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FEATURE

Sharing Data for Health, Part 2

Designing and implementing an import engine

Issue: 15.4 (July/August 2017)
Author: JC Cruz
Author Bio: JC is a freelance writer based in British Columbia. He contributes regularly to MacTech Magazine and Dr Dobb's Journal. Away from the writing pile, JC spends quality time with his nephew, as a proper uncle should.
Article Description: 49Article Length (in bytes): 60,846
Starting Page Number: /c
Article Number: 15406
Resource File(s):

project15406.zip Updated: 2017-07-02 23:29:55

Related Link(s): None

Excerpt of article text...

Part one of my article on data-sharing shows how I implemented an export feature to a personal-health solution. Now in part two, I shall show how I implement the import feature.

First, I explain the challenges in implementing the feature. I describe the import workflow, the algorithms that parse and extract the imported data. Next, I introduce the concept of a data-source. And I demonstrate how I build the import engine from a custom engine class.

Readers need a working knowledge of REALbasic and object-oriented design. An updated version of the FooHealth demo project (mk10.1) is available from the magazine's website.

The Import Feature

There are reasons why an import feature is more challenging to implement than an export one.

• To start, I need to identify the import format. I do this by checking the file's name extension (simple) or by examining its contents (more reliable).

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