Knowledge base

Using the Grid 2 Importer

When the importer starts, it lists the available formats. Select the required file type:

If you are importing either of the Dynavox formats, you may need to install Microsoft’s .Net framework. This is installed on many machines, but if its not on yours, the importer will warn you. You can download and install the files from this link. The Dynavox or Dynamyte files MUST be compacted using “system Maintenance” immediately before exporting the files. If this is not done then files may be unreadable.

Add the files you wish to import, either by clicking the ‘Add file’ button, or by dragging the files from Windows Explorer and dropping over the white area on the importer.

You can select more than one file for import. Depending on the type of file being imported, the file may contain a single grid, or lots of grids.
When you have added the files, click ‘Next’. The Import options screen appears. The options available on the Import Options screen depend on the type of file being imported and the settings on the local computer. The following options may be available:

You can select more than one file for import. Depending on the type of file being imported, the file may contain a single grid, or lots of grids.

When you have added the files, click ‘Next’. The Import options screen appears. The options available on the Import Options screen depend on the type of file being imported and the settings on the local computer. The following options may be available:

User details

Where the files being imported contain single grids, the grids are imported to an existing user and the User Details frame appears. This frame lists the existing Grid 2 users on the computer. Select the required user, or create a new user. Normally it is preferable to create a new user since this keeps the grids separate.

If required, grid explorer can be used to move grids between users once the import is completed.

For file types that contain multiple grids, a new user is automatically created for each file imported with a name based on the file name.

 

Cell Style

This frame allows you to select how the styles for the imported cells are created.

If you select ‘Preset Styles’, the style will be mapped to one the standard styles such as Jump, Vocab cell or Action cells.

Once the import is completed, the grid set can be edited in Grid 2 so that the appearance for all jump cells matches the grid set being imported. The advantage of this approach is that is generally only necessary to edit the appearance of a few cells to get the complete grid set to match the pages being imported.

If you select ‘Use individual styles’, the appearance of each cell will be changed to try to match the cells being imported. If later on you want to change the appearance of the grid set, you will have to edit all cells.
Usually ‘Preset Styles’, is most appropriate.

Miscellaneous Options

These options will appear depending on the type of files being imported.

Add Workspace: – This only appears for Clicker 4/5 files. If the option is checked the importer will insert a workspace in the first row of every grid.

Popup -> Self closing: – This option only appears for Dynavox grids. If checked, any popup grids will be mapped to self closing grids. Usually this option should be checked.

Use Spanish Text: – Dynavox 3 files can contain English and Spanish text. The ‘Use Spanish text’ option will extract the Spanish text in preference to the English.

Font Size

When importing styles, the font size can be modified to be either a fixed size, or scaled as a percentage of the original size. This can be useful for formats such as Clicker where the size varies with the size of the window. If you are using ‘Preset Styles’ option, the font size will normally be set by the style, rather than the value specified here.

Picture Search

Because picture libraries are protected by copyright, the importer cannot always make an exact match to the pictures in the grid set being imported. The options in this frame control how the importer searches for pictures.

If more than one language is installed (e.g. Flemish and French) a drop down list will appear showing the available languages. This determines the language used when creating new users and searching for pictures.

A listbox lists the available picture libraries installed on the machine. You can select which libraries you would like to use for the grid set.

Two radio buttons ‘Cell text’ and ‘File data’ always appear. These allow you to select how the pictures are selected.

If Cell text is selected, the importer will send the text in the cell to Grid 2’s picture search engine and select the first picture returned from the selected library.

If File data is selected the importer will try to use information in the file to select an appropriate picture. Results will vary between file types. For PCS pictures in Dynavox and Boardmaker files, the importer will try to locate the exact picture in the Grid 2 PCS library. For Clicker picture libraries, the importer will try to locate the picture in the Clicker libraries. The grid set will then only be usable on machines where the Clicker libraries are installed.

Generally you will need to experiment with the two options to see which gives best results.

When you click the ‘Next’ button the import process will begin. The display will show messages during the conversion process.

Tidying Up

Once you have imported your grids, you will probably need to do a bit of tidying up using Grid Explorer. First, start Grid Explorer and browse to the new user. Before you can see the thumbnails of the new grids you will need to refresh the thumbnails.

Next you will need to set the home grid and select a voice for the user. You should also run the Junp report to detect any broken jumps. Depending on the complexity of your grids, you may also need to edit some of the commands in the cells.

Conversion Messages

Warning during the conversion process are shown on screen and logged to a file in the output grid directory:

C:Program FilesSensory SoftwareThe Grid 2UsersxxxGridsgggconvert.log

The following warnings may be encountered:

WRN: Removed Cell.

Some formats allow for cells to overlap or be nested. During the conversion process the importer will remove the larger of any overlapping cells. If you get this message and cells are missing from your grids, you might like to check the original grids for overlapping or nested cells.

WRN: Substituted image: …

The importer has been unable to find an exact match for a picture and so substituted one from the PCS library.

WRN: Unable to locate image for: …

The importer has been unable to find an exact match for a picture and can’t find an appropriate image in the PCS library.