How to move files from ACT to EXCEL
I.
Extracting Data from ACT
1. Open your Act application software.
2. Open the file that you want to transfer to Emerald Publications.
3. Choose File Menu Option, choose “Data Exchange”, “Export”
(see exhibit 1).
Exhibit 1
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How to move files from ACT to EXCEL
4. A smaller window titled, “Export Wizard” should pop up. (see Exhibit 2).
5. Next to the Label, “File type” you should see “Text – Delimited”. If you don’t, set your
mouse over the down arrow next to the box, and select “Text – Delimited”.
Exhibit 2
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How to move files from ACT to EXCEL
6. Now, you need to choose a location to save the text file that you are going to export. For
ease and convenience, I would suggest saving it on the desktop.
So just below file type, under the heading “Filename and Location” click on the button with
the three periods, (the button is next to the text box). This will open a smaller “Save As”
window (see exhibit 3)
Exhibit 3
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How to move files from ACT to EXCEL
7. Now, choose your desktop as the location, and in the text box next to the label, “File name”
replace the *, in the character string “*.txt” with a filename that is easy to remember. Then
click the button “Save”, at the right end of that text box. (See Exhibit 3A).
Exhibit 3A
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How to move files from ACT to EXCEL
8. Once that is complete (see exhibit 4) the small “save as” window should close. You should
see your file name in the text box labeled, “Filename and Location”.
Exhibit 4
9. Now you’re ready to click next.
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How to move files from ACT to EXCEL
10. On this screen (Exhibit 5), You should see 3 radio buttons. Be sure that the one which is
labeled, “contact records only”, is checked. Then click next.
Exhibit 5
11. Also On this screen (Exhibit 5), You should see a button Labeled “Options”, on the right,
just below the middle for the Wizard screen. Make sure when you click it, and the “Export
Options” box appears, that the following is true (see exhibit 5.5):
A. That the of the two radio buttons visible, the one labeled “Comma” is selected
and
B. That the checkbox labeled “Yes, export field names” is checked.
Exhibit 5.5
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How to move files from ACT to EXCEL
12. On this screen (Exhibit 6), you should also see 3 radio buttons. Be sure that the radio
button which is labeled “All records” is checked. Then click next.
Exhibit 6
13. You’re almost finished exporting. Here, (in Exhibit 7) you see a list box. There are a few
things to remember as you look at this wizard screen:
A. The following fields are the only ones you should export:
1. Account number
2. Prefix (Dr, Ms. Mr.)
3. First Name
4. Last Name
5. Middle Initial
6. Suffix (MD, PhD DDS)
7. Title
8. Company
9. Address Line 1
10. Address Line 2
11. City
12. State
13. Zip
14. Phone
15. Fax
16. Email Address
B. Remove any fields that are not included in the list.
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How to move files from ACT to EXCEL
C. (Export the file in the order listed above).
Exhibit 7
14. Click “Finish”
Congratulations!!
Now you should see your text file on your desktop. It is now ready to be
imported into excel.
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How to move files from ACT to EXCEL
II.
Importing the Data Into an Excel Worksheet
1. Open your Excel application software.
2. In the “File” Menu Option, click “Open”. If you followed the instructions to the letter, you
should have a text (txt) file on your desktop called “file.txt”. However, in order to find it,
you will need to select “Text Files” from the drop down list next to the label “Files of type”,
in the “Open” dialogue box (see Exhibit 8).
Exhibit 8
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How to move files from ACT to EXCEL
4. At this point, the “Text Import Wizard” will appear, since Excel recognizes that the text file
has to be formatted to fit into the Excel format. You should see part of your data in the text
area in the bottom section of the “Text Import Wizard” window. The settings should look
as they appear below (see Exhibit 9):
A. The radio button labeled “Delimited” should be selected.
B. The Number in the list box labeled “Start import at row” should be “1”
C. The text in the dropdown box, next to the label “File Origin” should be “Windows
(ANSI)
Exhibit 9
5. You are ready to click “Next”.
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How to move files from ACT to EXCEL
6. Now you should see the second of the three “Text Import Wizard” windows. In this one you
must be sure that the check box labeled “Comma”, within the group labeled “Delimiters” is
checked (make sure that no other check box is checked). The option in the list box labeled
“Text Qualifier” that sits to the right of the window should be “quote”, as seen below (see
Exhibit 9)
Exhibit 9
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How to move files from ACT to EXCEL
7. Finally, we are at the last of the three “Text Import Wizard”. This is the last step to
successfully importing your Act! data into Excel
In this window, the radio button next to the label “General” should be selected. Nothing
else should be touched (see Exhibit 10)
Exhibit 10
8. You are now ready to click “Finish”.
Congratulations!!
You have successfully exported your data from Act! and imported it into an
Excel sheet. Now, save this file to disk with an .xls extension.
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