This function is available for backwards compatibility purposes only.  It is extremely unlikely that you will need it unless you inherit a set of old project files from the original MS-DOS version of FF&EZ. 

Due to the changes from ongoing development that might make DOS version files incompatible, this function is not visible unless a special "flag" file is found in the "Plugins" folder. Contact technical support for more information.

When you select this function, the "FF&EZ for DOS - Data Import" form will appear.  This form gives you access to the data in the old version and lets you quickly import it into the new one.

When the form first appears, all the "Data Type" options will be disabled, so the first step will be to either enter a source directory (the location of the old data) or browse for it with the "..." button to the right of the directory box.  Once a directory is selected, the program will check for eligible files and enable all the options that are valid for the directory you supplied.  You also can specify a diskette with a backup of a client, vendor or library list, but in the current version, projects must be imported from the original project list, not a backup.

When importing data from the old system, be sure to observe these points:

• Be sure to import data types in the same order in which you see them on the form.  This is because you cannot import a project unless both the related client and vendor records already exist, nor a library file unless the vendors already exist.
• You can import more than one client, vendor or library list.  This may happen if you are consolidating the data from more than one non-networked computer.  However, if the files you are importing contain records with the same IDs, the import process will replace the current record with the incoming one.  For instance, if you are importing two different vendor files and both have a vendor with the ID "SHELBY", the "SHELBY" data from the last file imported will be the vendor information saved in the file.
• DOS projects can only be imported once.  If, for some reason, you need to import one again, you will need to either delete the project in FF&EZ for Windows first, or change its Project ID to something different.
• In projects imported from the DOS version, all the old specifications will be converted into specs in which the Spec ID is the same as the old tag.  However, there will also be a set of objects, one for each "primary" spec in the old data, that uses the tag of the old spec.  For instance, if the DOS data had a chair defined like this:

In the Windows version, the imported chair will now be made up of the following:

It is important to remember that the new object CHR001 is not the same thing as imported specification CHR001.  Object CHR001 is a finished product (what the client is buying), while specification CHR001 is now a specific chair frame.  You may wish to change the Spec IDs to reflect this (e.g., CHRFRM01), although it is not required.  For new projects, objects will tend to get generic tags like "CHR001," while specifications can now have very specific IDs that actually refer to the vendor and product line (e.g., "CHR-KNL01").