Visualexport

Reference manual
Version 4.50
 Table Of Contents
An overview of Visual Export ........................................................................................................1

Launching vrExport .....................................................................................................................3

Creating a new profile .................................................................................................................5

Using an existing profile ..............................................................................................................7

Modifying an existing profile ........................................................................................................9

Selecting the Export Type and Destination .................................................................................. 11

To Exporting Images: ......................................................................................................... 11

To Export Data:.................................................................................................................. 11

Configuring data items to export ................................................................................................ 13

Configuring the type and size of images to create ........................................................................ 15

Image Properties: .................................................................................................................. 15

Maximum Dimension:............................................................................................................. 17

Background Colour: ............................................................................................................... 18

Choosing the selection to export ................................................................................................ 19

Overwrite existing images? ........................................................................................................ 21

Saving the profile to use again ................................................................................................... 23

Progress bar ............................................................................................................................. 25

Bitmap file formats .................................................................................................................... 27

Jpeg ..................................................................................................................................... 27

PNG...................................................................................................................................... 27

BMP ..................................................................................................................................... 27

Exporting from the Command Line ............................................................................................. 29

Using command line visuallogon .......................................................................................... 29

Using command line visualexport ......................................................................................... 30

Index ....................................................................................................................................... 31

iii
An overview of Visual Export
visualexport provides the ability to extract option data and images from the visualretailing
database. Data can be exported to CSV and Microsoft Excel (XLS) files, images can be exported with
their backgrounds eliminated and saved as graphic files.

The user can decide which option data to export with one row of data for each option within the
Option Data file, the exported Option Data file can be used within visualimport.

The user is in complete control of the type of image being exported and, with the PNG format, can
also specify a transparent background. The exported images can be the original photograph without
any masking, or can be the processed image with the background eliminated.

The size of the image can be specified in pixels. This makes it an ideal tool for generating images for
different purposes. e.g. Large images may be required for documents and rail cards, whilst small
images may be used on the web site.

The range of images to be exported is specified by either choosing an existing "Selection Set" or
creating a new one. The images are exported in to a directory that is selected by the user.

1
2
Launching vrExport
visualexport can be launched from Program Files or from the quick launch toolbar in
visualshape.

Creating a new profile

Using an existing profile
Modifying an existing profile

3
Creating a new profile
A "Profile" contains all of the configuration settings for exporting data and images from
the visualretailing database. "Profiles" can be saved at the end of the visualexport
wizard driven process and re-used in the future.

Select "Start a new profile" if you want to create a new configuration. Alternatively select
Using an existing profile or Modifying an existing profile

5
Using an existing profile
To use an existing Profile simply select it from the pull down list.

By default it will assume the files are to be saved to the same location. Upon
confirmation of the location, the export commences.

7
Modifying an existing profile
To modify an existing Profile select it from the pull down list.

visualexport then steps through each of the configuration screens (Listed below)
providing the ability to make modifications. At the end of the process, you can then save
the Profile with a different name.

Selecting the destination for the images

Configuring data items to export
Configuring the type and size of images to create
Choosing the selection to export
Overwrite existing images?
Saving the profile to use again

Only relevant configurations screens appear within the wizard, for example Configuring
the type and size of images to create will only appear when exporting images.

9
Selecting the Export Type and Destination
The next step in the process is to specify a location to save the data and graphic files.
This can be a local or network drive.

It is possible to export just Data, Images or to export both Data and Images.

To Exporting Images:
Click in Export Images checkbox

Enter the name of the folder in which the graphic images will be exported, the
folder must already exist

To Export Data:
Click in the Export option data checkbox

Enter the location and filename of the file to export. The file extension determines
the type of file created, an extension of CSV (c:\data\myoutput.csv) will create a
text based CSV file, an extension of XLS (c:\data\myoutput.xls) will create a
Microsoft Excel file, if no extension is supplied the system will default to a CSV
file.

Any filename entered will be overwritten by the export process

NOTE: To output to a Microsoft Excel file format (XLS), Microsoft Excel must be installed
on the PC, VRExport supports Microsoft Excel versions 2003 and 2007, if Microsoft Excel
is not installed on the PC an error will occur.

Depending on which selection is made the following screen will be displayed

Configuring data items to export

Configuring the type and size of images to create

11
Configuring data items to export
The user can select any data held on the option record within the visualretailing
database, including extended data fields.

Place a tick against the option data you wish to export, any number of items can be
exported.

It can be useful to create a "Header Line" within the Option Data file, this helps identify
which columns of data have been exported into the file, tick the checkbox to generate a
head "Header Line".

If the both Images and Data are being exported a special field called "Filename" can be
selected.

13
Selecting this field will instruct visualexport to insert into the data file the location and
file name of the Exported Image ("filename"), it will also output the image type ("Image
type").

When exporting to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet it is possible to insert the Option image
directly into the spreadsheet, select "Image" from the list of data items to enable this
output.

The option image will be placed within its own cell, the cell Height and Width will be
adjusted to ensure the option image fits, the size of the option image is specified on the
Configuring the type and size of images to create dialog screen. The Option images
within the spreadsheet are configured "to move with the cell" but will not automatically
"size with the cell".

