Just started working with 3. Got a call from someone asking if there was a way to export form data. Can this be done either from a single form or from a group of contacts with the same form?

I'm sure you can get form data into reports, though I haven't yet figured that out for the new reporting system.

In the old report system (pre DL3), you could create a report that exported to a text file. At one point we did use that to create a comma delimited file for exporting certain bits of info to then import into excel.

I believe the DL 3 report system will still accept the "old" report types, so it should still be possible. I'll see if I can find an old report as an example if you need it.

Yes please. the customer says that he has used up all his extra fields already.

Okay, I've put the one I've got here:
http://homepage.mac.com/sinemac/FileSharing26.html

Once you download and unzip it, you'll need to "Show Package Contents" to see and edit the text file (it looks like I did it tab-delimited rather than comma-delimited).

This particular report is for projects, and is ordered by owner name, pulls the project name, linked contact organization and address,
a couple of custom form fields, last and next tasks, next task owner, a couple of fields that appear to be calculating something (I don't remember what), due date (from form, not project), and the owner of the project.

The main thing is to pay attention to what you've got between quotation marks, particularly if there are any "if" statements or "foreach" statements. I had a lot of help getting this working, so I'm not sure how much help I can be in terms of creating something different - but hopefully this will serve as a good start for you.

Has there been any progress made on this front? There's a training video that shows how form data can be imported into Daylite. (Another video talks about how Daylite is not a company that gives its users peace of mind b/c data isn't trapped in the program!) But there's no way to export data created in a form or even to display that data in a column view like you can with "regular" contact data. This is a real problem! Any word on whether MC intends to address it? Thanks.

Oops. Delete that "not" in the third sentence.

I have run out of extra fields too. I need to know if I use Forms, will I be able to export this info into excel spreadsheet?

I have companies that I work with who ask for info in spreadsheet form.

Ideally, I would like to export...like you can import.

In our company we need a lot more available fields than Daylite's Extra Fields module provides. We use forms to capture this but this is not a very good solution for us for precisely the reasons mentioned above: you cannot view the Form Fields in a table view and cannot export this data the way you can with Extra Fields. We hope that Marketcircle will do two things: a) vastly increase the number of Extra Fields and b) make Form Fields easily exportable.

I agree 110%!

quote:

Originally posted by Christian J. Raniszewski:
I agree 110%!

And I 2!!!! Anyone had any word from the engineering lords?

Yes, the limited amount of Exra Fields and their limited functionality, this was one of my biggest issues when coming over from Goldmine. Goldmine allows 500 fields, allows standard drop down list as well, and also allows field logic, creating data based on other fields. One thing that Goldmine does not have, and Daylight does have, are the various checkbox fields in forms. If Daylight would add more functionality to forms, that would be ideal.

Guys, remember that a single application cannot be all things to all people. So…

Have you (as in all of you needing more forms and needing powerful export capabilities) considered the FileMaker Pro? Marketcircle provides a Connector to FMP that can provide a very, very powerful solution for your business needs–should Forms not be enough by itself. You should check with the Marketcircle folks and get a reference for someone who is a good example of how to do this successfully and see if it will solve your problems.

True, one app cannot necessarily do everything for everyone, but I cannot understand why the Extra Fields area has to be limited to a paltry 12 general fields (text only, by the way, not selectable as in radio buttons, dropdowns or checkboxes) plus 4 dates. Businesses that need to collect and USE more data than that for their contacts could certainly be well-served by a Daylite that offered a larger number of extra fields, rather than going through another layer of complexity and expense to implement FileMaker and the expensive FileMaker Connector. I switched TO Daylite FROM a FileMaker vertical solution that was way too complicated and lacking many of the good points of DL, and I never want to go back into the FM world. DL needs a relative few improvements to make it a killer app in my book, and having an adequate number of (formattable!) Extra Fields is one of the key improvements our company needs and wants.

Kevin:

I agree that Daylite can certainly do more–what application can't. However, as to why more fields are added, I think they have been, in Forms. Can the Forms do more, sure. And, I'm sure that they will increase in capability. In fact, I would prefer that they replace the "Extra Fields" area entirely with a new Forms interface because I find the notion of the Forms far more powerful than just the extra fields.

I seem to recall that you had experience in GoldMine. Please forgive me if I am confusing you with someone else. Forms is very similar to what GoldMine did. The primary difference is that with GoldMine you have the ability to edit the actual layout of the form. That is something I would certainly like to see. Then, yes, some additional export capabilities and dynamically adding various Forms fields to the Smart List capability.

Those things will all come in time. Marketcircle has a pretty significant number of features to add to the product/product line. And doing so with integrity is very important. However, that is where the additional capability of Connectors to third-party products like FileMaker Pro comes in. Since Daylite cannot be all things to all people, they do provide a way for you to achieve your goals. Maybe not in a perfect way, but business doesn't usually wait for perfection. You have to get business done today. So, I'm hoping that we will see more Connectors, HUDs, and Plug-ins. That is the real way to extend Daylite today. Then, as Daylite matures, you can make the business decision to move things you were doing with third-party solutions directly in to Daylite…or not. I love choice.

Any word on changing the ability to export data from forms?

I don't like that my data is "stuck" inside Daylite.

I would like to have the ability to export into excel or numbers. So I can create my own reports.