Exporting Data via the Export Manager

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Getting Started with Data Extraction

If you're just getting started with WebAdMIT's data extraction tools, we recommend you review the following information:

Create customized data files through the Export Manager. You can include only the information that you want, in the order you want it. Be sure to review your CAS's Custom Export Field Layout file to learn what fields are available to you.
Bulk download applicant files through the PDF Manager. Bulk downloads can include the full application PDF, transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc.
Pull pre-built reports on your applicants and admissions users through the Report Manager. Reports can also help you compare your applicant pool to the entire CAS applicant pool.
If available to you, spot trends and help shape your class through reports in Analytics by Liaison.

Additionally, if you're interested in creating a data feed between WebAdMIT and your data systems, explore these resources:

Review the Data Integration guide for best practices and tips in moving records from WebAdMIT into your institution's systems.
The WebAdMIT API is the tool that allows you to integrate applicant data into your institution's SIS/ERP system.
You can also explore additional APIs, like the Custom Fields API and PDF Manager API.

Video Overviews

Export Manager basics:

Further customizing your export templates:

Creating Exports

WebAdMIT allows you to create a rich data file containing selected applicant and data elements. Export files are sometimes called "flat files." Exports are especially useful for committee review meetings and for integration with Student Information Systems (SIS). To create exports, you must have the Manage Lists, Reports, and Exports permission in your Work Group.

Using the Menu Bar, open the Reports & Exports panel, then click Export Manager.
Click New Export.
Select a list to export.
Select an export type (.csv, .xls, .txt, or .zip). See Notes and Consideration below for additional guidance.
Enter a name for your export, and decide whether to include column headings. Column headings are names of the fields you select for the export.
Select how you want to export fields with more than one result. This includes fields like College Names, Test Scores, Evaluations, etc.
- Select as many columns as needed to expand the field to display as many results as needed, based on the applicant pool you have chosen (i.e., if an applicant attended 10 colleges, the college field and all fields in that grouping will expand to 10 columns for all applicants).
- Select exactly to set a fixed number of columns allotted for all one-to-many fields (i.e., if you set it to 2 columns, all colleges attended, test scores, and experiences will expand to 2 columns each). Warning: when selecting this option for an applicant who has more answers than the number of columns you selected, you can’t control which data points appear in the export. Entering a higher number of fixed columns may help ensure that you export all necessary data.
- Select by field category to specify the number of fixed columns for a category. Selecting this option does not allow you to intermingle fields from different categories. Only sections with one-to-many fields offer the “Many” fields allowed: option.
When you select a list from the Export... drop-down, a new option, Export will not/will honor Designation criteria from the List, appears. If this is set to will, and your list filters applicants by any field in the Designations field grouping (e.g., Designation, Application Status, etc.), then the export will include only the data that matches that selected designation criteria. See Notes and Consideration below for additional guidance.
Indicate if it should appear in the Menu Bar under the Reports & Exports panel. This option provides you with quick access to run the export.
Indicate who can view the export (just you, select Work Groups, or all Work Groups).
Where available, select if the Last Export Date timestamp will update for applicants. If this is set to will, the Last Exported Date field in the Designation panel of the Applicant Details page updates with the date this export was most recently run, for all applicants included in the export. You must have the Update Last Exported Date Timestamp When Exporting permission in your Work Group for this field to update. See Notes and Consideration below for additional guidance.
Under the Export these fields… column, click the categories to view and select fields. Be sure to review the following documents:
- The Custom Export Layout Files list all the available fields in the Export Manager for your CAS. They include each field name, field type (numeric, Boolean, etc.), and associated lookup tables.
- The Master College Code List includes a holistic list of all college names, their respective Liaison, MDB, CEEB, FICE, and/or IPED codes, and accreditation agency, if applicable.
- The Master Degree Code List includes a holistic list of all degrees and their codes.
- The Master High School Code List includes a holistic list of all high school names and their respective CEEB codes.
The fields you select appear in the …in this order. column. If you previously selected .txt for the export type, you can set a fixed width for each field. Depending on the field, you can also select a data transformation option. These options are useful to IT staff when importing data into an SIS.
Where available, you can also configure custom column headings. To do so, click the default custom column heading in gray and type in the new column heading. Note that:
- You can enter up to a maximum of 255 characters for your new column heading.
- You can’t use the same column heading for different fields in an export template.
- If you select a "many" field, WebAdMIT automatically appends "_0, _1, etc." to the end of your column heading, as needed.
- If you carry forward an export template that has custom column headings through the Transfer Settings feature, the custom column headings will also carry forward.
After selecting your fields, use the grip icon to drag and drop them into the preferred order; the top field will export first, and the bottom last. Additionally, you can group by field or numerically.
- Group by Field exports the data by field category (e.g., College Name 1, College Name 2, College Name 3, College State 1, College State 2, College State 3).
- Group by Numeric exports the data by value (e.g., College Name 1, College State 1, College Name 2, College State 2, College Name 3, College State 3).
When you’re done adding criteria, click Create File to save and run the export, Save Export Settings to save the customized export for future use, or Return to Export Manager to cancel the export.

Once you download your export file, you can use your system's software to sort, reorder, and filter the data. Be aware that the order data for one-to-many fields exports from WebAdMIT is arbitrary; it does not follow the order from the application, least important to most important, chronological, alphabetical, etc.

Notes and Considerations

Review our additional notes and best practices when building your export templates.

