You can use ListPro's import capability to make lists out of data you currently have in other forms. You can also export your lists to text files for use with other programs.
When you choose Export to File from the Tools menu, ListPro displays the Choose Columns to Export dialog. This dialog allows you to choose which columns to export. Any of the currently displayed columns may be chosen, as well as the Notes field and the Indent Level. You may also choose the order the columns should appear in the file, and you may optionally export the column names in the first row of the file.
When you choose Import from File from the Tools menu, ListPro displays the Choose Columns to Import dialog. This dialog allows you to choose which columns to import the data into. Any of the currently displayed columns may be chosen, as well as the Notes field and the Indent Level. You may also choose the order the columns will be found in the file, and you may optionally skip the first row of the file if it contains column names.
List items are imported and exported in tab-delimited or comma-separated-value form. Tab-delimited files use the extension .TXT and comma-separated-value files use the extension .CSV. Each field you want to import must be separated from the previous field by one tab character in .TXT files or by a comma in .CSV files. If the field contains a new line (that is, a carriage-return/line-feed or hard line break) or a comma, the field must be enclosed in quote ( “ ) characters. If a quote character appears in a field, it must be replaced by two quote characters and the entire field must be enclosed in quotes.
Note that Columns selected for display (in the List Properties window) are usually the same as those currently being displayed in the list area. However, if the Flag column is selected for display, but you have the Show Only Flagged Items option selected, the Flag field may also be imported and exported.
Item order for export will be set by the order of the items in the list. Only the items currently being displayed will be exported. Any items not currently displayed (due to being Flagged, Checked or Filtered out) will not be exported.
If you need assistance on setting up information to be imported into a list, first create a very small (two- or three-item) version of the list you want, and export it to a file. Then edit the file using a text processing or spreadsheet application, and import it back into ListPro. When you can get the right information to import into the right columns, you have found the right format. This will help you create the import format correctly.
Checkbox, Flag and Yes/No fields are exported as 1s if selected (checked or flagged) and 0s if not selected. Three State fields are exported as 0, 1 or 2.
You can import items from a file that was created by exporting from an older version of ListPro by following the steps below. However, please note that ListPro will automatically convert your older list files for you, so you probably don’t need to import their information.
To import lists from files created by version 2.0.x of ListPro, use the Choose Columns to Import dialog to arrange the columns in the order they appear in the file. The Indent Level will always be first, and the others will be in the order they appeared in the list.
To import lists from files created by versions of ListPro older than 2.0, use the Choose Columns to Import dialog to arrange the columns in the following order:
Amount
Units
Item
Category
Notes
If you want to, you can use import and export to move information from one ListPro column to another. For example, if you want to move the information from the Notes column of a list to a new column you’ve called Info, you could export all columns of the list (including Indent Level and Notes) to a file. Then make a new list with the Info column, and import all columns except Notes, with Info in the position Notes had been in. This will move your information from the Notes to the Info column.