Hi Lucy, Make sure to name your file with a lowercase extension ".arches" instead of ".Arches" otherwise the file won't load. Cheers, Alexei
Director of Web Development - Farallon Geographics, Inc. - 971.227.3173 On Mon, Feb 15, 2016 at 9:42 AM, Adam Cox <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Lucy, personally I'd recommend modifying (a copy of!) the excel file, > because then you can continually recreate the .arches file from it--I've > always found it beneficial to spend the most time on replicable steps > rather than one time (copy/paste) operations. > > Here's something that could help the process, and I'll use the Name, Name > Type as an example: > > If you have a column of names, and you know that they are all primary > names, you can avoid creating a new column where every value is > "NAME_TYPE:1" by just hard-coding that term into a statement in the query. > So, your new statement would not reference a column name, but would just > have "NAME_TYPE:1" written into it. In the example I made, the geometry > column shows an example of combining strings, 'POINT (', with column > names, lat. So that may be helpful for reference. > > A couple of other points related to this: > > If you have begun to use open office, it would be really great to see if > this same SQL stuff can be used there. Just a word of warning, even though > it's all SQL, the syntax (double vs. single quotes, the use of AS) may > differ between Excel and Open Office. > > Also, it occurs to me that once you have created a spreadsheet that is > formatted like a .arches file, you could probably do some pretty nimble > things with it by using the sorting and filtering capabilities that Excel > has and I'm sure open office has. A .arches file is just a bunch of rows > with two levels of sorting: first by RESOURCEID and second by GROUPID. To > add a line to a specific resource, you could just filter the rows based on > a RESOURCEID, add your new row or two, and then remove the filter, re-sort, > and you will have properly "inserted" a row. > > Finally, I just downloaded Open Office, and it looks like you can write > Python or Javascript macros. This is pretty huge (if you're into that sort > of thing) and a simple python or js macro could be used in place of the SQL > query I made. Sharing open office macros is probably really easy, so this > would be a great way to collaborate. > > Good luck! > > > On Sunday, February 14, 2016 at 6:19:35 AM UTC-6, Lucy FJ wrote: >> >> Hi Adam, >> >> I have now thoroughly read the documentation on .Arches file and have >> played around with the Microsoft query and have a much better idea of what >> I need to do, so there is no need to answer some of the questions I asked >> below! >> >> It seems that you either need to do a lot of manipulation of the excel >> file or a lot of copy and pasting in the .Arches file which will then be >> enormous even for our modest database! >> >> >> >> Lucy >> >> >> >> On Sunday, February 14, 2016 at 11:01:23 AM UTC+2, Lucy FJ wrote: >>> >>> Hi Adam, >>> >>> Finally I am back testing out creating an .Arches file (but I am not >>> able to load them yet and see the results) and I do have further questions >>> about adding alternative names and several resource classifications. >>> >>> Just to be clear that I understood you correctly, the group ID keeps >>> records that are related within a heritage resource together, and the >>> resource ID ensures that all data for a particular resource is kept >>> together? Therefore, each alternative name/nametype would have a separate >>> Group ID from the preferred name/nametype, but the same Resource ID? >>> >>> Secondly, I am not very familiar with Microsoft query, but it seems that >>> the original Excel file for creating the query from, can only have one >>> 'row' per record or archaeological site in our case. So as you suggested, >>> we would need to put in a new column for each alternative name we have and >>> for each site type classification and of course modify the query to add >>> more statements for the extra names etc. I am looking for a method of >>> reading the Excel file in the way we have set up with all the alternative >>> name being in *one* column, as it would be more efficient for us - >>> sometimes we have 10 alternative names but I don't think Microsoft Query >>> can handle this. >>> >>> I don't know if you have any further thoughts on this or know how others >>> have handles this. >>> Thank you very much for your help, which is always appreciated! >>> Lucy >>> >>> On Monday, January 18, 2016 at 7:27:24 PM UTC+2, Adam Cox wrote: >>>> >>>> Hi Lucy, I'm happy to hear the documentation was helpful. >>>> >>>> To add more attributes to your .arches file, you'll just need to add >>>> more statements to the SQL query. First, because the SQL window is pretty >>>> cramped in Excel, I'd recommend pasting your query into Notepad ++ so it's >>>> easier to work with. >>>> >>>> If you look at the two statements that define Name and Name_Type, >>>> you'll see that they both reference "group1". What you want to do is make >>>> more groups, so I'd recommend copying and pasting the Name_Type statement >>>> from the existing query (because it is the most standard) and pasting it >>>> below, as many times as you need--one time per new attribute that you need >>>> to add. Then just make sure to set the group value appropriately: if you >>>> have an alternate name, you'll have to make a new column for that name, and >>>> make a column with the correct conceptid (or hard-code the conceptid into >>>> the new statement), and then put "group3" into each statement. Or, if you >>>> just have a single column for a standalone attribute like "Site Type", make >>>> sure it has its own unique group ID. >>>> >>>> I hope that makes sense. I have to run now, but if you have more >>>> questions don't hesitate to ask them! >>>> >>>> Adam >>>> >>>> On Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 12:17:31 PM UTC-6, Lucinda >>>> Fletcher-Jones wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Qu9c0GYT4ig/VpvaZj1w5yI/AAAAAAAAFXo/aMjV0c5GLJg/s1600/Dabanarti.JPG> >>>>> >>>>> Hi all, >>>>> >>>>> I have worked through the example in Adam Cox's excellent guide to >>>>> creating a .Arches file from a Microsoft Excel file which is where we have >>>>> all our archaeological site data at present, and it worked very well. Now >>>>> I >>>>> have a question. Our data, as everyone else's is a little more complicated >>>>> than the example. How do you deal with a site that has more than one name >>>>> and more than one classification etc? for example: Dabanarti with three >>>>> names and three site types. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Qu9c0GYT4ig/VpvaZj1w5yI/AAAAAAAAFXo/aMjV0c5GLJg/s1600/Dabanarti.JPG> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Thank you very much, Lucy >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- > -- To post, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe, > send email to [email protected]. For more > information, visit https://groups.google.com/d/forum/archesproject?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Arches Project" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- -- To post, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected]. 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