Importing and exporting standards

You can export and import standards and Short Run process specifications to and from text files using the SPC Standard Utility module.

 

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Exporting standards

  1. Choose whether to export Standards or Process Specs. Then, click the Export.... button on the utility.

The Export Standards dialog opens.

  1. In the Export Range field of the Export Standards dialog, select the range of standards or Short Run process specifications to export:

  1. Enter a path and export file name in the Export file name box or click Browse... .

  1. After selecting the standards to export and the Export file name, click Export.

  2. GainSeeker displays a final count of exported standards.

  1. Click Close to return to the SPC Standard Utility.

Importing standards

  1. Choose whether to import Standards or Process Specs. Then, click the Import... button on the utility.

The Import Standards dialog opens.

  1. In the Action for duplicate standards field, choose how GainSeeker responds when standards or Short Run process specifications in the text file have the same name as an existing standard or process spec.
      • To have GainSeeker prompt you with Skip or Replace options each time a duplicate record is found during the import, choose Prompt for any duplicate standards found.

      • To keep the existing items in your database and skip importing any duplicate items from the text file, choose Skip all duplicate standards found.

      • To overwrite any existing items in your database with duplicate items from the text file, choose Replace all duplicate standards found.

  1. Enter a name in the Import file name text box or click Browse... .

Important: The import file you select must be a text file specially formatted for importing and exporting standards: .tab, .xml or .std. You can also import .std files exported by earlier versions of SPC, which use a different format.

  1. Select the Range of standards to import (or Short Run process specifications).

  1. Click Import.

  2. GainSeeker displays final counts of the standards that were imported, skipped, or replaced.

  3. Click Close to return to the SPC Standard Utility.

Format of *.std import and export files

The format for the *.std import file is comma-separated flat ASCII text file. You can see exactly what the file should look like by exporting data for a known standard and then examining the resulting file with a text editor such as NotePad.

The format expected by the import function follows.

Line 1: Heading information

The first line of the import file should contain all of the following values, in the order shown below, separated by commas.

The items displayed in italics depend on the labels that you have configured for these items.

Important: Values displayed below in quotation marks must be formatted with quotation marks in the import file.

Heading values
(comma-separated)

Based on the user-defined label
in the configuration:

"Part Number"

Part label

"Description"

 

Subgroup size

 

Range chart

 

Num decimals

 

Exponent

 

Use exponent

 

Meas system

 

"Meas unit"

 

"DE constant"

 

Monitor

 

"DMS Part Number"

Part label

"DMS Process"

Process label

RT checks

 

Lo Spec

Spec label

Hi Spec

Spec label

Lo Gate

Gate label

Hi Gate

Gate label

Lo range Gate

Gate label

Hi range Gate

Gate label

Lo Ind. limit

Individual limit label

Hi Ind. limit

Individual limit label

Lo reas limit

 

Hi reas limit

 

Scale lo

 

Scale hi

 

Scale r

 

Target x

 

Target r

 

"Variable 1"

 

"Variable 2"

 

"Variable 3"

 

"Variable 4"

 

Values >= 0

 

Example heading line

In your . std file, this heading line will look something like this:

"Part Number","Description",Subgroup size,Range chart,Num decimals,Exponent,Use exponent,Meas system,"Meas unit","DE constant",Monitor,"DMS Part Number","DMS Process",RT checks,Lo Spec,Hi Spec,Lo Gate,Hi Gate,Lo range Gate,Hi range Gate,Lo Ind. Limit,Hi Ind. Limit,Lo reas limit,Hi reas limit,Scale lo,Scale hi,Scale r,Target x,Target r,"Variable 1","Variable 2","Variable 3","Variable 4",Values >= 0

Lines 2 through the end: Standard information

Lines following the heading line should contain all of the following values, in the order shown below, separated by commas.

Important: Values displayed below in quotation marks must be formatted with quotation marks in the import file.

Standard fields
(comma-separated)

Valid entries

Example entry

Can be blank?

part number

The name of the standard, up to 30 characters.

"D-34KW LENGTH"

N

description

A description of the standard, up to 14 characters.

