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  • Glossary

Import Data from Excel

Importing a data set from Microsoft Excel requires that the data meet certain requirements. OptiPath can only import one seriation at a time. The data may be in a named table or in a worksheet. In any case, the the data should be in consecutive rows and columns starting with the first cell in the range (A1 if the range is a worksheet). The first row is assumed to contain the names of the columns, which should correspond to names of columns in the Artifacts table or the names of features. Each subsequent row should hold information for a separate item (artifact or assemblage).

Note that if you export a data set to a tab delimited file and then import that file into Excel and save it as an Excel file, that Excel file must be modified before trying to import it into OptiPath. All but the last set of rows (those defining artifacts and assemblages) must be deleted. The deleted rows are those describing the data set, the seriation and the features. You may also want to delete the rows with Names EARLIER and LATER, and columns named Exclude, Distance and Rate. If you do not delete these two rows and three columns you will get a warning message for each one saying it is being ignored.

Columns

The entries of the first row of the range of cells you select are treated as column names. The following column names are reserved by OptiPath: Assemblage, Date, Description, Distance, Earliest, Exclude, Index, Latest, Name, Order, Rate, Type, Use Dates. Any other column name is treated as a feature name, and the column is assumed to hold the data for that feature. Feature names are restricted to 50 characters. All column names must be unique. The first blank column name indicates the end of the columns.

Assemblage - the column is assumed to contain the name of an assemblage to which this artifact belongs. Assemblage names are restricted to 50 characters. A unique name is required for each assemblage and an assemblage name cannot be the same as an artifact name. This column is optional.

Date - the column is assumed to contain the dates of the items. This column is optional.

Description - the column is assumed to contain the descriptions of the items. This column is optional.

Distance - the column and the data it contains are ignored.

Earliest - the column is assumed to contain the earliest dates which can be assigned to the items. This column is optional.

Exclude - the column and the data it contains are ignored.

Index - the column is assumed to contain index numbers of the items. This column is optional.

Latest - the column is assumed to contain the latest date which can be assigned to the items. This column is optional.

Name - the column is assumed to contain the names of the items. If there is no column with the name Name, the first column must contain the item names. Item names are restricted to 50 characters. A unique name is required for each item. The first blank Name filed indicates the end of the rows.

Order - the column is assumed to contain the item's sequential (ordinal) position in a seriation. This column is optional.

Rate - the column and the data it contains are ignored.

Type - the column is assumed to contain the item type - Artifact or Asemblage. This column is optional.

Use Dates - the column is assumed to contain True/False indicating whether the the Earliest and Latest dates or this artifact/assemblage should be used in creating a seriation. This column is optional.

Features - each feature must be in a separate column with a unique name.

Rows

The first row must contain the column names. A blank entry indicates the end of the columns. After the first row there should be one row for each item (artifact or assemblage). The following item names are reserved by OptiPath: EARLIER, LATER, Unimodal Index. Rows with these reserved names will be ignored. When OptiPath exports a tab delimited text file it includes these rows, but they are not needed on input; OptiPath will rebuild them from the seriation data and feature data in the tab delimited text file. The first row with a blank Name filed indicates the end of the rows.

Feature Data

Data values for each feature can be logical (TRUE, FALSE), nominal (true, false, yes, no, present, absent, red, blue, green, etc.) or numerical (0, 1, 73, 3.14159, 2.71828, etc.). However, within a given column all data should be of the same type.

Warning! If your data contains columns of numerical data, it is a good idea to format those columns as numbers i Excel. To do so, select the cells, right click on the selection and select Format Cells... from the popup menu, and then choose the category Number. Due to a quirk in the Microsoft Jet database engine, if the first few cells are blank in a column that is formatted with the category General (the default format category), then numbers that appear lower down in the column may be dropped, leaving you with blank data in OptiPath!

Import

To import data from Excel, choose choose Import and then Excel from the Data Sets menu of OptiPath. A standard Windows Open File dialog will appear (titled Import from Excel in OptiPath).

A standard Windows Open File dialog will appear (titled Import Excel File in OptiPath).

You do not need to locate an existing file. OptiPath will create a new file if the named file does not exist. If there is more than one table and/or worksheet in your Excel file, a dialog will appear to allow you to select the correct one.

You will then be given an opportunity to name the incoming data set.

Once the data is imported, you may edit it by choosing Edit from the Data menu of OptiPath.