Export Options

The Export Options page allows you to configure and schedule automatic exporting of employees, groups, projects, tasks and other system object. The data can be exported in either CSV or XLS format, and sent to either a directory (for the self-hosted version only) or to an FTP server.

Note: Cloud systems support auto-exporting to FTP sites only (via FTP/FTPS protocol). Self-hosted systems can additionally auto-export to file system directories.

The following options are provided:

Options

Description

Schedule Enabled

If checked then the export will automatically run on a recurring schedule.

Schedule

The automatic export schedule, which can be daily at a specified time of day.

Export To

You have the option of exporting to a directory on the computer running the Pacific Timesheet service (self-hosted only), exporting to an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server, or to a Dropbox folder.

If you choose "FTP Server" the following properties must be configured by clicking the settings button that appears to the right of the menu:

FTP Server

The host name or IP address of the FTP server.

The user account or login name for the FTP server.

Password

The password for the login, above.

FTP Directory

The directory where export files will be created, e.g. "/" or "/tmp". FTP server paths start with a forward slash, and backslashes are not valid. If blank, the root directory will be used, which is equivalent to "/".

FTP Port

The port number for the FTP server, where 21 is the default value for most FTP servers.

FTP Mode

Check this option to enable passive mode, which aids when transferring files through firewalls.

Security

If the FTP server has connection security enabled you will need to set the appropriate value here. Your options are:

None	No connection encryption
Implicit SSL	Implicit Secure Socket Layer encryption (FTPS)
Explicit SSL	Explicit Secure Socket Layer encryption, also known as (FTPES)

If you choose "Dropbox" you can export the data to a Dropbox folder of your choosing. Click the "Link New Account" button to open a web page that gives you the option to allow Pacific Timesheet to access the Dropbox account (you will be prompted to log into Dropbox if not already logged in). When you click "Allow" you will be given an authorization code. Select and copy this code, then switch back to Pacific Timesheet and enter the authorization code into the dialog.

Once you have saved the configuration, Pacific Timesheet will create a "PacificTimesheet" folder within the "Apps" folder in the Dropbox account. Pacific Timesheet will only be able to upload files to this folder. You can further specify a sub-folder within this folder: for instance, if you specify a sub-folder named "exports" then there would be an "/Apps/PacificTimesheet/exports" path created in the Dropbox account, and all export files would be uploaded to that folder.

Directory

The directory on the computer or FTP server where the export file will be created. If the "Export To" property is set to "Directory" then this is the file path to the directory where the export file will be created, e.g. "/tmp", "c:\exports" or "\\morpheus\\c\exports". The path must be valid for the server that Pacific Timesheet is installed on.

If the "Export To" property is set to "FTP" then this is the directory on the FTP server where you want the export file created, e.g. "/" or "/tmp". FTP server paths start with a forward slash, and backslashes are not valid.

If the "Export To" property is set to "Dropbox" then this will be the optional sub-folder within the Dropbox account to upload the export files to. The sub-folder will be created directly under the /Apps/PacificTimesheet folder of the Dropbox account. If left blank then export files will be uploaded to the /Apps/PacificTimesheet folder of the Dropbox account.

File Name

The name of the export file, e.g. "employees". The "Append timestamp" option will add the date and time of the export to the file name, e.g. "employees.200908150831". Note that the file extension will automatically be added when the export file is created, based on the Format property, described below. For CSV format, the file extension ".csv" will be added to the file name. For MS Excel format, the file extension ".xls" will be added to the file name.

Format

The format of the export file, either comma-separated-values (CSV) or Microsoft Excel (XLS).

File Encryption

You can optionally encrypt the export file using PGP (Pretty Good Privacy). If you choose this option you need to specify the following options:

Encryption Key	The public encryption key to use when encrypting the export file. Click the settings button to the right of the menu to import and manage your encryption keys. An encryption key is required.
Armor	Check this option to output the encrypted file in armored ASCII format, rather than binary format. The file will have the '.asc' file extension appended to it.

When the file encryption is set to PGP the export file will have the '.pgp' file extension appended to the file name. If the armor option is selected then the file will also have the '.asc' extension added to it, so the export file will end in '.pgp.asc'.

Status Filter

Select a value if you want to only export objects that are active or inactive.

Timesheet Filter

This appears only for Employee exports. Select a value if you only want to export employees who have a timesheet (that is, the Timesheet property in their employee profile is not blank).

Exported Fields

Select the data fields to export, as well as their order.

Custom Header

For some external systems you may want a special header at the beginning of the export file, rather than the standard list of field names.