Importing data from other coin programs
Exact Change includes a data import routine for pulling in data from other coin collecting programs so that you can upgrade to Exact Change without re-entering data about the coins in your collection. You can import data into the demo version of Exact Change so you can see the conversion process before you upgrade to Exact Change.
To move your data from your old program the data must first be exported from the old program and then imported into Exact Change. The file that Exact Change imports is a CSV file, also referred to as a "Comma delimited file". Quite simply, it's just a standard text file in which each line represents one coin entry with the data about that entry listed in a certain order, each data field separated by a comma.
Microsoft Access and Excel can create such a file, most coin
software can as well; it's a very standard file format. The
specifics about exactly what data should be included in the file can
be found in the spec sheet available at
www.ExactChange.Info/ExactChangeImportFileFormat.pdf. The
format of this file is the same, regardless of whether you're
using the Windows or Macintosh edition of Exact Change.
Once you have your data in a CSV file, importing it in to Exact
Change is a simple matter. Go into Exact Change and open an existing collection or start
a new collection. Then click on File|Open. In the dialog box that
appears, you can select between two different types of files, an
Exact Change database (.ECD) file or an Exact Change Import (.ECI)
file. Select ECI and you can then open the file you created with
the conversion program. Exact Change will add all the imported
coins to your collection. Then you can save your collection just
as if you'd entered the data manually.