One of the features in my application is a log where a user can add log entries. I want to make it possible to for the user to export this data. However I do not know which format I should use for this. The data looks like this:
A date, distance, duration, maximum four category names. What I want is to make it possible to send it on mail or open it with dropbox using the URL scheme if the user has dropbox.
I have read about CSV format but I don't know if that is a good file format? My main concern is that the user do not have to have a fixed number of categories (could be between 1-4 categories)
Seeing as the columns of data to be exported will be dynamic in total, it will depend on what the user selects - and there's nothing wrong with this.
I think .csv is fine for this purpose as well - but you need to ask yourself... what will the user be doing with the data? You could either offer multiple file export formats or whatever is the best-for-purpose format, depending on what your average user will do with it.
CSV (comma separated values) is simple (and adds very little overhead - the commas), but not terribly flexible. This is good for importing to MSFT Excel, for instance.
You should consider using XML (the same underlying format used for plists) which is a very flexible (future proof should you wish to add additional columns in the future) and well supported format.
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Dear Anylogic Community,
I am struggling with finding the right approach for storing my simulation results. I have datasets created that keep track of every value I am interested in. They live in Main (see below)
My aim is to do a parameter variation experiment. In every run, I change the value for p_nDrones (see below)
After the experiment, I would like to store all the datasets in one excel sheet.
However, when I do the parameter variation experiment and afterwards check the log of the dataset (datasets_log), the changed values do not even show up (2 is the value I did set up in the normal simulation).
Now my question. Do I need to create another type of dataset if I want to track the values that are produced in the experiments? Why are they not stored after executing the experiment?
I really would appreciate if someone could share the best way to set up this export of experiment results. I would like to store the whole time series for every dataset.
Thank you!
Best option would be to write the outputs to some external file at the end of each model run.
If you want to use Excel, which I personally would not advise, even though it has a nice excelFile.writeDataSet() function, you can.
I would rather write the data to a text file as you will have much for control over the writing, the file itself, it is thread-safe, and useable in many many more platforms than Microsoft Excel.
See my example below:
Setup parameters in your model that you will write the data to at the end of the model of type TextFile. Here I used the model on destroy code to write out the data from the data sets.
Here you can immediately see the benefit of using the text file! You can add the number of drones we are simulating (or scenario name or any other parameter) in a column, whereas with Excel this would be a pain...
Now you can pass your specific text file to the model to use by adding it to the parameter variation page, providing it to the model through the parameters.
You will see that I also set up some headers for the text file in the Initial Experiment setup part, and then at the very end of the experiment, I close the text files in the After experiment section so that the text files can be used.
Here is the result if you simply right-click on the text files and open them in Excel. (Excel will always have a purpose, even if it is just to open text files ;-) )
I am creating a data dictionary and I am supposed to track the location of any used field in a workbook. For example (superstore sample data), I need to specify which sheets/dashboards have the [sub-category] field.
My dataset has hundreds of measures/dimensions/calc fields, so it's incredibly time exhaustive to click into every single sheet/dashboard just to see if a field exists in there, so is there a quicker way to do this?
One robust, but not free, approach is to use Tableau's Data Catalog which is part of the Tableau Server Data Management Add-On
Another option is to build your own cross reference - You could start with Chris Gerrard's ruby libraries described in the article http://tableaufriction.blogspot.com/2018/09/documenting-dashboards-and-their.html
I have a problem with oracle apex forms.
The problem is that I want to add more than 1 record at the same time in 1 form. I have already read that the best way to do that is to use an csv file but then there is no tutorial to do that.
Oracle is a database, and combining files with databases is always tricky and not extensively supported for obvious reasons. Storing files and presenting them for download is one thing. Getting an Oracle database to open a file and reading and processing the contents is another. It sure it possible, but especially combining this with an Apex application I think you are going to run into a lot of challenges such as security restrictions.
