Process Overview

  

  

As you begin each part of the process of Importing your Park Data, Data Importer will ask if you would like to BackUp the RV Park database.  By doing this, you will be able to go back to a previous version of the database, should something go wrong.  This is highly advised ...  You will also be asked if you want to Compress the Database.  This is also a good thing to do when adding a lot of records.  It will help keep the database smaller and will make the application run faster that is using that database.


Here are some comments about the process steps:


Site Types -

The intent of the tool is to begin with defining the Site Types you will be using.  There are up to 10 Site Types you can define to be used in RV Park Software.  These are usually Types that describe the type of Site it is, like:  Motorhome; Mobilehome; RV; Trailer; Primitive; Boat Slip; etc.  You can create whatever you want with up to 10 characters for each.  Then when a Guest is being registered, they are linked to ONE of the Types.  The Sites can be linked to as many of the Types as makes sense, but the Guest only gets one.  In this way a Site may accommodate a Motorhome, Mobilehome, RV, or Trailer, but the Guest is driving only one.


Export Access Database -

This is a handy feature if your old system used a MS Access database.  You can open that old database and review the Tables and type of data stored in those Tables.  You can select the Tables that you need information from and Export those Tables into an Excel spreadsheet, which can be used later in the Import into RV Park Software step.


Site or Guest Definition Manually -

The tool does provide the ability to Manually enter or modify Sites or Guests.  This can also be done directly in RV Park Software.


Import Sites, Guests, and/or Point of Sale from an External File -

This is the Primary Purpose of this Tool.  You can use an external file (Text or Excel based) to define your Sites, Guests, and/or Point of Sale Items.  Using the Data Importer Tool makes importing information fairly simple.  The most difficult part of the process can be getting a Text or Excel based file from either your old software or the Database your old software used.  Many software packages provide the ability to Export the Information. If yours does, the best approach is to export several files.  Each one specific to Sites, Guests, and Items you may sell in a Park Store.  If there is only one file created with everything in it, you can still use that file 3 times and accomplish the same thing.  If the old software doesn't have an export capability and you have to export the information from a Database, you may need to get assistance from a Computer Specialist familiar with your "brand" of database to export the files you need.  Excel is the best form of file to import, because if there are delimiter type characters within the fields, they are not interpreted as a new field during the import process, so your information isn't compromised. 


The following is required by Data Importer for a successful Import:

1)  The first row in the File MUST be the Titles of the Fields being Imported.  This is necessary for you to know what the field is to match to an RV Park Software field in the selection process.

2)  If the File is a Text File, ALL Text Fields MUST be enclosed in quote marks.

3)  If the File is a Text File, you MUST use either a Comma or Semicolon as a delimiter to delineate each field.  NOTE:  If the data also has commas and/or semicolons, you will most likely run into problems while importing the data because the delimiter characters in the data will be mistaken for the next field.

4)  There are several "Yes/No" or "True/False" type fields in the RV Park Software database.  If you are Importing these types of fields and your Data uses "Yes" and "No" in the data, as oppose to either "True" & "False" or "1" & "0", there will be a Check Box under the Field you will need to check before Importing, so that the "Yes/No" can be converted to "True/False" during the Import.


Please read the sections for each Step of the Process you will be using.