Manipulating Data » Importing Data in ASCII format » The File Import Command

The File Import Command

Data can be imported into CIS using the File Import ASCII Data command assuming there is already a blank or existing dataset for the dataset to be loaded into. If we take the example of a census file, there must be either a blank census file (File….New….Census File) or an existing census file for the ASCII data to be loaded into. For these purposes we will use a blank census file. Below is an example of how the screen looks after selecting Import ASCII data (File…Import ASCII Data).

Above :

When importing data the user has a number of choices to make. Firstly they must navigate to the file they wish to import. Then they must specify whether or not they are importing a single dataset (which will affect anything currently in the census file) or whether they are importing multiple datasets (which will add alongside the existing census file). Once this is has been specified the user must specify whether the data they are importing is numeric or attribute data. If the data is attribute, they must also specify the path to the attribute data source (although the majority of data is numeric). The user can also specify whether the data is 1x1 or 10x10. The vast majority of CIS data these days is on a 1x1 basis.

Importing data into a region file is much simpler and only requires the user to specify the location of the ASCII data file (again using File » Import ASCII Data). It is also similarly simple to export data to ASCII format. This is done by selecting the Export ASCII Data command from the File Menu (File » Export ASCII Data). The user simply has to select a location and a file name for their exported data.