I downloaded BD today for a 30 day demo. I entered some dummy data by keyboard and checklist. Then I tried importing records from Avisys. I had no trouble making the export.txt file according to your instructions. When I imported into BD, I got a screen saying 3987 records  to import. Then I got the illustrated error message and BD terminated. Then I realised that I was using Avisys 6, and your routine specifies v5. I restored avisys 5 and its data, and repeated the process with the exact same results.

Hello Alan,

Sorry for the problem. This happens on some systems and we are not sure why. Please ZIP your avisys export files and mail them to support@birdersdiary.com and I will convert them for you and send them back.

I am not back from vacation until after Jan 1.

Jeff

 I will. Before I do I would like to tidy up my Avisys file and let you enjoy your holiday. I will do this after Jan 1. I hope you enjoy your trip to the Salton Sea.

Alan

Wow - I am afraid I missed it. I think I was probably driving back east at that time.

I had a rocking birding event in either case! 

Jeff

Hi Alan,

That is odd. Doesn't make sense. Are your other features in BD working?

Jeff

In either case, please go ahead and mail your avisys export files to me and I will import them for you.

Jeff

Everything else is working. I will zip up my files and upload them to you at lunch time. Thanks.

Alan

 Here are the files. One is my general sightings, and the other contains my CBC dataset. I really appreciate this.

Alan

Hi Alan,

The attached ZIP file contains four import files:

2 location import files and 2 sightings import files (one each for your general sightings and your CBC sightings).

Import the location files first, then the sightings files.

File | Import/Export

Choose the Locations TAB to import the two locations files in either order, then the Sightings TAB to import the two sightings files in either order.

Both sightings files will be imported to the "Sample Observer" observer. If you want them to belong to say, your observer and a special observer you created in BD called CBC observer, then create the observers first; import one set of sightings and pull them up in the View/Edit window and reassign them to the particular user. Then import the second set of sightings and pull them up and reassign them. Let me know if you need more detail on this.

Jeff

 That was fast! I had no problem importing either the locations or the sightings, and it only took a few seconds. It took a few minutes to clone the sightings to my own observer (four minutes for eight thousand records). Now I have a reasonable amount of real data I can evaluate BD properly. So far, in the few minutes I've had it's looking good.

Many thanks for that super smooth conversion.

Alan

Thanks for the update Alan. Please let us know if we can assist further.

Jeff