Another mapping program

Use this forum to discuss issues that are not found in any of the other clerk and stake technology specialist forums.
Post Reply
colbyj-p40
Member
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:17 am
Location: US

how do I start with the ward map?

#31

Post by colbyj-p40 »

hello, I'm at my clerk office right now, I've downloaded the program, but I'm not seeing a prompt anywhere for "creat a new ward file..."

how do I get started? How do I import my membership file?

I had hoped to work on this this mornign prior to conference. no luck it appears! ugh!
User avatar
hpaulsen
Member
Posts: 112
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:53 pm
Location: Barstow, CA
Contact:

#32

Post by hpaulsen »

colbyj wrote:hello, I'm at my clerk office right now, I've downloaded the program, but I'm not seeing a prompt anywhere for "creat a new ward file..."

how do I get started? How do I import my membership file?
Yes, things have changed somewhat. First, click "Accept". Once the main window comes up, click "Load" and select your "Membership.csv" file from MLS.
skiptaylor
Member
Posts: 190
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Lancaster CA

#33

Post by skiptaylor »

It would be nice to be able to select .csv files other than Membership.csv - at least for me it would be better.
Skip Taylor :eek:
Lancaster CA.
rmaughan
New Member
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:47 am
Location: Colorado Springs

csv file format

#34

Post by rmaughan »

I am a stake clerk and am trying to use the WardMap program -- I noticed that we had a large number of addresses that could not be mapped and this was mostly due to spelling errors, abbreviations, and missing information in the address fields in the membership.csv file.

So in the short term I was opened the membership.csv file in excel and hand tweaked and fixed most of the problems with the addresses. However, after I save the file and try to load it into WardMap, it just sits there trying to import and does nothing.

I am guessing that is because the CSV file format was changed when I re-saved the file -- does anyone have any more details on what is actually changing and how to prevent the format from changing...

Note--We have two YSA wards in our stake and I also removed them from the membership.csv file because their addresses are scattered all over the city and area and at this point I do not want them to show on the map.

Thanks!
russellhltn
Community Administrator
Posts: 34417
Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:53 pm
Location: U.S.

#35

Post by russellhltn »

Excel tends to destroy CSV files as it saves it in it's own version of CSV.

I'd suggest editing the file with a text editor such as notepad. It's ugly, but it works.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
rmaughan
New Member
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:47 am
Location: Colorado Springs

#36

Post by rmaughan »

Do you know if there is a way to tell Excel to preserve the original CSV format -- or maybe another editor to use -- the file is for the stake and has over 4000 members in it...ughh...
RossEvans
Senior Member
Posts: 1345
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 9:52 pm
Location: Austin TX
Contact:

#37

Post by RossEvans »

robm wrote:So in the short term I was opened the membership.csv file in excel and hand tweaked and fixed most of the problems with the addresses. However, after I save the file and try to load it into WardMap, it just sits there trying to import and does nothing.

I am guessing that is because the CSV file format was changed when I re-saved the file -- does anyone have any more details on what is actually changing and how to prevent the format from changing...

The exact differences will depend on your version of Excel, but the changes are quite significant:
  • MLS writes double quotes around every field, no matter what its contents. Excel only writes the quotes when needed -- that is, when the cell contents include a comma.
  • All the dates in the MLS export file follow a certain style -- for example "01 Dec 2009" for full dates and "Dec 2009" for month-year dates. Excel will refomat these fields into its own date format in the CSV, which may not be what it displays within its own user interface.
  • MLS writes an extra comma at the end of each line. I don't know what Excel does with that.
The best way to avoid this is never to use a spreadsheet to edit a CSV file. Use a simple text editor such as Notepad instead.
RossEvans
Senior Member
Posts: 1345
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 9:52 pm
Location: Austin TX
Contact:

#38

Post by RossEvans »

robm wrote:Do you know if there is a way to tell Excel to preserve the original CSV format -- or maybe another editor to use -- the file is for the stake and has over 4000 members in it...ughh...

I am quite sure the answer about Excel is no.

Given your current situation, you can either reapply the edits in a text editor. Or someone could write a custom script or program to transform your edited CSV file back into the format MLS wrote in the first place. You could even do that with a complex formula within Excel.

Another caveat: I don't know how the logic of the WardMap program works, but some programs that use the MLS export files use the addresses in HomeTeaching.csv and VisitingTeaching.csv to relate those files to the Membership.csv file. So you might have to make the identical edits in those two files, too. (Never mind. That problem might affect users of ward MLS, but stake MLS lacks these two export files anyway.)
russellhltn
Community Administrator
Posts: 34417
Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:53 pm
Location: U.S.

#39

Post by russellhltn »

It would be nice if WardMap would accept a Excel-style CSV.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
rmaughan
New Member
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:47 am
Location: Colorado Springs

#40

Post by rmaughan »

Oh...boy, gonna make me write a perl script -- hmm, seems like this could be a problem someone else has already solved. Maybe Google has my answer...

Thanks for the info--
Post Reply

Return to “General Clerk Discussions”