Import and Export Objects
Overview
The export/import feature lets you export the properties for certain objects to a spreadsheet, edit those properties, and import them. This is an efficient way to:
Add many objects all at once
Change properties of many objects all at once
Extract the properties of many objects to a spreadsheet for further manipulation
You might use this feature when:
Your institution has built a new, fully equipped lecture hall. You need to add many new rooms. This is an add many operation.
You have added organizations to allow delegated administration. Many objects (courses, sections, rooms, users) that had been owned by the parent organization (the university) should now be owned by a particular child organization, such as the law school. This is an edit many operation.
You want to post the EchoCenter URL of many sections to your learning management system (LMS), but use an LMS that is not integrated with the EchoSystem Server (ESS). You can extract the URLs to a spreadsheet then copy-paste them to your LMS. This is an extract operation.
You can do these operations efficiently by using the import and export features with a spreadsheet program such as Excel.
EchoSystem allows for import and export of the following objects:
You must be logged in as a System Administrator or the Administrator of the parent organization to use this feature. When you export or import objects, all objects of that type (all courses, all sections, all rooms) are exported. Export cannot be limited by the organization. That is why only System Administrators or parent organization Administrators (but not child organization Administrators) can use this feature.
The basic steps are the same for all operations.
Export existing objects. Do this even if you are doing an add many operation because it gives you a properly formatted spreadsheet.
Edit the spreadsheet.
Import the spreadsheet.
General Procedure - Export Objects
This procedure shows how to export users. Adapt this process to export other objects: courses, sections, schedules, rooms, or Personal Capture licenses.
Navigate to Configuration > Users.
Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Click Export.
The user records are exported to CSV file. You can open this file in a spreadsheet program such as Excel.
General Procedure - Edit the Spreadsheet
Follow these best practices to reduce the possibility of errors:
Adjust the cell margins so you can easily see the content of each cell.
Sort the spreadsheet so the relevant cells display at the top of the page.
For add many operations: clear the existing data cells, but preserve row 1, the heading cells.
Enter and edit data.
If you change an object's organization, see Inheritance When You Change an Object's Organization.
In the example shown below, David Goodwin, who had been Academic Staff for the university, becomes Academic Staff for the engineering school and a Scheduler for CLP. Gilda Good, who had been a Scheduler for the university, becomes a Scheduler for the engineering school.
Save the edited spreadsheet as a CSV file.
General Procedure - Import Objects
This procedure shows how to import users. Adapt this process to import courses, sections, or rooms.
This procedure assumes you have already exported objects and edited the spreadsheet. You must have a properly configured spreadsheet to import.
Navigate to Configuration > Users.
Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Click Import. The Import Users screen appears.
Review the help text. Make sure your import file is properly configured.
Click Browse.
Select the import file.
Click Import. The file is imported and processed. Results of the import appear in the field at the bottom of the screen.
Review the results.
Notice in the example below that two users were not updated because the import file was not properly configured.
Scroll to the bottom of the results field to review the summary. In the figure below, notice that the two users edited in the procedure above, David Goodwin, and Gilda Good, were updated.
Decide if you need to edit the import file and re-import. You may want to copy the results to an editor (Notepad, TextEdit) or make notes about edits required.
Click Done.
If you like, check one or two user profiles to see the effect of the imports. The below example shows the user profiles for David Goodwin and Gilda Good.
Example - Move Courses to a New Organization
In this example, you move a course to another organization. Sections, schedules, and Echoes associated with the course move to the other organization.
This example follows the general procedures outlined above.
Export the courses.
Navigate to Schedule > Courses.
Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Click Export Courses.
The course records are exported to a spreadsheet named course-<num>.csv, as shown in the example below. If you have a spreadsheet program installed, it opens automatically.
Edit the spreadsheet. See General Procedure-Edit the Spreadsheet for details and best practices.
You can change the course name, Identifier, and Organization.
In the example shown below, Blended Learning is moved from Echo360, the parent organization, to the School of Arts and Sciences. The Identifier changes from ECH101 to EDU201.
Import the edited spreadsheet, adapting the general procedure on importing.