[ImportFilterMap] and [ExportFilterMap] sections

The [ImportFilterMap] and [ExportFilterMap] sections have identical syntax and functionality, except that the [ImportFilterMap] describes how to convert data from the External data source on import, while the [ExportFilterMap] describes the opposite conversion.

These are the most complex sections in the format file. (The rest of the text will just focus on the [ImportFilterMap], as the [ExportFilterMap] follows basically the same logic.)

The [ImportFilterMap] is structured as follows:

[ImportFilterMap]

 Import Rule 1 = External column name l -> Citect Column i

 Import Rule 2 = External column name m -> Citect Column j
..

Import Rule nn = External column name n -> Citect Column k 

The values in Import Rule nn can be any name strings, but they needs to be unique within the section. Therefore, for convenience, you might want to use names like "ImportRule1", "ImportRule2", "Mapping1", "Filter1" etc., or you might want something that is descriptive of the conversion involved, such as "Description_to_comment".

The name used for External column name n needs to be identical to a name that appears in External column name n in the [Columns] section above.

The name used for Citect Column k needs to be the same as one of the columns in the CitectSCADA internal tags database, such as "Name", "Type", "Addr", "Comment" etc.

Thus the values for the external column and the CitectSCADA column provide information on how to transfer data from the external column to the Citect column during import.

For example:

ImportRule1 = Description -> Comment

This indicates that there is a relationship between the data in the "Description" field in the external data source and the data that needs to go into the "Comment" field in the CitectSCADA database.

The name that you use for Import Rule nn might be the same as the name of another optional section in the format file: here, the extra section provides CitectSCADA with more information. In the simplest case, if there is no section with that name in the format file, the rule simply states that the data in External column name n is to be copied directly into Citect Column k without modification or filtering.

So if the "Description" column in the external database contains "Truck Position 1" and the above entry appears in the [ImportFilterMap] section, and there is no section called [ImportRule1], then after the import, the "Comment" column in the CitectSCADA database will contain the string "Truck Position 1".