"blue widget"

Y

subgroup size

Integer between 1 and 72.

3

N

range chart

Range, Moving Range, or Sigma

Range

N

number of decimals

Integer between 0 and 10.

3

N

Exponent

Non-zero integer between -323 and 307.

0

Y

use exponent

True or False

False

N

Measurement system

English or Metric

English

N

measurement unit

A string of up to 10 characters.

"Inch"

N

data entry constant

Number up to 10 characters long.

"0.7"

N

Monitor

None (Never)

Green (Data without failures)

Red (For real-time failures)

Both (For all data)

Both

N

DMS part number

The part number from DMS to use for defect data entry.

"D-34KW"

N

DMS process

The process from DMS to use for defect data entry.

"E CUTTING"

N

real-time checks

Integer, using the following rules:

0 No real-time checks

If checking for Spec failures then add 3072.

If checking for individual Gate failures then add 768.

If checking for control limit failures then add 15.

If checking for subgroup Gate failures then add 240.

If checking for X-bar run failures then add 12288.

If checking for range run failures then add 49152.

If checking for X-bar trend failures then add 196608.

If checking for range trend failures then add 786432.

If checking for 2 of 3 zone failures then add 3145728.

If checking for 4 of 5 zone failures then add 12582912.

3087

N

lower spec

Lower specification limit.

0.745

N

upper spec

Upper specification limit.

0.755

N

lower gate

Lower gate limit.

NONE

N

upper gate

Upper gate limit.

NONE

N

lower range gate

Lower range gate limit.

NONE

N

upper range gate

Upper range gate limit.

NONE

N

lower individual limit

Lower individual limit.

NONE

N

upper individual limit

Upper individual limit.

NONE

N

lower reasonable limit

Lower reasonable limit.

0.500

N

upper reasonable limit

Upper reasonable limit.

1.000

N

scale lower

Lower scaling value for X-bar chart.

NONE

N

scale upper

Upper scaling value for X-bar chart.

NONE

N

scale R

Upper scaling value for R chart.

NONE

N

target X

Target X (nominal) value.

0.750

N

target R

Target R value.

NONE

N

variable 1

Standard variable 1, up to 30 characters long.

""

Y

variable 2

Standard variable 2, up to 30 characters long.

""

Y

variable 3

Standard variable 3, up to 30 characters long.

""

Y

variable 4

Standard variable 4, up to 30 characters long.

""

Y

Values >= 0

Lower Control limit cannot be less than zero

False

Y

Blank values

If you are formatting a . std file for import and want to leave a field blank, you can simply avoid typing a value between the commas for that field. If the field requires quotation mark delimiters (such as the Part Number field), type just the quotation marks with no other characters between them.

For all of the limits (including specification limits, gate limits and reasonable limits), scaling values and target values, you can leave a limit blank by entering NONE or by failing to enter any characters between the commas for that field. The SPC Standard Utility will export these values as NONE if they are blank.

Length of values

If you are formatting a . std file for import, it is not necessary to pad each field with spaces so that it contains the maximum number of characters. If a value is too long or too short the SPC Standard Utility will automatically format it to the appropriate length. This also applies to users who add a space after each comma.

Case sensitivity

You can enter the values listed above in any combination of uppercase and lowercase characters, except for the values in the following fields:

These four values should be entered the way you want them to appear in GainSeeker.

Example data line

In your . std file, a data line will look something like this:

"B-34KB LENGTH A","Length",3,Range,3,0,False,English,"Inch","0.7",Red,"","",67108863,0.745,0.755,NONE,NONE,NONE,0.003,NONE,NONE,NONE,NONE,NONE,NONE,NONE,0.750,0.003,"","A","","Length",False,

Comma and period

The SPC Standard Utility uses the Windows List separator to separate values on one line of a standards export or import file. The default separator for computers using English (United States) settings is a comma.

The Standard Utility uses the Windows Decimal symbol for the decimal point. The default symbol for computers using English (United States) settings is a period.

For information on viewing or setting the Windows list separator and decimal symbol, see Regional options.