Use the Excel Import Wizard

The Import Wizard is useful when you have a large file that you want to open in Excel. It also allows you to import data directly from your data file, without opening it in a word processing program first.

Open Exported Data Files

1. Run the desired export in FIMS. Be sure to note the path and file name for the exported data file.

2. Open Microsoft Excel.

3. Select File > Open and select the data file that you want to import. The Text Import Wizard opens.

4. Do the following:

• In the Original data type section, select Delimited.
• In the Start Import at row field, enter or select 1.
• In the File Origin drop-down box, select Windows (ANSI).

5. Click Next. 

6. In the Delimiters section, make sure that Tab is selected, and then click Next.

7. In the Data preview section, click on each column and then select the desired format from the Column data format section.

• General: Converts numeric values to numbers, date values to dates, and all remaining values to text. 
• Text: Converts all values to text. 
• Date: Converts all values to dates. If you select this option, you also have to select a date format from the drop-down box (e.g., MDY = Month, Day, Year). 
• Do not import column (Skip): Removes the selected column from the import.

8. (Optional) If you want to set additional text import settings (for example, the character to use as a decimal separator, or whether to add a trailing minus sign to negative numbers), click the Advanced button and select the desired options.

9. Click Finish to complete the import and open the data file in Excel.

The resulting spreadsheet will have column labels, and (unless you chose to skip selected columns) all fields included in the FIMS export.

10. (Optional) Click the upper left-hand corner of the spreadsheet (between column A and row 1) to select the entire spreadsheet, and then select Format > Column > Autofit Selection to automatically adjust the column widths to fit all of the data.

Open Saved Report Files

1. Run the desired report in FIMS and save it as a data file.

Note: Refer to Saving Reports from the FIMS Viewer in the FIMS Reports Guide for more information about saving report files.

2. Open Microsoft Excel.

3. Select File > Open and select the data file that you want to import. The Text Import Wizard opens.

4. Do the following:

• In the Original Data Type section, select Fixed Width.
• In the Start Import at Row field, enter or select the row where the column headers appear. You can see the row numbers in the preview section at the bottom of the window.

5. Click Next.

6. In the Data Preview section, scroll through the data to make sure that Excel placed the column breaks correctly. Each column break is indicated by a vertical line. If you need to change any of the column breaks, do the following:

• To add a break, click where you want to place the break. A line will appear where you click.
• To delete a break, double-click on the break line.
• To move a break, click on the arrow at the top of the line and drag it to the desired location.

7. Click Next.

8. In the Data preview section, click on each column and then select the desired format from the Column data format section.

• General: Converts numeric values to numbers, date values to dates, and all remaining values to text. 
• Text: Converts all values to text. 
• Date: Converts all values to dates. If you select this option, you also have to select a date format from the drop-down box (e.g., MDY = Month, Day, Year). 
• Do not import column (Skip): Removes the selected column from the import.

9. (Optional) If you want to set additional text import settings (for example, the character to use as a decimal separator, or whether to add a trailing minus sign to negative numbers), click the Advanced button and select the desired options.

10. Click Finish to complete the import and open the file in Excel.

The resulting spreadsheet will have column labels, and (unless you chose to skip selected columns) all fields included in the FIMS report.

11. (Optional) Click the upper left-hand corner of the spreadsheet (between column A and row 1) to select the entire spreadsheet, and then select Format > Column > Autofit Selection to automatically adjust the column widths to fit all of the data.