session Export

The following fields are output in the order shown when exporting from the Session Manager and Search views.