I'm importing Chinese entries into Stackz 2006 from an Excel document using the Start by collecting next lot feature. The problem is that the entry list showing for approval in the third step of the import wizard is only question marks. They seem to recognized by the system on some level though as a translation from CEDICT pops up when pointing the mouse over them. I'm using the same fonts both in Excel and Stacks (NsimSun). The question marks stay in the created lesson. When doing a manual cut&paste everything seems to work normal. This is annoying!
Furthermore, is "Import and restart" supposed to clear the next edit window? I think I read that somewhere, however the entries from my last import cycle remain.
I've had other bugs when using the Import wizard with previous versions of Stackz.
Thanks for reporting the problem!
Is the display correct in the first run of the Wizard, i.e. does the problem only occur with the "start collecting next lot" feature?
Please make sure that the language is set correctly for the corresponding attributes.
Please send me (info@stackz.com) a sample of the words you try to import so I can duplicate the error if it persists.
Quote from: Chris on June 10, 2006, 02:08:16 PM
Is the display correct in the first run of the Wizard, i.e. does the problem only occur with the "start collecting next lot" feature?
Please make sure that the language is set correctly for the corresponding attributes.
Please send me (info@stackz.com) a sample of the words you try to import so I can duplicate the error if it persists.
The problem only occurs using the "Start collecting next lot"-feature. Everything runs fine when I'm using manual cut&paste commands. In previous versions of Stackz, the list in the last step of the wizard came up completely blank (and clipboard empty) when using "Start collecting next lot". I'm using XP SP2 and Excel 97 (Swedish version). I'll send you the files I'm copying from and the resulting .szm
Btw is there a workaround for this not using Import wizard? Anyhow it would be great to have a marker for dividing long lists into lessons when importing.
I tried it with the files you sent to me with Stackz 2006, and everything was fine, also when using the start collecting next lot feature.
The only cause of the problem I can imagine is your version of Excel, I have 2003 and German. There are many conversions going on when the clipboard has to handle asian text, and this tends to be different with OS and application versions. Still - the next lot feature uses the same functoins as manual copy/paste, which work fine on your system...
Workaround possibilities:
- In the XP regional and language settings, extended tab, set the language to "Chinese" for programs that do not handle Unicode natively. This will probably force the correct encoding during the import process.
- Try a different source than your version of Excel. Export the list from Excel (comma separated file works fine for the Import Wizard) and try Word or any other text editor.
- Instead of the Import Wizard, the menu command "Wordlists - AutoImport lesson(s)..." can be used. With this command, several files can be selected and added to the current file with one command (automatically named "Lesson 1", "Lesson 2", ..., limited to 200 files). There you need individual files though, producing them may (or may not :-) be easier than manual copy/paste to the Import Wizard.
- Use the Import Wizard without the "next lot" function. This involves a lot of annoying clicking, but it should work as you said.
- Import the entire file, and split the content within Stackz. There is little support for that at the moment (edit stack content, cut, close edit window, create new lesson, paste), but it works. To avoid going insane, do it little by little, i.e. split a new lesson only if you are going to use it.
- Live with the huge list for now and wait (a few months...) for the improved list content management features which will assist the splitting. In the meantime, use the "defined order" color mode to avoid being exposed to characters at random from the huge list.
Hope this is helpful, else I'll have to create a debug version to run on your system to find the problem.
PS:
QuoteFurthermore, is "Import and restart" supposed to clear the next edit window? I think I read that somewhere, however the entries from my last import cycle remain.
I've had other bugs when using the Import wizard with previous versions of Stackz.
Yes the previous entries must disappear. There are problems on your installation that I can't explain... I guess you have tried reinstalling Stackz. Do you have the possibility to try a different computer?
I tried the Import function on my laptop running Excel 2003 and everything works hunky dory.
Strange thing though, I remember that I've had the problem with the blank list (described in my first post) using this version of Excel on the laptop but with earlier than Stackz 2005 ver.3 installs.
However "Import and restart" with unchecked "SBCNL" box does not empty "Import List Wizard 1/3 - Enter Source Data". The entries from the previous cykle remain. Both when using 2005 ver3 and 2006.
Thanks for your help!
Good to hear that it works!
And yes you are correct that the previous text is not deleted as one would expect it. I will change that for the next release.