Appending OPS Project Data

Appending or adding additional data to an OSP project is a fairly common occurrence. Unfortunately, it’s not unusual for you to receive incomplete or outdated data from your schools or organizations. Perhaps the most important item you should remember when faced with updating your data on OPS is to never reupload all your data a 2nd time to your project. You must simply add or replace data to the existing OPS data using an updated .csv file.

Special Note about Group Data: Your Group Data .jpg File Names should be included in your project’s initial Data Upload, doing this will ensure all your project’s individual images are matched to the correct Group Image. Please see the Recommended Workflow for Auto Group Matching in our QR Codes and Opticon Image Match instructions for suggestions on how to set up your group data.

Appending your OPS Data

The Image and Group Matching instructions below will instruct you on how to append your existing project data in OPS. It’s extremely important for you to follow the instructions below to ensure your project does not become corrupted with duplicate data. 

Dos and Don’ts when appending your OPS data.

• When adding or editing data to your project (such as students names) you should limit the column names in your new appended .csv data file to only the existing project’s data field names requiring change or new new/additional column names plus each subject's Ticketcode or the Student password column. 
• Never upload your appending data without the OPS’s ticket code or student password included in your new data. The only exception to this rule would be if you are adding a new student’s name which were not included in the original posted data. 
• ATTENTION Flow Users: A Ticketcode is still needed for new subjects if your ticket codes were generated in Flow.

Example: Any field can be edited on your posted OPS Data by adding the edit info in the new appended .csv file. As an example, editing a first name from Michael to Mike would require you to type Mike in the First Name field and then enter his Ticketcode number. Doing this will only change Michael’s first name to Mike and leave the remainder of his data unchanged.

Appending OPS Image & Group Data

*Special Note: The Appending Image & Group Data instructions below apply only to your OPS Project Data. The instructions do not apply to Uploading New Image files or replacing existing (previously posted) images. We recommend you think of your Image and Group Data as an address for OPS to use when you Upload your images to your project. It’s simply used as instructions for OPS to refer to in assigning your uploaded image files to the correct subject(s).  

Appending Image Names Data is handled slightly differently than Text Data. Create a new Appended Data .CSV file with Column Names of First and Last name, Ticketcode, and Image Name. Enter the existing information for each column in your Appended data .csv file and include the new .jpg file name only in the Image Name column.*OPS will Not overwrite your existing file names data, it will only add new image records for new files names. If you have to add more than one file name to a subject, you can add as many as you need by separating the image file names with a semicolon (;). (Example: DCS_123456.jpg;DCS_123457.jpg;DCS_123458.jpg)

*This sentence only refers to your project data information, not your image or group files. OPS will overwrite your image files in your project if your image file(s) are named the same. When Fixing and/or Replacing files on OPS is required, we recommend you name your image files exactly the same as the original file(s), so your edited/fixed file(s) are displayed.

Getting Started

• Create a new copy of your original data file, double check to make sure your original file contains either the TIcketcode or Password field you used when you originally uploaded your project's data. Save your new file as a .CSV file and name it the Appended (project name) data file.
• Working with your new appended project's data file, type in the new/changed data as needed. In the example below, the Teacher's name field highlighted in Yellow is blank, enter the *Teacher's Names for each student. Also, on line #3 Avien Anderson's first name has to be edited/changed as well to Buddy. *Note: I the school provides you with a new copy of the school's data containing the student's Teacher names, you can use the new data file as long as the Student's ID numbers match your original data file. If for some reason it doesn't match, you cannot use the new data file and you will have to add the Teacher's names manually. (It's highly unlikely they won't match, but it's important check in order to avoid a major data crisis.)

• Double check your new Appended data to insure everything is correct. In the sample below, all the students have a Teacher's names assigned to them. Also, Avien Anderson first name has been changed to Buddy.
• Next spot check the Password field (either the Student ID or Ticketcode column) for a few students to ensure the Appended data matches up with your original (uploaded) School Data.

Uploading your Appended Data File

Go to your project's Subject screen and click on the Subjects Action button > then click on the Dropdown button in the Subject Actions box, and select the Add /Merge Data Only.

Now Click on the Upload CSV button.

Next Click on the Choose File button to open your file navigation window to locate and select your Project's Appended Data file.

Locate your Project's Appended file and Click the file name to Select it. After selecting your new file, Click on the Open button.

After selecting your new Appended file, Click on the Upload File button

After you Click on the Upload File button, a Map Fields window will open. We are matching three fields here on this demo appending file project. The most critical data that has to match your project data in OPS is the Password field data. If the Password data in the Appended Data matches your OPS Data, the changes you made in the other edited fields (two) will match up and your new data will overwrite your original data correctly. 

Mapping Data Fields

In the Map Fields window below, the Password field has been assigned to the Student ID column in the .CSV file data, which was used originally when the project data was first uploaded. If another field was used originally, such as the Ticketcode field, you can click on the Drop Down Arrow in the Password field to match up the column's data correctly. 

The two other fields we are appending in this demo are the Teacher field and the first name field. There's no need to map all the fields in the project, only the Password field and the fields requiring editing need to be mapped.   

After you have finished Mapping your data fields, Click, on the Import Data button at the bottom of the page to complete the Appending of your OPS Project Data.

A Progress Bar Window will open so you will know when your Appended data has been completed.

After the Upload is completed, your new Appended data will be added to your project.

We’re here to help you!

Questions? Feel free to contact your Account Consultant or one of our Customer Care Team Members.