Spreadsheet Magic: Exporting Alex Data
Summary: Need some spreadsheet magic in your life? You can export tab-delimited data from Alexandria to spreadsheet applications like Excel.

Make a Tab-delimited Export:

• With Alexandria open, select Export from the File menu. (In 5.4.3, you must select Utilities and then choose an export option from the Utility Type menu.)
• Choose Export Items or Export Patrons from the Export Type menu. Note that Export Other cannot be used by other applications.
• From the Operation menu, select Tab Delimited.
• Click Select Fields to open the Field Mapping window.
• Click on the button with the gray check and red line through it to deselect all of the fields.
• Click on the fields to be exported. You can also drop and drag the fields to place them in the desired order. A small red arrow will appear on the left side of the list showing where the field will be placed.
• Click OK to close the Field Mapping window.
• Select the character set format to use for saving the exported information using the Character Set menu. (This option is not available in 5.4.3.)
• Set the Sort By and Select By menus as desired.
• Click Run.
• Give the file a name and set the location where it should be saved to and click Save.

Excel Quirks: Opening Your Exported Data
Summary: Learn a couple tricks to help make sure your exported Alexandria data open up right in Excel.

Opening the Export in Excel:

• With Excel open, select Open from the File menu.

• Locate and select the appropriate file.

• Make sure that Delimited is selected in the Text Import Wizard and click Next.
• Check Tab in the Delimiter box on the 2nd window and deselect the quotes checkbox and click Next.
• On the 3rd window, click on a column to specify the type of information in that field. Note that number fields that can begin with zeros (0) must be set to text, otherwise Excel will strip the zeros, make your ISBN's invalid, and ruin any barcodes that start with 0.
• Click Finish.
• Each field of information will show up in a separate column of the spreadsheet and can now either be printed or modified. Save any changes as text if you wish to import modifications back into Alexandria.
• Because of Excel's tendency to put quotes around anything with a comma in a field, it may be necessary to open the file up in a word processor and find all quotes and replace them with nothing.

To learn how to export data from Alexandria, see Spreadsheet Magic, see part one of this week's tip, "Spreadsheet Magic: Exporting Alex Data." If you have any questions or comments regarding this tip, please contact alextrainers@companioncorp.com.

Thank you,
The Alexandria Staff Librarians