#1127 Import bulk data to resource booking

[KiruPananthan]

Dear all

Are we able to import data to MRBS, I am thinking of exporting the classroom room selected from student management system and import this in to MRBS for bulk resources booking. can we import the data in xml or csv file into MRBS application

[Campbell Morrison]

There is a utility import.php (not linked to from the main pages) that will allow you to import bulk data that is in the .ics (iCalendar) format that would do the job if you can export your existing data as a .ics file.

[Anonymous]

Dear Campbell

Thanks for the update, as we dont have the .ics format, only option for us
to export the information from our student management system is .csv or
.xml file. is it possible to import using this format.. if .ics is the only
option, then i need to do some workaround to convert the information in
.ics. import.php is there any step by step guide on how to use this utility
to import

[Campbell Morrison]

Using import.php should be self-explanatory. Just point your browser at import.php in your MRBS directory. (You will need to be logged in as an admin).

Yes, you'll first need to convert your .csv data to .ics somehow. A quick search suggests that you can import a .csv file into Google Calendar and then export it as .ics.

[KiruPananthan]

Hi Cambell

Thanks for the information, will work on that method. what information we need to import in to the booking system, is there any standard template available

[Campbell Morrison]

You need to make sure that the LOCATION property is specified. This can contain an Area and Room separated by a delimiter, or just a Room. If the Area and Room are both specified then a room will be created if it doesn't exist. If just the Room is specified then you need to make sure that the room exists and is a unique.

[Campbell Morrison]

I have now (changeset 017e435c99b5) modified import.php so that the LOCATION property isn't necessary. If it is not present then the form allows you to specify a default room. You can get the latest changes here (you'll need to download the whole set of files though and treat it as an upgrade because there are a number of other changes since 1.5.0 which have dependencies on other files).

[Anonymous]

Hi Campbell

Thanks for the information, the MRBS system was setup by one of our staff
who not working with us now, I never upgrade this software before, is it I
can replace the folder to the existing folder, that will do the auto
update, my current version info as below

Meeting Room Booking System http://mrbs.sourceforge.net/: MRBS 1.4.10+svn
Database: MySQL 5.5.40-0+wheezy1
System: Linux aism-linux01 3.2.0-4-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.2.65-1 x86_64
Server time: Wed 01 Feb 2017 12:41:16 SGT
PHP: 5.4.36-0+deb7u3

[Campbell Morrison]

Yes, replace the current web folder with the new web folder, except for the config.inc.php file which you should keep.

However first of all it is advisable to take a backup of both your web folder and also your database. The upgrade will also carry out an upgrade of the database and you will be prompted for the database username and password.

Obviously if your previous staff member made any modifications to MRBS (except via the config file) then these will be lost and will need to be re-applied.

[John Beranek]

It's interesting to note that your version is an unspecified version at some point after the 1.4.10 release checked out from Subversion/SVN (signified by the +svn in the version number).

It won't affect your upgrade, and you wouldn't be able to move forward directly from there by using Subversion, as we've changed the way the MRBS code is controlled from SVN to Mercurial since 1.4.10.

[KiruPananthan]

Hi John

Thanks for the information, so do i need to setup the MRBS or still continue with our current version so that i dont need to upgrade is it.

[Campbell Morrison]

If you want to take advantage of the ability not to have a LOCATION property then you'll need to upgrade. Note also that there were other enhancements added to the import utility in 1.5.0, ie after the version that you have, which may be of interest. The most important are (a) the ability to import zip archives and (b) performance improvements enabling the import of larger files. Upgrading will also give you many other general bug fixes and enhancements.

What John was saying was that it looks as though your previous staff member had taken a snapshot of the code sometime between 1.4.10 and 1.4.11. If they had arranged some kind of source code control system that enabled you to merge local changes with the MRBS trunk, then that may not work now as we've moved from SVN to Mercurial. But if you have no local changes, other than to the config file, then you should be OK.

[Tony Chan]

hi Campbell,

The import tool is really useful.

However the import does not handle additional custom fields. After importing the ical entries, what is the best way to update values for custom fields?

Thanks.

[Campbell Morrison]

See https://sourceforge.net/p/mrbs/support-requests/1258/.

[Anonymous]

Hi Campbell,

Could you mind if you give me a suggestion about my problem. My problem is about the character of the downloaded csv file. Why my csv file could not be read by Excel. Here the attachment of my csv file that contain error. Sorry for my very bad english.

Thanks before

[Campbell Morrison]

See https://sourceforge.net/p/mrbs/support-requests/2027/.