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Plug-ins User Guide

Version 5.2 | Published March 20, 2024 ©

Data Import

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This plug-in enables Microsoft Excel (.xls and .xlsx) and Microsoft Access (.mdb) file import via ADO, and distributes it to a text field or a shared memory map. The plug-in supports reading both numbers and text.

To access Excel or Access data using this plug-in, you must first install the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable .

Note: This plug-in is located in: Plugins -> Container plug-ins -> VisualDataTools

This page contains the following topics and procedures:

Data Import Properties

  • File: Chooses the required document.

  • Table / Sheet: Defines the name of the sheet or table.

  • Column(,Col...): Sets one or more column names to use (comma separated).

  • Area Input: Uses area information.

  • Column Input: Uses column information.

  • Row Input: Uses row information.

  • Data Delim.: Includes delimiter after each row.

  • Column Delim.: Includes delimiter for column separator sign(s).

  • Shared Mem.: Sets Scene-, Global- or Distributed-Shared Memory for data transport. Use Inactive memory to not forward any values via Shared Memory.

  • Key: Determines Shared Memory key name.

  • GetIt: Reads the document, sends the required data and shows it in the text box.

To Create a Scene with Data Import

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This procedure imports data from an Microsoft Excel sheet and feed the Line Chart plug-in with data through Shared Memory.

  1. Start Microsoft Excel.

  2. Enter ExcelDataY into cell A1.

  3. Add some sample values in the cells below (A2-A8: 80,40,50,70,80,60,80).

  4. Rename this first sheet to MyTable (can be done with a double click on the sheet name at the bottom).

  5. Save and close the Excel document.

    IMPORTANT! You must close the document before importing it to Viz Artist.

  6. Start Viz Artist and create a new scene.

    images/download/thumbnails/114307375/pc_di_stx.png

  7. Add a group container to the scene tree.

  8. Drag and drop the Line Chart and Data Import plug-in to the group container.

  9. Add a material to the same group container.

  10. Open the Transformation Editor and set Position X to -200.0 and Position Y to -100.0.

  11. Set Shared Mem. to Scene with MyDataY as Key name for both plug-ins.

  12. Set Data Delim. to # for both plug-ins.

  13. For the Line Chart plug-in set ChartWidth to 500.0.

  14. Activate DataY Fit, DataY Auto Scale and DataY Detect Limits.

  15. Adjust DataY Stop to 200.0.

  16. Activate Const. Thickness to give the chart a constant line width.

  17. For the Data Import plug-in, set the stored Excel file as the File parameter.

  18. Enter MyTable for the Table/Sheet parameter and ExcelDataY for Column (,Col…).

  19. Click the GetIt button and the chart shows.