Tracker Import-Export (Tracker Tabular) is an advanced import/export feature for Trackers, allowing for more flexibility and more predictable results. Additionally, it can be used to create custom listings for trackers using the same formatting rules. Applicable filters can be selected to create efficient task-specific interfaces.

Tracker Import Export

Usage

To use the feature, it must be enabled from the Tracker admin panel. It will then be accessible through the tracker listing along with the other import options. While basic import/export can be performed directly from the database, most usages require a functioning Unified Index.

Schema definition

With Tracker Import-Export (Tracker Tabular), the administrator must first define an import/export schema. This is essentially a list of columns and the format that will be used to present or manipulate the information. Each supported tracker field type may expose one or more supported formats.

For instance, imagine that you have these data types as shown in the screenshot below:

Click to expand

You will need a schema like this one:

Click to expand

Field Formats

Field format examples:

• The date fields that let you choose which date format that should be used.
• The text fields that normally allow to present a single value. However, if the field is multilingual, it will provide one format for each supported language, allowing to cleanly export all desired languages into a file, send the file to a translator and import it back.
• The category field provides a wide range of options, depending on if the field allows a single value or multiple. It can present the category ID, or the category name, make each category available as its own field to be marked with an X. This allows the administrator to provide the exported data in a human-readable format suitable to the required task.
• The group selector field can present the group ID or the group name.

Field Filters

Along with the schema definition, a list of available filters can be selected. Just like formats, these filters are exposed per field type. The filters will be available for the UI listings and for partial exports. By default, filters will be available in a filter pop-up, but they can be configured to display above the listing or on the side.

Some filter examples:

• The text field can be filtered either as a full text search or as a prefix search.
• Multilingual text field filters can apply to a single translation or all of them.
• Dropdown fields can filter a single value at a time or allow multiple selection.

Scope of Filters

Filters apply to the default listing view and partial export. The filters are defined per-field and can be configured in different locations:

• Default filters will be available in a pop-up accessible through the filter icon.
• Primary filters will be displayed above the listing and in the filter pop-up.
• Side filters will be displayed to the left of the results and in the filter pop-up.

Item Link fields that specify the Index Remote option will also make the filters from those fields available for selection. For example, if you have product linking to a supplier, you could filter products based on the city field defined in the supplier.

Presetting the Default Values of Filters

You can pass parameters on the partial export url to preset default values for the filters, like this to preset a username in a User Selector field:

tiki-tabular-filter?target=export&tabularId=1&tf_aTrackerUserField_dd=username

If you're doing this in a custom smarty template you can do it like this:

{button href="tiki-tabular-filter?target=export&tabularId=1&tf_aTrackerUserField_dd=`$user`" _text="Export" _class='click-modal'}

The basic format is ft_{$permName}_xx where xx changes depending on the type of field. Here are some examples:

Import / Export

Import

Import from CSV is supported for schemas containing a primary key.

1. From the schema listing, click on import for the desired schema
2. Select the file to upload and submit
   • If the file does not match the schema, it will be rejected.
   • Items with a matching primary key will be updated
   • Items without a matching primary key will be created

Full Export

All schemas support exporting as long as they are valid.

1. From the schema listing, click on click for the desired schema
2. Save your file

Partial Export

Partial export uses the Unified Index and the configured filters. It can be accessed from the primary schema listing or from the item listing. When used from the listing, using the export feature will default to the currently selected filters.

Custom Export

Partial export relies on the Unified Index to export the results rather than directly obtaining the data from trackers. Depending on the configured search engine, performance may vary. On some engines, it may be faster than directly obtaining the data from trackers on a full export (no additional filters).

1. From the schema listing, select search for the desired schema
   • Alternative: Click the search icon from the tracker listing
   • Alternative: Select the appropriate tracker from the search facets (when enabled)
2. From the search interface you have been directed to, narrow down your resultset using any of the available filters
3. Select the **Export** secondary action in the search form
4. Conditional: If you selected the tracker rather than the schema, you will be prompted to select the schema
5. Save your file

   
   

Note on :formatted Mode in Numeric Fields.

The :formatted mode in Tiki's Tracker Import-Export feature controls how field values are displayed during export.
When applied to numeric fields, it exports numbers as they appear to users — with thousands separators, localized decimals, or currency symbols — instead of the raw stored number.

While this is useful for readability, it can cause issues when re-importing data if the values contain formatting.

Where Tiki Gets “Display Formats” for Exported Values

When you export tracker data in :formatted mode, Tiki doesn’t store any special format in the field itself — it uses the same “display logic” that’s used when showing the value in the UI.

So the display format depends on a combination of:

• Site preferences (e.g., Administration -> i18n -> “Decimal separator” and “Thousands separator”)
• User locale (as set in Preferences or browser language)
• Field type configuration (for currency or numeric precision)

  
  
  

What Is :formatted?

When you add the suffix :formatted to a field (for example, Amount:formatted), Tiki exports the value in its display format, reflecting locale, thousands separators, and currency symbols.
Without this suffix (for example, Amount), Tiki exports the raw numeric value as stored internally.

What Happens

When a numeric field is exported using :formatted mode, the resulting value may look like:

• 1,234.56
• €1,234.56
• 1.234,56 (depending on locale)

How to Test the Behavior

1. Create or open a tracker with a Numeric field (for example, Amount).
2. Add a few test records with plain numeric values (e.g., 1234.56).
3. Use Tabular Export and select the :formatted mode for the numeric field.
4. Open the exported file and check if the numbers appear formatted (for example, 1,234.56 or €1,234.56).
5. Try importing the same file back using Tabular Import.
6. Observe:

* Formatted values (with commas, symbols, or spaces) will fail to import.
* Unformatted numeric values (e.g., 1234.56) will import successfully.

Example: :formatted Mode in Numeric Fields

When exporting with :formatted mode, numeric fields may include symbols or localized formatting.
For re-importing, only plain numeric values are accepted.

Recommendation

• Use the raw (non- :formatted) export mode if you plan to re-import data later.
• If you must work with formatted data, clean it before import by removing separators and symbols.
• When writing scripts or automation using Tabular import, always use the raw field name (e.g., Amount), not Amount:formatted.

  
  

Developer Note

This behavior is by design.
The import logic intentionally expects plain numbers to ensure consistency across locales and avoid ambiguous parsing of formatted values.

Summary

• :formatted exports human-readable numbers but breaks numeric imports.
• Import works correctly only with clean, unformatted numeric values.
• Documented here to avoid confusion and ensure consistent tracker data exchange.

  
  

Technicalities

Fields can be marked as Read Only. This will make sure that when importing, the field will be skipped, making the import process faster, but also making sure only the allowed fields get modified. It also allows including multiple formats that would otherwise conflict, such as the category ID and the category name, for example.

For the import to be possible, a single field can be marked as the Primary Key. The item ID can be used, but other fields can be used as well. For example, if you manage a product database and know your supplier-provided serial numbers are unique, you could create a schema that uses those as the reference and not include the auto-generated item ID at all.

A field can be marked as Export Only to be excluded from the default web view. This is useful for non-meaningful primary keys such as the itemId. It is required to import back the data, but should otherwise not be presented to the users under normal circumstances.

See:

• http://sourceforge.net/p/tikiwiki/code/53165

Use from remote sources

You can alternatively use tracker data from remote sources through the ODBC read/write support added in Tiki23.

See ODBC

Alias names of this page:
TrackerTabular | Tabular | Tracker Import-Export