Export / Import Data as CSV & Bulk Delete in iFreeTools CRM and Creator

A new upgrade to our Google App Engine powered CRM application and Online Database App-creator, has added support for Exporting and Importing data in CSV format, along with support for bulk-delete.

Exporting and Importing of data as CSV enables you to

• store a backup of your data
  
• import new data in bulk
  
• restore back old-data at a later date, if required, from the back-up
  
• take away your data at any time from our database - No vendor locks.

In this blog post, we will have an overview of this new feature, as used in iFreeTools Creator, the approach will be similar in iFreeTools CRM too.

In the default list views, there will now be an option under More Actions to Export as CSV and Import from CSV as shown below..


First export the data as a CSV file and store it locally. This file acts as a backup of the existing data and can also be used as a template to add new data.

You can use any spreadsheet application which supports editing of CSV files. We will use Google Docs for this feature preview. Use the upload option to upload the CSV file to Google Docs..


The spreadsheet will be loaded and will show the entries as present in the iFreeTools database..


We can now add / modify entries in the spreadsheet. We will add 2 new records - of which 1 record will have values in unicode (Tamil language) and update the existing records by adding some notes. The changes made to the spreadsheet are highlighted in the image below..


Now download the modified file from Google Docs, by choosing from the menu File > Download as > CSV (current sheet). Now you can upload the file to iFreeTools. Choose the Import from CSV option and specify the file downloaded from Google Docs and click on Import..


This will import the data into iFreeTools' database, as shown below..

Notice that 2 new entries have been added, with proper handling for unicode characters and that 3 existing records have been updated with notes. The status message on top also provides the details of the import.

Further changes to the imported data can be performed using the Bulk Edit feature, which was added recently.

This update also includes the Bulk Delete option, available under More Actions.

Hope you like our new features. If you face any issues or have suggestions, feel free to use the feedback form in our application.

Building a simple Issue-tracker application on Google App Engine.. Online.

In this blog post we will walk through the steps in creating a simple issue-tracker application over Google App Engine, using iFreeTools Creator.

Login into iFreeTools Creator (no signup required, your Google Account is sufficient) to start building the application.

The overview of the steps involved..

• Edit App Settings to rebrand
  
• Add 'Bug' / 'Issue' Entity
  
• Add Attributes for Bug
  
• Start using the Bug/Issue Tracker

Edit App Settings under Admin and rebrand your application..

As you might notice, there are options to further rebrand the application providing your logo and also to map the application to your Google Apps sub-domain. But we will leave that for now.

Add an entity to store the Bug / Issue details..

We have allowed the viewing of bug database for guest role users. While to create/edit/delete bug entries, they need to have user or admin role.

Add required attributes..

Our Bug database requires to store the following attributes..

• Tester
  
• Title
  
• Description
  
• Steps to reproduce
  
• Severity
  
• Date logged
  
• Date closed
  
• Notes
  

Add Tester attribute as a reference to User system-entity..

Notice that the attribute data-type for Tester is Reference and the referenced entity is User - which is a system entity.

Similarly add Title as a String and, Description and Steps to reproduce as a Text attributes. Next will be define Severity..

Adding severity with options to choose from..

The options provided are Critical, Major, Minor and Cosmetic.

Proceed to add Date logged and Date closed attributes with data-type as Date.

That is it.

Now, we are ready to start using our Bug-Tracker App

The form for adding a bug will look like the one given below..

Once added, the bugs will get listed in a Bugs list view..


You may also add users, whom you want to provide access. Just provide their email-id associated with a Google Account. Sample user entries added to the application..


Users with guest role can only view the bug lists. While users with admin and user roles can add modify bug details.

Now we can proceed to add more more bug entries to our bug database..


iFreeTools Creator automatically detects attributes which can be used for charts and provides them readily accessible. The data can be visualized in 3 chart types - Horizontal and Vertical (column) Bar charts and Pie Charts.

Bar Chart visualization..

Pie Chart visualization..

Hope you like the features in iFreeTools Creator. If you have any further queries, feel free to write to raj@sahasvat.com or use our feedback form.

Related :

• Building a Property Management application over Google App Engine.
  
• Mapping iFreeTools to your sub-domain and rebranding

Also See :

• Custom Actions now supported in Google App Engine powered iFreeTools CRM and Creator

Build Apps Online, over Google App Engine, using iFreeTools Creator

We are happy to announce the Preview Release of iFreeTools Creator, which was mentioned in our previous post (What's Cooking : iFreeTools "Brahma").

iFreeTools Creator is probably the first Google App Engine based online application builder. It provides users the access to iFreeTools Engine, which powers our Free CRM application.

Let us see how to create a simple Property Management application using iFreeTools Creator..

Configure App Settings

First configure the App Settings under Admin to provide your Organization's name and the applications name. For our example, we will call Acme Inc.'s Property Management.



(Other aspects of rebranding are as mentioned in iFreeTools CRM on your sub-domain, with rebranding !!)

Add Required Entities

Now proceed to Entities module under Admin and click on Add Entity. You will get a form to enter the details, as given below. Provide details of Entity and save the record.


Likewise we will create 3 entities Property, Owner and Tenant. The entities will get listed in the "Custom Entities" view as given below..


The Entity Index property defines the dependency and listing order.

Add Attributes for Entities

Now you can proceed to add the attributes for those entities. From Admin::Attributes, click on Add Attribute and fill in the form..


Likewise we can add relevant attributes for all entities. Given below are the attributes we added for the 3 entities...

Owner Attributes

Property Attributes

Tenant Attributes

The Property Index decides the order of the attribute items in list, form and details pages.

Start using the application

That is it. You can now start using the Property Management application. The below image shows the "Properties" view with sample data..


You can always customize it, as and when business needs change. Go ahead, play with the Online Application Creator for Google App Engine.

We do have plans to add more features, including support for more data types, chart views like those available in our CRM application and more. And, we would like to hear your feedback too. You can either use the feedback form in the application or send a mail directly to raj@sahasvat.com.

Related :
Building a simple Bug-tracker application on Google App Engine

Also See :
Custom Actions now supported in Google App Engine powered iFreeTools CRM and Creator