Text Export

This module enables you to export data from your database into text, XML and JSON files. This data can then be imported into other software, Office applications, web sites or databases.

If the Import & Export panel is not visible, make it visible by pressing F9,X or via the View menu in the main menu bar.

Main Features

• Support for both plain text and XML files
• Supports JSON files. JSON is the native format for JavaScript.
• Freely configurable row and column layouts
• Can export data from all Metadata tags, Attributes and other items accessible via Variables
• Customizable column and row delimiters
• Works on dropped files as well as entire folders, categories or collections

Fields and Records

The output generated by this export module is constructed from fields. One or more fields form a record. For each exported file one record is written to the output file. For non-XML formats, fields are separated by a freely selectable field separator and records are separated by a record delimiter. XML uses a fixed structure and wraps each field and record into an XML tag as described below.

Here is an example of a typical output file. The file has three fields per record (file name, datetime, size in bytes) and there are three records in total. The fields are separated with a comma (,) and the records with a carriage return / line feed.

c:\images\2012\_DSC126121.jpg,2012-01-03 12:00:00,1234568
c:\images\2012\_DSC126321.jpg,2012-01-05 12:00:00,1254500
c:\images\2012\_DSC129569.jpg,2012-01-16 12:00:00,1301192

Text Export Settings

The module displays a dialog box which allows you to specify the format and contents of the output file. The settings you make here depend on the purpose of the resulting file or which application you plan to use to process the output.

Text Export settings

Field Specification

The Text Export module uses a flexible approach to specify which information to export. In the edit field at the bottom of the dialog box you can enter a free mix of IMatch Variables and literal text.

• Each row in the edit field results in one field in the output file
• All rows together define the contents of a record
• For each file you export, one record is created in the output file.

The general format is:

Variables and literal text for field 1
Variables and literal text for field 2
...

or

Field Name:Variables and literal text for field 1
Field Name:Variables and literal text for field 2
...

The optional Field Name: is the name of the field in the output file if you use the Emit first line as header option or XML output. The text after the : text specifies the contents of the field. You can freely mix variables with literal text and you can use more than one variable per field.

Make sure you use only valid field names for the output format and the application you want to import the file into.

For example, many applications don't allow blanks (spaces) in field names, and XML/JSON definitely do not allow blanks in field names. Use the underscore _ as a safe replacement; for example, instead of File Name use File_Name.

Examples:

{File.FullName}

The output file has one field (column) per record. The field is the fully qualified file name. If you use XML or emit a header line, the field will be named F1.

c:\images\beach.jpg
c:\images\flower.jpg
...

and with headers it will be:

F1
c:\images\beach.jpg
c:\images\flower.jpg
...

This example uses a field name to explicitly name the output field:

Dateiname: {File.FullName}

The output file has one field per record. The field is the fully qualified file name. If you use XML or emit a header line, the field will be named Dateiname.

Dateiname
c:\images\beach.jpg
c:\images\flower.jpg
...

This example uses three rows with variables and field names:

FileName: "{File.FullName}";
DateTime: {File.Modified|format:YYYY.MM.DD hh:mm:ss}
Size: {File.Size|cast:int} Bytes

The output file has three fields per record: Fully qualified file name, date and time of last modification and the size of the file in bytes. The fields are named FileName, DateTime and Size. A custom datetime format is used and the file size is emitted as an integer number without any additional formatting, but with the word Bytes appended.

The output for this field specification will look like this (assuming you use the first line as a header and , as the field separator):

Filename,DateTime,Size
"c:\images\1.jpg",2011.05.02 12:00:01,163739 Bytes
"c:\images\22342.jpg",2011.05.02 12:01:05,1462928 Bytes

Note how the " characters around {File.FullName} in the field specification are copied literally to the output file.
Some applications require text values to be wrapped in ", which can be easily achieved by adding " around each text variable in the field specification.

If you use XML as the output format, the result will look like this:

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<photools.com-imatch xmlns:ptrm='http://schemas.photools.com/textexport.xsd' vendor='photools.com' version='1.0'>
  <filerec>
    <Filename>c:\images\1.jpg</Filename>
    <DateTime>2011.05.02 12:00:01</DateTime>
    <Size>163739 Bytes</Size>
  </filerec>
  <filerec>
    <Filename>c:\images\22342.jpg</Filename>
    <DateTime>2011.05.02 12:01:05</DateTime>
    <Size>1462928 Bytes</Size>
  </filerec>
</photools.com-imatch>

Quoting

Some applications expect you to quote text columns (and sometimes all data), especially in CSV files. Quoting means to include column data into " or other characters. To use quotes in the generated text file, just add them to your field specification.

Example:

Note the " added in front and behind each field:

FileName: "{File.FullName}";
DateTime: "{File.Modified|format:YYYY.MM.DD hh:mm:ss}"
Size: "{File.Size|cast:int} Bytes"

Import & Export Overview
Variables