JSON Data export

I had a thread going on the old site and it looks like my last post was right as we were switching over. So I am looking for volunteers to test out my JSON to Excel tutorial and let me know where there is room for improvement. My instructions are for Windows, Office 365. Here’s a link, let me know what you think! Just tagging folks who commented on the old thread…

@Grammaresa
@rkennell
@Yarnbethy
@Spindlitis

MissAnthropyKnits JSON to Excel table instructions

@MissAnthropyKnits would you be able to e-mail me one of your json exports to ourunraveled@gmail.com ? If there isn’t private information in there, I’d like to take a look at what it would take to be able to import them here at some point.

@Admin It’s kinda big. I imported it into an airtable, though, and I just sent you a link :slight_smile:

I’d love to give it a try; not sure if I’ll get to it today, but I’d like to give a try!

Happy to help.

Just to let you know I am totally clueless about this JSON format. And I know that I can only export my data is I know how to use it. So I am begging you to keep us informed about what it is and how to use it! I am telling you old age is not for sissies!!!

This makes me happy. I did the JSON export as well. I will attempt it, too. May be a day or two before I can focus, though…

I’d be happy to help! I can test it with Excel and I also have Libre Office.

Old age does not keep you from doing a search! (I’m 68).
https://www.w3schools.com/js/js_json_intro.asp
Basically, json format is just plain old text. It uses javascript formatting, so javascript can convert from text to javascript objects (which it can then display).
You can read the info from Rav using a plain old text file. But it’s messy. I’ve been going through and pruning out the bits that I don’t need. And that’s time consuming. A converter would format this info for a spreadsheet. It still won’t be as pretty as it displayed on Ravelry but will make the information easier to read and use.

@Spindlitis I just wanted to get it all into table format to link in a database, rather than individual files that have to be read one by one. I’m not a VBA or Power Query pro, but I did end up with a final product that I like and is workable.

Just a quick update - my free trial of AirTable ran out, and though I like the UI, I don’t love it so much that I feel the need to pay $20/month (billed annually upfront) for the ability to have more than 1200 records in one base. That’s stash, fiber stash, projects, etc. - max 1200 records. My stash alone is bigger than that. So now I’m working on building an Access db, since I already have the software.

I spent some time yesterday transitioning the spreadsheet to a database. With the help of the form wizard, I had the majority of it done with a click of my mouse. Now, to figure out how to add a photo to each record and fine tune. Not as pretty, but functional is all that I really desire.

NTSH - I figured it out.

I meant to come back and post. Your instructions worked well. I had downloaded 2 different free trials for software that is supposed to convert JSON files, but you really had to be a coding expert to figure it out. Anyway, I got my library converted. I’m going to do my queue next.

Hey everyone! I learned something new today thanks to this JSON tutorial. I currently have all of my patterns stored on an external drive. I just have them organized in folders by type. Just like bringing in the JSON data from the folder, you can bring in other files from a folder and get them into spreadsheet format! It’s fast because you don’t have to go through all of the steps for the JSON. So I have a main folder called “patterns” and then a bunch of subfolders. Excel automatically extracted all of the files from those subfolders. I don’t know how much my spreadsheet will help me right now, but if we end up with a way to store patterns here, it may save me some time later on.

Hey everyone! I wanted to share a new site I’m using to emulate some of the stash/project linking functionality that I miss from before. Notion is a free (up to a certain amount of data) tool that incorporates relational databases, notes, wikis, embeds, and all sorts of other cool stuff that I’m still exploring.

I set up a notebook that has stash and project storing capabilities. You can use your converted tables from your JSON extract to import as a CSV as well! I have a shell of the tables and instructions on how to copy my shell to your personal Notion workspace all set up if you are interested in giving it a shot but don’t want to create a workspace from scratch!

If you want to try, I have to invite you via email. I swear I’m not a crazy person and I won’t steal your email and use it for nefarious purposes. Forums here are semi-public though, so I would recommend PM’ing me your address for an invite.

Here are a couple of mobile screen shots of what the app looks like. It is available as a web, desktop, and mobile app!

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Not to disparage you, @MissAnthropyKnits, but just as a general precaution on the Wild West Web, it’s handy to have an email address that’s a throwaway. I use one for websites where I have to give a legitimate email address (because they’ll send me an email with a link I need to click). If/when it starts to attract too much spam, I simply delete it and make a new one.

I highly recommend this same idea for folks who want to get in touch in real life without the possibility of exposing their “real” email address in a public forum. Create the new, temporary email (your ISP probably lets you have half a dozen or more at the same time), give it to people, then when they email you, send them your real/better/less temporary email address.

Very few people have my “real” email address, primarily only businesses and friends I trust. That way, I limit the chances of needing to update my email address due to it falling into the hands of spammers.

Likewise, if give me a burner email address to copy the notebook to your own workspace, and you decide you like it, you can always set up a new workspace with your preferred email address and copy it over yourself without ever having to tell me your real email.

This tool is used by teams to collaborate, so typically it isn’t weird to invite someone using their email. I tried to create a generic link but it won’t let people view the page if their email isn’t whitelisted first.

@MissAnthropyKnits One thing I’d be curious to know is if you can move items to different databases. I’ve been using Airtable for now and I like that I can link my projects to my stash. The one thing that I don’t like is that once an item is in a database, it can’t be moved to another and maintain the link. You have to recreate or copy the item and then re-link. So, that means for stash I either need to keep my used up stash in my stash database or recreate and relink to any all associated projects. If notion allows shifting between databases, I might be interested in moving my data there or duplicating it to try a new system.

@knitterlady13 I started with AirTable too and I actually really like their UI. Notion doesn’t have quite as many features, but I outgrew AirTable’s free plan with just my projects. I couldn’t even get my stash loaded in, let alone my spinning projects & fiber stash or my library. Notion’s paid plan is $4/month (to AirTable’s $20/month) for unlimited records & attachments. I’m the process of building my spinning notebook with my fiber stash and spinning projects to link to my stash, and then I plan to convert my library to Notion as well since I pay for the unlimited attachments. I’ll be able to attach PDFs right in the database!

In Notion, I created a secondary table that links the stash to the projects table, so that I could do a many-to-many linkage. That way I can automatically decrement a single stash record from multiple project records, or link multiple stash entries to one project. This emulates the “Packs” linkage that Ravely used behind the scenes.

I keep my stash all together in one table, but organized by status. I have a few different views that show only my “In Stash” and “Scraps” (I added a status because it seemed logical to me), by name, color, yardage, etc. And I also have a Kanban view that organizes stash by status:

Like AirTable, you can’t import a table into Notion with the linkages intact. You can update multiple records at a time, but it’s tedious. Converting the data is pain (and has been in every application I’ve tried) but entering new data going forward should be pretty easy!

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