CSV export¶

Export search and browse results in CSV format¶

Any authenticated (i.e. logged in) user can generate a CSV export of archival description Search or Browse results. The CSV export, after it is generated, is made available for download from the jobs page.

When downloaded, the file will be compressed in a ZIP archive - there are many free utilities (likely there is one already included on your computer) that will allow you to “unzip” a ZIP file.

To generate and download a CSV export of search or browse results:

1. Navigate to the archival description Browse page. You can get there using the browse menu located in the AtoM header bar - for more information, see: Browse menu. You can also perform a search directly via the global search box in the AtoM header bar, or by placing your cursor in the search box, selecting “Advanced search” from the drop-down menu that appears, and then using the advanced search panel to perform a search. For more information, see: Search and Advanced search
2. If you wish to limit the results returned based on a search query before exporting, perform a search using the advanced search panel, and/or limit the results using the facet filters available in the left column. For more information on working with the fields and filters available on the advanced search panel, see: The Advanced search panel. For information on using the facets, see: Facet filters; particularly, Using facet filters in AtoM:.

3. When you want to export the search results returned, click on the “Export CSV” link - it’s located below the advanced search panel, but above the results, on the left.

4. The CSV export of the search results will be generated by the job scheduler. After clicking the “Export CSV” link, AtoM will reload the page - scroll back up to the top to see a notification about the job, with a link to the jobs page where you can see the status of your job and download the CSV when it is ready. Click on the link in the notification to go to the jobs page.

5. On the jobs page, you will find information about the export job, including a download link when the task is done. Check the “Job status” column - if it says “Completed,” then the job has successfully finished and you can now download your CSV. It is says “Running,” then the task is still being executed - try refreshing the page in a moment for an updated status. If the Job status column says “Error,” then the CSV export has failed for some reason - talk to your system administrator for assistance. See the Manage jobs page for more information.

   When the job is complete, click on the Download link in the “Info” column, and the CSV, compressed in a ZIP file, will be downloaded to your computer.

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Export Clipboard results in CSV format¶

AtoM includes a clipboard that allows users to “pin” results to it for review or further action. For more information, see: Clipboard.

Any user can generate a CSV export of Clipboard results. The CSV export, after it is generated, is made available for download from the jobs page. For public users who do not have access to the Jobs page, a notification will be displayed with a direct link to the download when the export is ready.

Currently users can export the following entity types from the clipboard in CSV format:

• Archival Descriptions
• Authority records
• Archival Institutions

When downloaded, the file will be compressed in a ZIP archive - there are many free utilities (likely there is one already included on your computer) that will allow you to “unzip” a ZIP file.

To generate and download a CSV export of clipboard results:

The default descriptive template used by AtoM is ISAD(G) and any exports from your AtoM instance will use the ISAD(G) template. In this version of AtoM, users can now select to export their descriptions in RAD format, but this will need to be configured prior to exporting from the clipboard. To change the default template in your AtoM instance navigate to the Admin menu in the top right hand corner and from the drop down menu select ‘Settings’

Once you are in the ‘Settings’ menu, on the left hand side, select ‘Default template’ and there you will find three options: Archival description, Authority record and Archival institutions. Go to the ‘Archival description’ and from the dropdown menu select: ‘RAD, July 2008 version. Canadian Council of Archives’:

Once the selection has been made hit ‘Save’ and then when material is exported from the Clipboard or when the export function is used, the related csv exports will have a rad_ prefix to indicate that the csv fields will conform with RAD.

Once you have configured your instance then your description and your exports will use the RAD description template.

To generate and download a CSV export of clipboard results:

1. You should first ensure that you have the results you would like to export already pinned to the Clipboard. For more information on using AtoM’s Clipboard module, see: Clipboard.
2. Navigate to the Clipboard page. You can get there via the Clipboard menu in the AtoM header bar - open the menu, and select “Go to Clipboard”.
3. AtoM will redirect you to the Clipboard page. Above the Clipboard results, there is a drop-down menu that will allow you to change the entity type of the records being displayed. When you arrive, by default archival description results will be shown, but you can use this menu to change the display to see other results. Make sure the record type you want to export is currently being displayed on the clipboard.

