Import Multiple Files, Excel - Get the right format result

BSwid

The import multiple files help and video are very helpful.
https://www.jmp.com/support/help/14-2/import-multiple-files.shtml
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6e7kh1cTvU

 

However, I'm having trouble achieving the same format results importing multiple files vs. importing a single file.  The single file import resulted in the correct format and column properties.   The multiple file import was great, stacking the files into about 4m rows, but the column properties and format were not as I would have liked.

A few thoughts,

Maybe it is the CSV import settings?
Maybe I need to customize an import script?

Maybe the format of my .xlsx files is not exactly the same and it is confusing the JMP import?

 

I've attached three images.

1. The import settings I'm using.

2. How one file simply using open to import turns out (as desired).

3. How the import multiple files... results (not as desired).

The main thing is getting the columns dates read as dates.

 

Thanks.

 

JMP Community Import Multiple Files Settings.JPG

JMP Community Import Multiple Files incorrect format and properties.JPG

JMP Community Correct Format and Properties.JPG

Craige_Hales

MFI does not currently attempt to guess dates, and there is currently no way to make it pick a date format.

 

MFI was initially built to import CSV files, fast. Fast means not guessing about various formats. guessing dates is slow, and impossible to be certain when ddmmyyyy and yymmdddd are in the mix.

 

During testing, there were a number of requests to make MFI also handle other file types, including .XLS and .JMP. When MFI opens these files, they go through the same post processing mechanism the CSV files use for stacking, which means column type and format are not available and must be rediscovered. (That's what you are observing.) MFI does guess numeric vs character column.

 

https://community.jmp.com/t5/JSL-Cookbook/Concatenate-data-tables/ta-p/82457 is a different approach you might use. I'd expect it to be as fast as MFI for the .XLS files because MFI does not open .XLS files in parallel. (CSV files will load much faster with MFI because MFI uses threading to open more than one CSV at a time.)