Depending on which selection is made the following screen will be displayed

Configuring the type and size of images to create

Choosing the selection to export

14
Configuring the type and size of images to create
The images can be saved in Jpeg, PNG and BMP formats.

Image Properties:
The visualexport process provides the ability to save any of the image types that are stored in the
visualretailing database.

15
16
 Configuring the type and size of images to create

It is rare that the "Back" has an image in it. This saves processing time in visualstore and helps to
keep the database relatively small. The "Catalogue" image is normally used to store model
photographs that are used to promote the Option. The "Catalogue" image is not processed by
visualshape and does not have a transparency mask applied.

Maximum Dimension:
Bitmaps are typically stored in the visualretailing database at various sizes and can be quite large.
The "Maximum Dimension" setting provides the ability to control the size of the bitmaps that will be
generated by visualexport. Both the Width and the Height can be specified, however, visualexport
will create a bitmap, with the correct aspect ratio, based upon the first dimension it hits.

17
If only one dimension is set, either the Width or the Height, the image will be created at that
specified size.

When exporting to Microsoft Excel, it is important to take into account the maximum size of a cell
within Excel, if your image is larger than the maximum size, the image will bleed into adjacent cells, a
good starting size is around 150 pixels.

Background Colour:
The transparency mask generated by visualshape can be given a specified colour during the export
process. If the file is saves as a PNG the transparent background can be preserved in the file.

When exporting to a Microsoft Excel (XLS) file, the system will default to a PNG file type,
Front Image and a transparent background.

The Choosing the selection to export screen will be displayed next.

18
Choosing the selection to export
The range of images to export are defined using the "Selection Sets" used throughout
the visualretailing suite.

All of the existing selection sets are available from the pull down list. In the event that a
new range of criteria is needed, simply define a new selection set.

Depending on which selection is made the following screen will be displayed

Overwrite existing images?

Saving the profile to use again

19
Overwrite existing images?
The images are saved using their "Option Number" as the file name. If a new file is
generated that has the same Option Number, it will either stop the Export process or
overwrite the image if it finds an image with the same name.

It is recommended that after images have been exported that they are copied elsewhere
and, therefore, the risk of accidental overwriting is eliminated.

21
Saving the profile to use again
Saving "Profiles" can save a considerable amount of time if images are exported on a
regular basis.

When saving, always take the time to give the Profile a name that will be meaningful
when you look at it in the future.

23
Progress bar
The progress bar keeps you informed of the current status of the export. If an image
fails to export for whatever reason, it will show in this list.

Upon completion the status bar specifies how many images have been exported.

The Options failed field relates to the number of images that failed to create, the normal
cause of this is a missing image i.e. selecting Back image to export, with an option not
having a Back image.

When outputting to a data file the total number of options written is the Options
processed field.

25
Bitmap file formats
Jpeg
The "Jpeg" or "JPG" file format is probably the most widely used compressed image
format used today. Its popularity is due to its ability to compress by 80% or more. It can
be used by virtually every software application and its only real drawback is that it can
produce very "lossy" images. i.e. It can make your images look blurred around the edges
due to the compression process.

If image quality is important use either PNG or BMP formats. If small file size is more
important, use the JPG format.

PNG
The "PNG" (Portable Network Graphics) file format was introduced to deliver "lossless"
compressed files for use on the Internet. The format has been widely adopted, but is still
not as common as JPG. PNG has three distinct advantages over JPG and BMP:-

It is a smaller file that BMP because of its compression

It uses a "lossless" compression algorithm and, therefore, is better than JPG on

quality

It supports transparency

BMP
The "BMP" file format is the original and, therefore, it is the de-facto standard that can
be used everywhere. Its big disadvantage is that the files are very big in comparison to
JPG and PNG.

BMP files should only really be used if there is a very specific reason for using them. The
only reason I can think of is to be sure of absolute compatibility when transferring files
to Unix and Mac platforms.

27
Exporting from the Command Line
visualexport can be run from the command line on any workstation that has
visualretailing installed.

Prior to running visualexport the user must be signed into visualretailing, this can be
done via visuallogon or via the command line, the command line logon is primarily used
for unattended running i.e. running within the Windows Scheduler.

Using command line visuallogon

It is possible to run command line exports without being present at the PC. This provides
the ability to run regular database exports using Windows Scheduler. To do this please
use the following syntax:

start "vrlogon" "location of VRLogon.exe" "DatabaseConnectionName" "UserName"

"Password" "LogonErrorFileLocation"

NOTE: It is important that the "start" command is included in the command line, failure
to do this will cause any batch file to stop at the logon.

"location of VRLogon.exe" - Location of the executable, normally "C:\Program

Files\Visual Retailing 4\Bin\vrlogon.exe"

DatabaseConnectionName - DatabaseConnectionName is the name of the

connection NOT the actual database. e.g.

