Import data

Unless you are building a category from scratch, you will probably want to bring data from some other source into your application.

The Import Data link allows you to do this; it is located on the category bar near the top of the screen when you are inside an application, and another link is also visible on the screen if your application contains no data.

You can import data from a variety of sources. Dabble remembers each import that you’ve done so that you can later do another similar one. You can also set up Scheduled imports to import data automatically and repeatedly from a web site. You must do an import from a particular web site once before you can set up a schedule.

You can also import data any time you create a new category.

If you have never imported data, Dabble will initiate a new import for you. Otherwise, use the Import into drop-down to select a category (or “New category”), and click Import to begin a new import.

On the import screen, you can choose two options for bringing in data:

If you have data on your computer in a spreadsheet or table, you can simply copy and paste it into the box. Dabble DB will read the data and convert it into a structured database form. You can import data directly from Microsoft Excel using this method — simply select everything in Excel, choose Copy, and then paste into the box on your browser.

Dabble DB also supports pasting data from any tab- or comma-delimited table, also known as TSV and CSV.

Here is an example of data that will not import successfully:

Here is the same data in a columnar table that will import successfully:

Some spreadsheet programs impose their own formatting on a CSV file that causes unexpected results during import into Dabble DB. Avoid this is by opening the CSV file with a basic text editor. You can copy-and-paste the comma-separated-value data directly from the note pad window and paste into Dabble DB as described above.

If you have data on the web you wish to use, Dabble DB can import it for you. Click the Import data from a website button and then type or paste the URL of the web page in.

Dabble can read tables on web pages written in HTML or XHTML. It can also read “plain” tab- or comma-delimited text files served on the web. Finally, you can also directly import RSS and Atom feeds.

Once you’ve pasted data or typed a web page URL, click Continue.

Note: You can tell Dabble DB to import from password-protected URLs by including the username and password in the URL. However, any punctuation or special characters in the username or password must be URL-encoded. Read more about importing data from password-protected web sites.

Read about step 2 of the import process.

Once you have done one or more imports, clicking Import Data will bring you to an Imports page where you can choose do a new similar import. Choosing this option will allow you to re-use some of the options you choose during the import process for a new import, including the source, the category, and how the columns of data are matched to your fields.