Quick setup guide example

This example imports a small employee spreadsheet into an Employees table, from the first record to the finished import. It assumes you've already run the installation wizard for EZ File Importer in the app.

The data used in this example

The spreadsheet is named Employee_Info.xlsx. It has one sheet, with the column headings in row 1 and five employees below them:

The Employees table the data goes into has these fields. The field IDs are what you use in the field mappings:

Tables created during setup

Once you have finished running the setup, you will see the following 5 tables in your Quickbase application, next to your own tables (here, Employees):

1. Configuration Groups

2. File Imports (older apps and articles call it Import Files)

3. Import Configurations

4. Field Mappings

5. Import Run Details

Create Configuration Groups, Import Configuration, Field Mappings, and Email Notification

Create a Configuration Group

• Open the Configuration Groups table in your Quickbase application. This table is present if you have already installed the EZ File Importer extension in your application. While it's empty, the page says There aren't any configuration group yet. and shows a green New Configuration Group button at the top right. Select it.

• On the Add Configuration Group form, enter the name for the Configuration Group, for example Test Config Group, and then select the Save&Close button. The form also shows empty lists for the Import Files and Import Configurations, with an Add Import File and an Add Import Configuration button; you use them next.

Create an Import Configuration

• On the saved configuration group (Configuration Group #1), select the Add Import Configuration button. The Add Import Configuration form opens. It's a long form with every field of the Import Configurations table; you can group its fields into tabs or sections with Customize this form if you like. The fields are described in Set up the tables for EZ File Importer.

• Now let's create the Import Configuration based on importing the data from the Employee_Info.xlsx file into the Employees table in your Quickbase application. Fill in these fields:

  Field	Value	Why
  Type	Employee Import Test	A descriptive name for this import.
  Related Configuration Group	Test Config Group	The group you just created.
  Target Table Name	Employees	The name of the table the data goes into.
  Target Table DBID	The Employees table's ID	See the next step.
  Field Mapping Info	Map_Fields_By_Column_Name	The mappings use the column names in the spreadsheet.
  File Contains a Header Row	Selected	The spreadsheet has a header row.
  Header Row #	1	The header row is row 1.
  Starting Row #	2	The data starts on row 2.

  Leave Ending Row # and Sheet Number blank: the import then reads to the end of the data on the first sheet.

• If you aren't sure where to find the table DBID, open the table you need the DBID for (here, Employees) and copy the DBID from the browser's address bar. In https://yourcompany.quickbase.com/db/<table ID>?a=td, the table ID is the part after /db/.

• The next step is to add Field Mappings. On the import configuration, select Add Field Mapping. Until you add one, the list says No field mapping found.

• On the Add Field Mapping form, enter the name of the spreadsheet column in Column Name/Letter, and the field ID of the field the column's data goes into in Field ID. Related Import Configuration is already set to the import configuration (Employee Import Test). Select Save & close.

• In our example scenario, the field IDs come from the Employees table's field list (see the table at the top of this page). Similarly, fill in the details for the other columns and field mappings:

  Column Name/Letter	Field ID
  Employee ID	6
  First Name	7
  Last Name	8
  Job Title	9
  Phone Number	10
  Salary	11

  When you're done, the import configuration lists six field mappings, none with Write A Value? selected.

• Next, set up the Email Notification on the File Imports table.

• See Setting up the Email Notification to create the Email Notification from the File Imports table.

• Now let's upload the sample file in the File Imports table to import the data from the spreadsheet into the Employees table.

• In the File Imports table, select the green New Import File button at the top right. (While the table is empty, the page says There aren't any import file yet.)

• On the Add Import File form, select Choose File and select Employee_Info.xlsx. The form also shows File Name, a Refresh button, and the Import Generation Arguments field, which fills in once the record is saved.

• In Related Configuration Group, choose Test Config Group from the list. The list also has a Create a new configuration group choice. Select Save & Close.

• The saved record, Import File #1, shows the file, the file name, the Refresh button, the Import Generation Arguments with impconfiggroup="Test Config Group" filled in, and Related Configuration Group. Select Refresh after saving the record. The Import Run Details list on the record then shows one run: a Status of Process Completed _ followed by the date and time, and Records Processed of 5.

• Open the Employees table. The five employees are there:

  Employee ID	First Name	Last Name	Job Title	Mobile	Salary
  1111	Bill	Baker	Developer	(999) 999-9999	$50,000.00
  2222	John	Smith	Manager	(888) 888-8888	$70,000.00
  3333	Sally	Simpson	Tester	(777) 777-7777	$65,000.00
  4444	Mark	Mathews	HR	(666) 666-6666	$75,000.00
  5555	Sara	Johnson	Intern	(555) 555-5555	$40,000.00

  The table's totals row shows 16,665 for Employee ID and $300,000.00 for Salary.