Import From My Gun DB



Import From My Gun DB to NM Collector Software


I have been approached by several owners of My Gun DB software to see if I could help them migrate their data to NM Collector Software. After investigating this situation I discovered that there is a way to do it using .csv (Excel) formatted files. Please see the following instructions with screen captures for key steps in the process.

NOTES:
  1. Items are ordered in the NM Collector Software treeview according to the order in the spreadsheet. If you want a different order it is best to change the order in the spreadsheet before you import them.
  2. Serial numbers are blocked in the screen captures below to protect the privacy of the owner of the data who gave me permission to use his data as an example of how to do this.

Step By Step Procedure


  1. Start with a fresh copy of NM Collector Software. You can download it for free and install it on your hard drive or a removable flash drive. Make a backup so you can recover the default database in case you need to start the import process over

  2. Since My Gun DB exports a few fields that NM Collector Sofware does not have by default, we need to add the Bluing, Barrel Length, Sights, and Manufactured fields from My Gun DB to the Description tab in NM Collector Software. Really, you can use any available field in any tab but the Description tab seems the most logical for these fields.
    new Description fields

  3. Next we will add the Accessories field to the "Notes" section of the "More" tab of NM Collector Software. Some people just add the Accessories from My Gun DB to the Notes of NM Collector Software but that will only work during the import if you combine your notes with your accessories in the spreadsheet (.csv) file.
    add Accessories

  4. Now that we have defined the additional fields from My Gun DB that we need to import into NM Collector Software, we will export the sample data from NM Collector Software to the JE formatted .csv (Excel) file. This will give us something to work with when reformatting the exported data into the NM Collector Software expected format. The name of the exported file is JEFirearms.csv. I made a copy of this file and named it JEFirearms1.csv so that I would not lose my changes in case I had to re-export my NM Collector Software data.
    export NM Collector fields

  5. Next, we will delete the sample data that comes with NM Collector Software. Since you will be importing your real data from My Gun DB you do not need the sample data.
    delete sample data step 1.
    delete sample data step 2.
    deleted sample data step 3.

  6. At this point, we turn our attention to the .csv (Excel) files where we will actually copy and reformat the data from My Gun DB (MyGunDBExport.csv) to NM Collector Software (JEFirearms1.csv).

    First, delete the sample data from JEFirearms1.csv. Now that we have our headings in our exported .csv file we no longer need the sample data.
    delete sample data from JEFirearms.csv step 1.
    delete sample data from JEFirearms.csv step 2.
    delete sample data from JEFirearms.csv step 3.

  7. Then we copy data from the MyGunDBExport.csv file to JEFirearms1.csv. You can select all of the data in a column (do not include the header),
    select My Gun DB data to copy step 1

  8. Right click the selected cells and select "Copy" from the drop down list,
    select data to copy step 2

  9. Click in the first cell in the appropriate column of JEFirearms.csv (just below the heading) to select the cell, then right click the cell and select "Paste" to paste all of the copied My Gun DB data into the NM Collector Software import file.
    paste selected data step 1
    paste selected data step 2

  10. Repeat this process for all of the data that you want to import from My Gun DB into NM Collector Software . Due to some apparent inconsistencies with the format My Gun DB uses to export the data to .csv (Excel) some of the dates will have to be reformatted to properly import into NM Collector Software. Please see screen captures below for details.
    copy manufactured
    copy notes
    copy bluing
    copy barrel length
    copy sights
    copy accesories
    copy country
    copy appraised
    re-format appraised
    re-format receipt date

  11. You are now ready for the final step to import your data from My Gun DB to NM Collector. Go back to NM Collector, select File > Import > From JE CSV
    import My Gun DB data

    Then select the JEFirearms1.csv that you just updated.
    select JEFirearms1.csv



Importing Pictures

With a little more work, you can bring the pictures over. When you exported the sample data to get your csv format you might have noticed that there is a folder named Firearms1 in the same directory as your exported file. This folder contains the pictures for the item 1 in your csv file with the value of 1 in the NMCSWITEMID column.

I do not know how you will get your pictures from My Gun DB but I am assuming that they are exported somehow. So, this is how you can import those pictures into NM Collector. Please see screen captures below.

When you manipulate the csv file to import data into NM Collector, make sure you add unique (please, no duplicates!) sequential numbers in the NMCSWITEMID column. Then, add a folder containing pictures of each item in the same directory as your csv file. Name the folder according to the NMCSWITEMID in your csv file. So, if your gun with an item number of 3 has pictures, create a folder named Firearms3 and put your pictures for that item in that folder.

Here are the screen captures:

Sample data export directory contents:


Contents of csv file with sample NM Collector Data:


Adding pictures folders for firearms 2 and 3:




Your My Gun DB data is now imported

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Last Revised: May 14, 2016