Importing Data.

FarmIT 3000 provide a wide range of data import routine to import animals, treatments, weights, and many other attribute and records. To import data the data must be in a CSV ( Comma Seperated Value ) text file format. A CSV file is a simple text file where the records are lines and attributes are separated by a comma.

For example we may represent a basic list of sheep records as follows...

Ear Tag Number, Date of Birth, Breed, Sex, Sire, Dam,
UK0123456 00006, 15-04-2019, Texel, EWE, UK0987654 00156, UK0789456 00964,
UK0123456 00056, 12-05-2019, Texel, EWE, UK0987654 00156, UK0789456 00506,
UK0123456 00156, 26-04-2020, Texel, EWE, UK0506418 00626, UK0123456 00006,
UK0123456 00157, 26-04-2020, Texel, RAM, UK0506418 00626, UK0123456 00006,

 

You can create such a file using a spredsheat like Microsoft Excel, the save the file in CSV format, or using a simple text editor like NOTEPAD.EXE.

Notepad is available as part of the Microsoft Windows Operating system.

First Line header

The first line of the file should be the column headers, the actual name of which is not important as the import routines allow you to select which header contains the attribute to import. There are some default values which will auto select if you use them.

ETN - Ear Tag Number

The most import attribute for importing animal data is the official ear tag number. This is referred to withing the FarmIT3000 software as the 'Ear Tag No' or ETN for short. The ETN is used throught the system as the animals main identifier as we expect it to be the official tag number as it is used on movements and vet and med. When working with EID (electronic identification tag) it is also the format we use when converting from eid to visual tag.

ETN FORM: 'COUNTRY'+'FlockNumber'+'SPACE'+'Individual Number'

UK0123456 00015

So to ensure all animal data links up correctly try and use this format for all your animal ear tag numbers.

 

Dates

Dates can be troublesome, especially for our North American users. The import routines are designed to extract the date in a UK format, DAY MONTH YEAR. The date should include leading zero's, i,e the day 5th should be entered as 05 and the year in full 2019

So for example a date of birth should be entered as 15-04-2019, equating to the 15th of April 2019.

Last Line Carrage Return

all lines should end in a carriage return, otherwise we may miss the last line.

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