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Managing Database Records
Managing an OmniForm Database - 207
Exporting Information
This section explains the benefits of exporting information, how to
prepare for export, and how to export information from an open
OmniForm form.
See “Importing Information” on page 213 for information on how to
import information into a database.
The Benefits of Exporting Information
Export information from records to:
• Share information with other OmniForm databases.
Information exported as a database file takes up considerably less
disk space than the database itself. It can be copied or mailed
more quickly than the entire database.
• Share information from different databases.
For example, you might have a FoxPro database and decide that
you need information already entered in an OmniForm database.
Simply export the needed information from OmniForm in the
appropriate format and use FoxPro’s commands to import it.
• Save other database users the time of entering data manually by
sending them an OmniForm Data or other database file.
Preparing for Export
During import, you will
link
field names in the exported data file to field
names in the import database. This tells OmniForm where to place the
field information. If possible, try to:
• Match field names in the exported data to field names in the
import database.
• Match field order in the exported data to field order in the import
database.
This makes it easier to figure out which information will go in which
fields when you link the fields on import.
For example, suppose you export information in the fields
Customer,
Title,
and
Product,
in that order. You have the same field information in
the import database, but the fields are named
What Bought
,
Name,
and
Position,
in that order. You could link
Customer
Ö
Name
/
Title
Ö
Position
/
Product
Ö
What Bought
easily but importing hundreds of fields with
different names and field order would be difficult and time-consuming.
See Chapter 6, Designing a Form, for information on naming and
reordering fields.