Importing Data
InterMapper can import data from a text file to update information about devices on a map, or information about Users or Groups. This is useful for:
- New customers who want to import the devices/probe types
from their current monitoring system (or information that's already present
in a spreadsheet or other format) into InterMapper.
- Customers who make frequent updates to existing devices
on maps.
- Customers who frequently add new devices to maps. They want
to enter information about new customers to a database, then export the
new device information to a file that can be bulk-imported into InterMapper.
- Customers who want to make systematic changes to
their maps. They can export the InterMapper map as, say, tab-delimited
data, then edit columns in a spreadsheet/database, then re-import, letting
InterMapper merge the new information onto the existing devices. This
is useful for wholesale label changes, switching IP addresses, etc.
- Customers who want to import a list of users from another source for authentication purposes.
To import data:
- Create an import file as described in Creating
an Import File.
- In the Map List window, click to select the server
to which you want to import map data, or open a map on that server.
Note: The import file contains the name of the map. If the map does
not exist, it is created automatically.
- From the File menu's Import...submenu, choose Data File...A standard file dialog
appears.
- Select the file you want to import and click Open. If the map data is valid, devices are added or
updated on the specified maps as appropriate. If the specified map does
not exist, one is created automatically.
Note: You can automate the importing of map data by sending commands
to InterMapper RemoteAccess through its command-line interface or through the HTTP API. This allows
you to interact with InterMapper through your own scripts. For more information,
see Command-line options for RemoteAccess, (in this manual) as well as InterMapper HTTP API in the Developer Guide.
When importing data in Tab/CSV/XML formats, foreign characters must be presented in
the same way as the output of the Export command:
- Characters with values less than 255 can be imported directly.
- Character values greater than 255 must be escaped using the standard XML format (&#[character code]).