However, stepping away from files does not necessarily mean stepping away from CSV. You could simply offer a large text input on your page in which a user can copy-paste a large CSV string. This can then be submitted and processed by the database. To do this you would probably need to create a process that gets fired after you submit the page. From this process you can parse the CSV data and insert multiple rows in a table. The same can be done for things like XML or JSON.
However, who is generating this CSV? Requiring a user to construct CSV is not very user-friendly. It can be complicated and error prone. If the CSV is generated by another application, isn't there a way to circumvent Apex and pass the CSV to the database directly?
If a single text-based data carrier is not required, which I doubt reading your descriptions, why not simply keep your form but allow the user to submit multiple forms? Would if be sufficient to insert one record per submit, and later using a batch to query these records and start formatting one at a time?
If you simply want the user to be able to enter multiple machines without having to submit the page for each machine, this is also possible, but you will have to leave some standard Apex functionality behind and implement some more custom javascript and PL/SQL functionality. Apex only allows a static amount of page items, which needs to be defined design time. So if you want to dynamically add fields such as text boxes and select lists to your page, you will have to resort to javascript. You could start by defining a region which renders one row of input fields at page load, and create a link under it saying 'add another row', which will render a new row of input fields under the existing one, and repeat this as many times as the user needs to.
That takes care of the UI. Now when the user has entered all the data he wants, we need to submit all this data and get it into the database. So yes, at this point we would probably have to get all this data from the input fields and turn it into one single string. This would all have to be done client side in your javascript code. You can then use the Apex page item API to assign this generated string to a single page item, using the $x(...) or $v(...) functions. Then submit the page, at which point the page processes will be fired. You then define a page process which will parse the data in your page item, and use that data to insert multiple rows in the database.
I'm using Access 2010 and I would like to create a form where useres can enter data much like they can in an Excel format. The users need to enter a date when a step is complete for a specific unit.
In Excel the units run aross the top row, the steps run down the left column. In the cell where the unit and step meet, you put a date when it is done. In Access it is much harder to create a form that looks like this (at least it has been for me so far). I tried to use a crosstab query, but you cannot enter information into a crosstab query. I can do a massive form listing every combination of units and steps, but there are over 50 units and each one has 63 steps. I don't want users to have to look through a form with over 3,000 lines in it just to enter a date completed.
This definitely feels like something we should be using a database for instead of an Excel spreadsheet. I have the format for the back end tables to hold the data. My problem is how to create a form that is easy for the user to enter the dates.
I think you have three options. First, you could build the form from scratch, which you've already admitted would suck. And it would take a lot of VBA to get the data in the right place. Second, you could automate Excel - it's the same as the first method but you don't have to build the form. You would populate an Excel spreadsheet and write the changes back to the database. This is not a trivial task and I don't recommend it.
The third option is to throw away the idea that you want to do this in a grid. You've probably been doing it in Excel and to the extent that you replicate that, your users will be happy and comfortable. Moving to a database gives you benefits, but there are costs. This is one of the costs.
So create a form with a dropdown containing all of the units. When a unit is selected, populate a subform (datasheet view) listing all of the procedures and dates. The user can then select the unit, and fill in the date next to whichever procedures he wants. Then he can select another unit and do the same thing. If you set it up right, your data will flow to the tables automatically and you'll get all the benefits of data validation, input masks, relationships, and whatever else you're using at the table level.
I know that's not what you were looking for, but I think it's the best way forward.
Working with GoogleEarth, I am able to import CSV data that contains long, lat, name, etc., but I am unable to get Google Earth Pro to recognize timespan (begin, end) information.
I found an online App called EarthPoint, that allows me to convert a CSV file into KML that includes the timespan data, but that app is limited in its ability to recognize additional fields. Thus, I am unable to apply style templates to the EarthPoint imported data, as there is nothing for Google Earth to latch onto.
So I am looking for either a different app, that imports all three (geo, time, description), from either CSV, or straight from a spreadsheet app like Excel.
And barring the existence of such an app, I would simply like to know if there is a way to specify the headers so that Google Earth will reecognize the time series data for what it is.