Import Table wizard - Edit Column Details

Import Table wizard	Main window, File menu
Edit Column Details	< Back \| Next >

Specify for each column: the name and type of the domain that should be used for the column. Optionally, you can specify the domain that should be used by the table.

Page options:

Column name:	Required to assign names to the output columns. If you like, change the default names for the output columns to nicer ones.
Width:	Required for Fixed format: for each column, specify the number of characters used by that column. Use the previous View File page to count the number of characters for each column. For any other format than Fixed format: the value for Width will not be used; so you can keep default Width value 0.
New Domain, Domain type, Domain Name, Extend:
	For each column to be imported, these parameters represent a group of possibilities. Tip: It is strongly recommended to read the Additional Information below.
New Domain:	Yes or No Specify whether you wish to create a new domain for a column (Yes) or not (No).
Domain type:	'Class', 'ID', 'Value', 'Bool', or 'String'. Specify the type of domain that should be used by a column.
Domain name:	Specify the name of the domain for a column. When Domain type is set to 'Class', 'ID', or 'Value', and when New Domain is set to Yes: type a new name for a domain; you may specify for instance the name of the column that uses this domain. When Domain type is set to 'Class', 'ID', or 'Value', and when New Domain is set to No: select an existing domain. When you chose Domain Type 'String', the column will always use system domain String. When you chose Domain Type 'Bool', the column will always use system domain Bool.
Extend:	Yes or No When Domain type is set to 'Class' or 'ID': specify whether the class names or identifiers of a new or existing Class or ID domain should be extended with any new strings found in the column or not. When creating a new Class or ID domain for a column, the Extend field MUST be set to Yes for that column. For other Domain type settings: - blank -
Min:	When Domain type is set to 'Value': to check whether the default minimum value as found in this column is OK. The values specified for Min and Max together define the value range for the output column. For other Domain type settings: - blank -.
Max:	When Domain type is set to 'Value': to check whether the default maximum value as found in this column is OK. The values specified for Min and Max together define the value range for the output column. For other Domain type settings: - blank -.
Precision:	When Domain type is set to 'Value': to check whether the number of decimals as found in this column is OK. This is also called the precision of the output column. For other Domain type settings: - blank -.
Undef:	When Domain type is set to 'Value': in case a certain value is used in the column to define 'Undefined' (e.g. 999), you can optionally specify the value in the column that should be imported as ILWIS 'Undefined', i.e. in the output column, this value will appear as ?. For other Domain type settings: - blank -.

Table Domain:	Optionally, you can select this check box and select a Class or ID column that should be used as the domain of the table. The specified column will not appear as a column in the output table. Purpose of setting a Table Domain: when an output table itself uses a certain Class or ID domain, you can link the output table to a map which uses the same Class or ID domain; the output table will then become an attribute table of the map to which you linked it. You can also link the output table to the Class or ID domain itself; then the table will be the (default) attribute table of all maps which use that domain. Select this check box and select the Class or ID column that contains unique strings which will be the 'record numbers' in the output table. A star will appear at the column which will be used as the domain of the table. Clear this check box when you wish to obtain a table with system domain None. The table will have record numbers like 1, 2, 3, etc. You may have to use the Change domain of table operation after import to convert the table to an attribute table.

Nr. of columns:	For a file in ASCII format: check the number of columns in the input table. When you selected the correct input format on a previous page (excluding Fixed format), the number of columns should be correct by default on this page. When the file is in Fixed format, you may need to change the number of columns to the expected value (use the previous View File page). This option is not available when your file is in dBase DBF format.
Nr. of lines to skip:	For a file in ASCII format: when your file has a header, specify the number of lines that should be skipped at the beginning of the file. When your file is for instance in ILWIS 1.4 table format, the first line should be skipped. You can check the number of lines that should be skipped at the previous View File page. This option is not available when your file is in dBase DBF format.

After clicking the Next button, the Import Table - Specify ILWIS Table Name page will appear. There you can specify the name of the ILWIS table that will be the result of import.

Additional information

Importing a column containing characters (strings):

To import a column containing strings (such as a dBase Character column), it is advised to create a new Class or ID domain for the column.

You can use the following combinations:

1. To create a new Class or ID domain for a column:
New Domain:	Yes
Domain type:	Class, when the strings in the column of the external file may occur more than once in this column, e.g. classes of soil types. ID, i.e. Identifiers, when each string in the column of the external file (generally) occurs only once in this column, e.g. identifiers of cadastral plots.
Domain name:	Accept a default domain name as generated by the system, or type new name for the domain yourself; you can use for instance the same name as the name of the column.
Extend:	Yes, required.
2. To use system domain String for a column:
New Domain:	No
Domain type:	String
Domain name:	Accept system domain String.
Extend:	- blank -

Tip: Columns which use the system domain String can be converted to regular Class or ID columns by opening the table, double-clicking the column header of String column, and clicking the Create New Domain from Strings in Column button in the Column Properties dialog box.

Importing a column containing values:

To import a column containing values (such as a dBase Numeric column), you can generally use system domain Value.

You can use the following combination:

New Domain:	No
Domain type:	Value
Domain:	Value, i.e. this is system domain Value
Extend:	- blank -

To import a column which contains percentage values from 0 to 100, select for Domain: Perc. This is system domain Perc. Other settings as above.

Similarly, to import a column which contains values between -1 and 1, select for Domain: Min1to1. This is system domain Min1to1. Other settings as above.

You can use the same method for other existing value domains (system value domains or user-defined value domains that were created before).

When you wish to create a specific new value domain for a column, select for New Domain: Yes. For Domain, type a new domain name. Other settings as above.

Importing a column containing only values 0 and 1, or True and False, etc.:

To import a column containing values 0 and 1, or True and False, etc. (such as a dBase Logical column), you can generally use system domain Bool.

You can use the following combination:

New Domain:	No
Domain type:	Bool
Domain:	Bool, i.e. this is system domain Bool
Extend:	- blank -

You can also import such a column using the system domain YesNo. Select for Domain: YesNo. Other settings as above. In the output column, the values of the column will be Yes and No only.