Sigh of Relief

Success at last.

But as often happens, the road to success may be paved, but there's a few pot holes to navigate.

Or in my case a crash. After almost 24 hours of running import, I looked up to notice the famous blue screen. I didn't even catch the implosion. All I got was a stinky DOS error message.

So what to do? I didn't give it too much of a thought. Just try again.

I set up a less ambitious import. My plan was to run several smaller imports. The import tool came with a handy merge of duplicates tool but given my issues, I decided to turn it off.

The original challenge was to coalesce 3 Excel worksheets. Each one had 6,000 contacts. The trouble was that each xls had the SAME contacts with both duplicate and different fields. The goal: One central ACT! database. Had I not had a special import tool, there could have been tens of thousands of duplicates.

The existing ACT file had to be upgraded to hold all of the new data. Fifty fields were added (from 84 fields to 134 fields). New skins had to be created to view the incoming information. So three snazzy skins were set up each for Contacts, Groups, and Companies. Existing Groups numbered 47, with 76 subs were brought over intact.

There were no duplicates created by this import. The only duplicates were a result of existing duplicates in the source files (in both Excel and pre-existing ACT! contacts).

Only 10 contacts had truncated information due to field limitation.

After the import, the new ACT database contained over 8,000 contacts with a better database design. Some of the new fields including Yes/No buttons to speed data entry. Groups grew to 109 to enable greater productivity.

I am very proud to have accomplished this arduous task. Plus I am looking forward to seeing the next version of this import tool to come out within the week. It should be interesting to see if some of my suggestions have been included in the new release.

It's Been 17 Hours and Still Running an Import

True Story

You wouldn't believe it. I started this import of Excel data into an ACT! database at 2:15pm yesterday. After a minute or two, the status of the import shows "Not Responding" Import window shows only the frame, all of the content has disappeared. Why now after 17 hours am I still hopeful to have a successful import?

First step: Open the Task Manager. It shows running at 100%. Now how do I differentiate between a crash or if this massive import is still running? Of the various columns I select quite a number of them to indicate current status.

Currently running tasks:
Sqlservr.exe
I/O Read bytes at 32 billion, I/O Write bytes 124 billion and a virtual memory at 758K KB.

ACTSage.exe
I/O Read bytes at 14 billion, I/O Write bytes 22 billion and a virtual memory at 335K KB.

Excel.exe
I/O Read bytes at 44 million, I/O Write bytes 7 million and a virtual memory at 135K KB.

AppSvc32.exe
I/O Read bytes at 5.3 trillion, I/O Write bytes 1.7 trillion and a virtual memory at 12K KB.

But even if I did check the Task Manager carefully, I'm not positive this thing is still running. However, since I am able to also check an import log, I'm in better shape.

Fearing to interrupt the import process, I don't open the log directly. Instead I copy, using right click, onto my desktop. So now I'm able to open a copy of the log to check the process. It reveals of the nearly 6K ACT contacts, greater than 2/3rds have already been imported. This log file is the only real evidence I have that my mission is well underway. This import tool is well designed to include this kind of ancillary reference. I scroll down to the end and find of the 5,936 contacts, 4,124 have been confirmed to be written in ACT!

Because the log file details in the operating system show the date created as well as last modified, I calculate an estimate of how long this import will need to run to finish the last third of the contacts (1,812).

Since it has taken 17 hours to write 4,124 contacts, that works out to 242 contacts per hour. As I divide the 1812 by 242 the results is 7 more hours. If this works, the total import time will be 24 hours.

Why would an import take so much time? Well the tool I'm using has so many settings. Besides bringing in the contacts, it will create companies. More powerful for me is the ability to create groups.

Originally this client had another ACC (ACT! Certified Consultant) set up their database. It was poorly designed. Bad design results in a reduction in productivity. There were too many fields. In addition, nebulous field labels meant the user could be easily confused. So there could be a slack off on entering vital information.

This import means a lot to me. The client may have lost faith, but I'm on a mission. Therefore I'm willing to let this run. All told this will take over 24 hours. Billable hours? Well I did sleep through some of this. ;-> The lessons learned are as follows:


Lessons regarding Import

*Avoid when ever possible using an immature tool. The version of this import tool is 1.0.17. Unavoidable this time... But the tool is sufficently well designed to have an import log.

*Make sure the power settings on the control panel do not turn off the hard drive.

*Use the Task Manager to show the running processes.

*Copy the import log rather than opening it directly which could spoil the only verification tool in the import app.

I'm signing off. I'm a bit weary from the hypervigilance necessary on this import - now running at over 18 hours....