Step Number	Step Description	Notes and Considerations
#4	Export types	Review additional information by clicking each link below: Export type definitions You can select the following export types: Comma-Separated Values (.csv): a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values. Microsoft Excel (.xls): Microsoft's proprietary binary file format. Fixed Width Report (.txt): columns have a fixed width, specified in characters, which determines the maximum amount of data the column can contain. No delimiters are used to separate the fields in the file. Comma-Separated Values in Multiple Files (.zip): for fields that have multiple values (e.g., colleges attended, standardized tests, etc.), .csv files are produced to capture multiple values individually and delivered in batch in one .zip file. Note that this export type is only available to AACOMAS and VMCAS users to support legacy processes; it cannot be used for other CASs. Multi-row Designation file (.csv): a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values. If an applicant applied to more than one designation, then each designation is listed on its own row. See examples below. Multi-row Designation file (.xls): Microsoft's proprietary binary file format. If an applicant applied to more than one designation, then each designation is listed on its own row. See examples below. Best practices and scenarios when using Multi-row Designation files If an applicant applies to more than one program at your school (i.e., organization), you can choose if an applicant’s Designation field grouping data will be listed on one or multiple rows. For example, if Aimee Applicant applied to program A and B at your program, you can choose: Comma-Separated Values (.csv) or Microsoft Excel (.xls). In this scenario, the applicant’s information will populate on one row and all fields under the Designation field grouping (e.g., designation, application status, local status, etc.) will be repeated (e.g., Designation_0, Designation_1, Application_Status_0, Application_Status_1, etc.). This is the standard behavior in WebAdMIT. Multi-row Designation file (.csv) or Multi-row Designation file (.xls). In this scenario, the applicant’s information will populate on two rows, one for each program they applied to, and all fields under the Designation field grouping (e.g., designation, application status, local status, etc.) will be listed as one column (e.g., Designation, Application_Status, etc.). This is the new behavior in WebAdMIT. Note the following details for multi-row designation files: Exports are limited to which programs you have access to. For example, if Aimee Applicant applied to program A and B, but you only have access to program A, you can only export data related to her program A application. If you select Multi-row Designation file (.csv) or Multi-row Designation file (.xls), only the data in the Designation field grouping are separated on each row. Program-specific questions, evaluations, etc., are repeated on each row. If you select Multi-row Designation file (.csv) or Multi-row Designation file (.xls) but do not include any fields from the Designations field grouping, then the applicant’s data will populate on one row. Office and MS Excel versions prior to 2007 common issues and solutions Additionally, be aware that an Office 2007 security feature may prevent you from opening an export or report in .xls format. Adjust your export type to .csv to avoid this issue. Additionally, versions of MS Excel prior to 2007 limit data to 255 columns, including data points that may generate more than one column, such as Colleges Attended. For larger exports, please use the .csv format. These files can be opened in MS Excel 2007 and later, even if they exceed 255 columns. Exceeding the export fields limit will result in an "Internal Server Error" message. To export all fields, try dividing the fields into two or more separate exports. Understanding how .csv files address data values written as sentences Finally, some fields in WebAdMIT include data values written as sentences. This includes values that you’re typing into WebAdMIT on the admissions side, like custom fields, reviewer comments, or interviewer remarks. This also includes values where an applicant types in a sentence, like for essay or personal statement questions. When exporting these fields in .csv format, the values appear with quotes. This is how .csv files are created as a standard. Any values containing a comma or a line break will be wrapped in quotes to signify the included data makes up one value in the field. This prevents your software from misinterpreting typed commas as commas used as separators to start new values. If you're viewing the same .csv file in Excel, you'll notice the quotation marks don't appear, because Excel recognizes their purpose. You can read more about .csv standards here: http://www.creativyst.com/Doc/Articles/CSV/CSV01.htm.
#7	Exports honoring designation criteria in lists	If you create a list that searches for applicants based on any field in the Designations field grouping (e.g., Designation, Application Status, etc.), you can export applicant data that adheres to your list's criteria. For example, suppose an applicant applied to both Program A and B, and you create a list that searches for applicants in Program B. In that case, when you export the list, only the applicant's Program B information will populate in the Designation field grouping fields (e.g., Designation, Application Status, etc.) you select in the export. Previously, the export extracted all applicant designation information, regardless of the Designation fields you filtered by in the list. The data you export from the Designation field grouping matches the data you filtered by in your list. For example, if your list searches for applicants who applied to Program B, then all Designation field grouping data in your export will be for Program B. This enhancement only affects exports with fields in the Designation field grouping. If you include program-specific fields outside of the Designation field grouping in your export, such as program-specific questions, this information will still populate. For example, a program-specific question for Program A will contain data in your export, even if your list searches for applicants who applied to Program B.
#10	The Last Exported Date timestamp	The Last Exported Date can be cleared individually for an applicant by clicking the Delete icon in the Designation panel, or it can be cleared in batch from List or Search Actions. If an applicant has applied to more than one of your designations, this field updates for all their designations together provided you run the export and have access to all of those designations. For example, if you run the export and only have access to one of your three designations, the Last Exported Date field updates only for that one designation, and the other two are left unchanged. Additionally, if an applicant applies to another of your designations after they've been exported, their Last Exported Date doesn't update for the new designation until you include them in another export. For example, if the applicant applies to program A and you export their application for this program, their Last Exported Date updates for program A. If the applicant later applies to program B, you must export their application for program B in order for their Last Exported Date for program B to update.

Best Practices

Are you developing exports to import into a Student Information System (SIS) or some other enterprise solution? Watch the video above to learn some tips for working with these advanced exports.

Managing Exports

To manage existing exports, click Export Manager from the Menu Bar.

Export Manager Page Owner.png

To run an export, click the export name.
To reorder an export, use the grip icon to drag and drop the export into the preferred order.
To modify an export, click the pencil icon. Note that only export owners can perform edits. If you need to modify an export of which you are not the owner or view its settings, you can make a copy of the export instead.
To copy an existing export, click the duplicate icon.
To delete an export, click the remove or trash icon. Note that only export owners can delete exports.