Introduction

Tutorials

Data types and nodes

Reference

Installing GeoData Manager

Importing data

Importing takes a PC file of numbers (usually text) and adds it into one or many datasets. Files to import can be created by other PC applications (including this application itself) or by field instruments. There are two kinds of import:


Tutorial: Importing one dataset

Overview of importing

  1. You need a suitable data file to import.
  2. Create an empty dataset set to receive the imported data.
  3. Start the import and choose the file format of the file to be imported.
  4. Select the file name to import.
  5. Assign field names and units to the numbers being imported.
  6. Select any options required.
  7. Import the data. If there are errors, fix them and import the data again or cancel.

Example: importing a csv file

This section will step you through a typical import, of this comma separated value file:

to this measured discharge profile:

Note that the comma separated value file above has an error in line 5: the pressure is X8.58675 but it obviously should be 78.58675.

Requirements of the file to import

The file must have one of these standard file formats:

Creating an empty data set to receive the imported data

Click the data type to import (for example Measured discharge profiles), then click Data, then click New:

Starting the import and choosing the file format

Selecting the file to import

Some import options have special procedures:

For the other import options, an Open file window appears. Navigate to the folder containing the file to import, click the file name and click Open. The import setup window appears.

Assigning field names and units to the numbers being imported

The import setup window has the values in the file arranged into rows and columns, for example:

Each column has a field name and optional unit at the top:

The first line of the file we are importing in this example has the field names and units of the numbers in the columns. This is because it was exported by the export module. However, files you get from other sources might not have a line like this, in which case you must know the correct field names and units separately.

When it starts, the import module guesses field names and units, based on what you selected last time you imported. In this case the module has guessed badly, and all the field names above are wrong - compare each field name in row 1 with the correct name in row 2.

Ignore



Now, finally, set the field names and units to their correct values:

  1. If the guesses for field names are wrong, then first click to set all field names to Ignore:

  2. Change the field names and possible units to their correct values: For each column you want to import, click the field name and click the correct name in the menu. If the name in the menu requires units it has an arrow head; move the mouse to the right and click the correct units (the units of the number in the file, ft), for example:

  3. Change all field names to their correct values and units, to end up with:

Note

When you are assigning field names to the columns, you must click NON-VISIBLE COLUMNS to choose fields that are not currently visible in the header window:

If you select one of these fields, GeoData Manager reminds you that the field is not visible. To make the field visible see here.

Selecting any options required

For this example do not select any options:

Empty destination before import

The export module will delete any numbers already in the data set before it inserts the imported numbers.

No numbers deleted.

Ignore first rows

Enter a number of rows of the file to ignore. If the first row of the file has the field names and units, as in this case, then normally set this to 1. However, we will not do that in this example.

Strip delimiters

If you added delimiters when you exported the file, then choose the delimiter from the dropsdown list, so the import module can remove it.

Group delimiter on read

??

Does not

Clear all

Click to set all field names to Ignore.

Date format

If you are importing a date field, then select the format from this dropdown list, so the import module can import it correctly.

Thousands (and decimal) separator

This option is to handle unexpected separators in the data you are importing. If your Windows Region and language has your thousands separator as a , and your decimal separator as a . then the options are:

Importing the data and fixing any errors

In this example I have put errors in the file being imported, to show how to correct them. Normally there need not be errors.

  1. Click to start the import. The window displays errors on two lines:

  2. The error in the second line is the X in the pressure. Change the X to a 7.

  3. Click again. The window displays an error on one line:

  4. The error is that the line 1 of the file being imported does not have numbers, as the import module is expecting, instead it has the field names. We don't need to import line 1, so click to stop importing.

    NOTE We could have avoided this error by setting the option Ignore first rows to 1.



The import module returns to the data set, now with values of vertical depth, pressure and temperature. The vertical depths have been converted from ft to m.

  1. Enter a description Imported profile, 27.5 kg/s (99 t/hr).

  2. Enter a Mass flowrate 99 [t/hr].

  3. Click to check the data, calculate vertical depths and order the values by vertical depth.

The result is this measured discharge profile:

Importing from Borland Paradox

Importing from Microsoft Access

Importing from General ADO


Tutorial: Add Many - Importing many datasets

This tutorial uses Add Many to import data for several vertical wells. This assumes you are familiar with the steps to import data into one dataset, see above. You can use Add Many to import data for many of these datasets at the same time:

Add vertical well, available at these nodes:

Chemistry sample sites, available at these nodes:

Geology rock sample sites, available at these nodes:

Geophysics MT sounding, available at this node:

These are all datasets that either don't have detail data, or that the detail data can be calculated from the header data. Therefore, the file of data should contain some or all of the header data for each dataset to be imported, one dataset per line. In this tutorial, we will be importing from a spreadsheet.

Starting the import

  1. Go to the node where Add Many is an option, see the list above. Here we go to Add vertical well.

  2. Right-click a line of header data and click Add Many ...:


  3. GeoData Manager displays a temporary window that you will import the data to. It is empty now:

Importing the data to the temporary window

  1. We will be importing data from this spreadsheet:

    This has one line per vertical well to be imported, with the first line having the column names, which helps the importing.

  2. Open the spreadsheet, select all data and Copy. Switch back to GeoData Manager and in the temporary window, click the beside , then click Clipboard:

Assigning field names and units to the numbers being imported, selecting any options required

  1. An Import window appears. As in the tutorial above, click each column heading and select a field name (and units if required) to each column in the Import window:


  2. Select the required options as described in the tutorial above, then click Accept to import the data into the temporary window. Because the imported data is only header data, there is only data in the top pane of the window.

Fixing any errors

  1. Click Check. Fix any errors, for example duplicate datasets, missing fields. You can do this by changing the spreadsheet and reimporting it to the temporary window or by changing the data in this temporary window:

    Repeat until there are no errors.

  2. Click Apply to calculate the detail data for the vertical well from the header data. The detail data appears in the second pane of the temporary window:

Importing the data to GeoData Manager

Click Save in the temporary window. The data is imported from the temporary window into GeoData Manager.