UserName - The username normally used to sign into visualretailing

Password- The password for the username

LogonErrorFileLocation - Any serious errors produced by visuallogon will be

written to this file, it should e a fully qualified filename i.e. "c:\logs
files\vrlogon.txt"

An example of a command line logon

start "vrlogon" "C:\Program Files\Visual Retailing 4\Bin\vrlogon.exe" "Live DB" "ADMIN"

"MyPass" "c:\logs files\vrlogon.txt"

The visuallogon command line should be placed in a batch file immediately before the
command line command to execute visualexport.

29
Using command line visualexport

Warning: Prior to issuing a command line visualexport a valid sign-on must of been
made to the visualretailing database as described in the section above.

visualexport command line has the following syntax.

"location of VRExport.exe" "export images folder" "profile" "ExportErrorFileLocation"

"export data filename"

"location of VRExport.exe" - Location of the executable, normally "C:\Program

Files\Visual Retailing 4\Bin\vrexport.exe"

"export images folder" - The fully qualified name of the folder that the images will
be saved, this folder must already exist i.e. "c:\exported images\"

"profile" - The name of a saved Profile from a previously executed VRExport, the
profile should be a fully qualified filename with a valid extension i.e. "c:\export
profiles\weekly_export.vri"

ExportErrorFileLocation - Any serious errors produced by visualexport will be

written to this file, it should e a fully qualified file i.e. "c:\logs files\vrlogon.txt"

"export data filename" - The name of the CSV or XLS file created when exporting
data, this should be a fully qualified name i.e. "c:\export\myfile.xls", please note
this will overwrite any existing file.

The ""export images folder" and "export data filename" must always be provided to
ensure we have 4 parameters, where they are not used (for example - exporting just
images) specify a "dummy" parameter.

"C:\Program Files\Visual Retailing 4\Bin\VRExport.exe" "dummy"

"c:\profiles\newoptions.vri" "c:\Logs\ExportError.txt"
"c:\data\current\latestoptions.csv"

When the visualexport command line is run, any errors found in the parameters will
result in all parameters being ignored and the program start as normal with the Creating
a new profile shown.

30
Index
B Export ...........................................13, 19, 21

Back ........................................................ 15 stop ...................................................... 21

Background Colour .................................... 15 F

Bitmap ............................................ 1, 11, 15 Filename .................................................. 13

create ................................................... 15 G

save ..................................................... 11 Give ......................................................... 23

Bitmaps ................................................... 15 Profile ................................................... 23

BMP ..................................................... 1, 27 H

C Header Line .............................................. 13

Catalogue ................................................. 15 Height ...................................................... 15

Choosing .................................................. 19 I

selection ............................................... 19 Image Properties ....................................... 15

Colour ...................................................... 15 Images ..........................................11, 15, 21

Command Line ......................................... 29 size ....................................................... 15

Configuring .........................................13, 15 Internet .................................................... 27

data items............................................. 13 J

type ..................................................... 15 Jpeg ......................................................... 27

Create.................................................. 5, 15 JPG ...................................................... 1, 27

bitmap .................................................. 15 use ....................................................... 27

new profile .............................................. 5 L

Csv .......................................................... 29 Launching ...................................................3

CSV file .................................................... 13 vrExport ..................................................3

D Lossless .................................................... 27

Data items ............................................... 13 Lossy ....................................................... 27

Configuring ........................................... 13 M

DatabaseConnectionName ......................... 29 Mac.......................................................... 27

Destination ............................................... 11 Maximum Dimension ................................. 15

Selecting ............................................... 11 N

E New profile .................................................5

End............................................................ 5 Creating ..................................................5

visualexport ............................................ 5 O

Option ...................................................... 15

31
 promote................................................ 15 images .................................................. 15

Option Number ......................................... 21 Stop ......................................................... 21

Overview .................................................... 1 Export ................................................... 21

visualexport ............................................ 1 T

Overwrite ................................................. 21 The username ........................................... 29

P Type ........................................................ 15

PNG ................................................ 1, 15, 27 Configuring............................................ 15

Portable Network Graphics ......................... 27 U

Profile ........................................... 5, 7, 9, 23 Unix ......................................................... 27

give ...................................................... 23 Use .......................................................... 27

save ....................................................... 9 JPG ....................................................... 27

Saving .................................................. 23 Use again ................................................. 23

Program Files ............................................. 3 UserName ................................................ 29

Progress bar ............................................. 25 Using .........................................................7

Promote ................................................... 15 Using Windows Scheduler .......................... 29

Option .................................................. 15 V

S Visualexport ...............................1, 3, 5, 9, 15

Saving ............................................ 9, 11, 23 end .........................................................5

bitmap .................................................. 11 overview .................................................1

profile ............................................... 9, 23 Visualretailing ..............................1, 5, 15, 19

Select ........................................................ 5 Visualshape .......................................... 3, 15

Selecting .................................................. 11 Visualstore ................................................ 15

destination ............................................ 11 VrExport .....................................................3

Selection .................................................. 19 Launching ...............................................3

Choosing............................................... 19 W

Selection Set .............................................. 1 Width ....................................................... 15

Size ......................................................... 15

32