Export Grid Data to Excel (CSV)

The usual option in saving Data Reports from HighStone is to export or save the Data Grid values to a file - usually in Excel format (.xls files) or Comma Separated Value (.csv files) format.

The Save File option panel prompts for the target filename to use, and also to select the Folder where the file will be saved.

In all cases HighStone will allow the export file to be saved in your My HighStone Folder.  Depending on type of data shown on the display, HighStone may allow the file to be saved in the current Application Object Folder (for instance against an Incident Record, or Works Order Record or similar).

The Target Filename used to save the data in may be accepted as the default given, or edited to suit your requirements.  The file extension (.xls or .csv) should be left in place.

Additional checkbox options control whether any existing file of the same name is overwritten (or HighStone warns and prompts for confirmation to overwrite if it finds an existing file), and whether the created file is to be opened in the relevant Application (for example Excel) after it has been created.

HighStone always gives the option to open a saved file in the appropriate Application.

If saving Grid Data to replace an existing filename, for example a re-run of a report, you must ensure the previous file is not Open in another Application on your Desktop - or Open by another user.  There is no need to delete a file before HighStone will create a new version, but the save will fail if the existing file cannot be deleted for any reason.  The same applies if a file has been marked as 'Read-Only' - HighStone will not over-write any 'Read-Only' file.

Saving Large Files

If the displayed data grid is large - over 25,000 cells - then HighStone will advise that the data is not written in .xls format (which may take a while to create), and Comma Separated Value (.csv files) format is used.

If the Data grid is extremely large (over 100,000 cells), the recommendation is even more forceful.  HighStone will not disallow a save to an .xls file, no matter how big the dataset is.  However users must be aware that a large save in this format may take several minutes to complete.

Using Comma Separated Value (.csv files) format on the other hand is very much quicker (usually a matter of seconds for even the largest of datasets).  CSV files can still be opened by Excel (this is usually the default Application Association) and in most cases there will be little or no difference between to two options.  However CSV does not implicitly maintain the 'data type' of each cell value (unlike .xls) and hence there may be some mis-match in the display of values when the data is loaded.

Forcing Comma Separated Value Save Format

If you wish to force the data save in CSV format - rather than .xls - hold the Shift key down before clicking on the Save As Excel command button.  This forces HighStone to use the CSV format and sets a .csv file extension.