There are several ways of accessing an import file, depending on where the file is stored and how you want to access it.
Remote Services
Flexile currently allows you to access several remote services (Ex: Dropbox, SugarSync, Box.net) . If you need help in setting up a remote service, you can visit the tutorial here: Remote Service Management. Assuming you have a remote service setup, you can begin the Import Process by visiting the Settings screen in the Flexile app. You can find open up Settings by tapping on the Gear icon near the top-left of the navigation bar for the table list. Once you’re there, toward the bottom you’ll see a section called Backup, Restore & Import. You should see two buttons in that section for Importing: Import File & Import Contacts. If you don’t see the Import File button, then you haven’t setup a remote manager, which you’ll need to do if you want to import a file in this way.
Import File
If you tap on the Import File button, you’ll be brought to a screen with exactly one control: Remote Service. Before you do anything else, you’ll first have to select the Remote Service you want to use to grab the import file.
After you select a Remote Service, Flexile will display a section called “File Selection” with a button that currently says “No File Selected”. If you don’t immediately see this button, wait a few seconds for Flexile to load up the remote service (this can take a few seconds depending on your internet connection). You’ll need to tap on the button to select a file to import. If you need help selecting a file, see the Using a Remote Service tutorial.
Once you’ve selected a file you’ll need to download (no, it doesn’t start automatically just in case you accidentally selected the wrong file). The download duration will depend on the size of the file and the speed of the internet connection, but you’ll be shown a progress bar so that you can see the download progress.
After downloading you’ve successfully obtained the import. To continue, you’ll see options for the file, which you can get details here: Import File Options. You’ll also see a Field Match button, which will allow you to match up the import columns with Flexile’s Tables & Fields: Simple Import Match & Complex Import Match.
Import Contacts
If you tap on the Import Contacts button, you’ll be brought to a screen with a button called Process Contacts. In order for Flexile to import Contacts, it has to first get all the information it can about those Contacts first. Mostly, it needs to gather all the Column Headers, which will vary depending on what information is in your contacts. Even if you have several thousand contacts, this process usually only lasts for a few seconds at most.
Once you’ve processed the contacts you’ll see a Match button, which will allow you to match up the import columns with Flexile’s Tables & Fields: Simple Import Match & Complex Import Match. You can follow those tutorial to continue the import.
Send a File to Flexile
Flexile has registered with the device to receive CSV & TSV file types. This means that you can send those file types to Flexile from another app. How this occurs will depend on the app, but we’ll walk through a couple scenarios to help you get a grasp of how to do this. Usually there’ll be some kind of “Share” or “Download” button you can use. For example:
Safari
Safari can actually display CSV/TSV file types, so if you tap on a link that leads to a CSV/TSV file, Safari will actually display that file. However, once Safari is displaying the file you can tap on the screen (anywhere on the data) and Safari will briefly display a toolbar with two options: “Open In…” and possibly another “Open In “. Depending on what other apps you have installed, it may say “Open in Flexile” and you can just tap on that to open the file in Flexile. If it doesn’t, you can tap on the “Open In…” button to display a list of all the apps that can handle the file, including Flexile. If you tap on the Flexile icon, the file will open in Flexile and automatically bring up the Import Screen.
Dropbox
Dropbox is a common file-syncing service people use to keep file in sync between devices (computer, iPhone, iPad, etc). They also have an iOS app you can use to view/open synced files. Similar to Safari, Dropbox will also display CSV/TSV files so if you tap on the file you’ll see all the data. Once you’ve opened the file in Dropbox, you’ll see a toolbar at the bottom of the screen. If you tap on the far-right button, you’ll be presented with two choices: “Print” and “Open In…”. Tap on the “Open In…” button and you’ll be presented with a list of apps that can open this file. Tap on the Flexile Icon and the file will open in Flexile so you can import it.