4. Click on the “Export” link in the button block at the bottom of the page.

5. AtoM will redirect you to a page where you can configure your export. Make sure the Format drop-down menu is set to “CSV”.

6. An archival description CSV export will include additional configuration options. Public users can select whether only the current description should be exported or all descendants (i.e. lower-level records).

   Tip

   AtoM also includes a setting that an administrator can enable that will add an additional export configuration option to the clipboard, allowing users to download digital objects that are associated with archival descriptions.

   For more information, see below:

   • Including digital objects in a clipboard CSV export

   If you want to include lower levels of description in your clipboard export, click the checkbox marked “Include descendants”.

   

   Once checked, the checkbox to “Include all levels of description” will become available, and will be automatically checked. If you want all lower-level records to be included in the export, then leave this box checked. However, if desired, you can uncheck this box and select only the levels of description you want included in the export. To do so, first uncheck the box labelled “Include all levels of description.”

   AtoM will then display a list of all levels of description from the Levels of description taxonomy. You can use your Control (Mac users: Command) and Shift keys to multi-select the levels you want included in the export.

   

   Finally, authenticated (i.e. logged in) users will also have the option to include draft records in the export. To include drafts, make sure that the “Include drafts” checkbox is selected.

7. Once you have configured your export options, click the “Export” button in the button block at the bottom of the page.

8. The CSV export of the clipboard results will be generated by the job scheduler. After clicking the “Export” button, AtoM will reload the page with a notification about the job at the top.

   For authenticated users, this will include a link to the Jobs page, where you can review the status of the export job, and download the ZIP file containing your CSV export when it is complete. Click on the link in the notification to go to the Jobs page.

   

   Authenticated users will be able to see in their exports a slug column which is a new feature in this release. This will help authenticated users with updating of digital object and descriptions.

   For public users, first a notification that the job has been initiated will be displayed, with a link that will refresh the page to see if there are updates. Users can use the X icon on the right of the notification to remove it. You can now navigate elsewhere in the application - another notification will be provided when the export is complete and ready for download.

   

   Once the export job has completed, AtoM will display another notification that includes a download link the next time the page is refreshed. Click the Download link to download the export.

   

   For public users, the download notification will remain visible as you navigate around AtoM until you click the “X” to remove the notifcation.

9. On the jobs page, authenticated users will find information about the export job, including a download link when the task is done. Check the “Job status” column - if it says “Completed,” then the job has successfully finished and you can now download your CSV. If it says “Running,” then the task is still being executed - try refreshing the page in a moment for an updated status. If the Job status column says “Error,” then the CSV export has failed for some reason - talk to your system administrator for assistance. See the Manage jobs page for more information.

   When the job is complete, click on the Download link in the “Info” column, and the CSV, compressed in a ZIP file, will be downloaded to your computer.

Including digital objects in a clipboard CSV export¶

Some AtoM sites are configured to enable users to include attached digital objects when exporting archival descriptions from the clipboard. In this case, the Export options screen will include a checkbox for “Include digital objects”.

If digital objects are included in the export, they will be contained in the same ZIP package as the CSV files.

Note that if the “Include digital objects” checkbox is checked, it is no longer possible to include descendants in the export, and the “Include descendents” checkbox will be greyed out. This means you will need to individually add the descriptions with digital objects to the clipboard if you want to export them, rather than just adding a parent description.

See also

• Enable digital object export functionality (Clipboard settings)
• Including digital objects with an XML clipboard export
• Delete temporary data (saved clipboards, access log, and downloads) (command-line task)

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Export completed jobs in CSV format¶

AtoM includes a job scheduler in order to execute certain long-running tasks asynchronously to guarantee that web requests are handled promptly and work loads can be distributed across multiple machines. This ensures time and/or resource-intensive tasks do not timeout when running via the web browser. For more information see, Manage jobs.

In case users would like to clear completed jobs but keep a record outside of AtoM of previous jobs performed, a CSV export of the Jobs table is available. Like the display table in the user interface, the output contains columns for startDate, endDate, jobName, jobStatus, jobInfo, and jobUser.

Simply navigate to the jobs page via Manage > Jobs, and then click the “Export history CSV” button located in the button block on the page. All jobs currently listed on the Jobs page will be included in the export.

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