Hi Robert,
I’d like to first thank you for your feedback and for being vocal on the Method User Forums. We always welcome the feedback from our community and this helps Method to continue to mature and meet the needs of the community.
Regarding the “Sample Import Tool for Excel”, I want to make sure everyone understands what it is and how it was intended to be used. Traditionally, all the data you enter in through Method is done via Method screens (webpage). If you want to change the interface or data entry format, well you just customize the screens. Here in lies the beauty of Method. There are cases where you want to capture data from other sources outside of Method. This could be another database, your website, another program or even an Excel spreadsheet. In order for Method users to capture this outside data and somehow get this data into Method, we created the Method API.
The Method API is not the same as the Method Platform. The Method API acts like a transportation hub to allow info from other sources into Method. The API is for the programmer geek who knows and enjoys typing out lines of code(boring). In fact, if you’re a coder, the API is very easy to code with, based on developer feedback. Me, I am not a programmer or a coder so I wouldn’t have a clue how to program with the API. Method, well that’s a different story. I think of myself as a bit of a guru.
To help developers using the API, we create sample applications to get them started. One of those sample applications is the Sample Import Tool for Excel. This is a fully working sample application that was developed using the API. Any developer that wanted to take a look at this tool, see the how it was built and tweak it can do so. It is open source for that exact reason. However, it also works as is and allows you to import data into a Method table. The very first page and tab you see when you open the Excel spreadsheet gives you detailed, 1, 2, 3, etc. steps on how to import your data.
Steps 1 – 5, shown in the diagram below tell you what tools you need to install and data the tool requires. Yes, the tool does ask you to install Microsoft Office Tools but keep in mind this was meant for developers who probably have this installed already. In step 5, you are asked to click on “Records for Import” and there is a tab for it located at the very bottom.
Steps 6 – 8, shown in the diagram below tell you how to setup your fields and information and last but not least a button to import the information.
Had we had the import ability built right in Method, it probably would have been in a wizard format, just as you would expect from Method. This might be something we add in the future based on feedback. However, this was developed as a tool to assist developers to get started.
While this is a developer tool, we had Method users who wanted to use the tool instead of creating their own and therefore made it available to whoever wanted to use it.
I really hope this helps to clear up any confusion and hope that in the future we can have an easier Method to get your outside data into Method.
We value your continued feedback. Have a super day!
Danny