If you have a large wine collection, or wish to track wines you’ve drank before to know what to try again, avoid or recommend to others, up until now, your best option was to create a spreadsheet on your computer. The main problem with this is that your computer isn’t always with you when you want to access the information. With Wine Tracker, you can always have your wine information at-hand obsoleting the spreadsheet. However, if you choose to, Wine Tracker allows you to both import and export your database. While your wine database is saved locally on your device so it is always accessible even without a wireless connection, we use cloud syncing so you can have multiple devices share the same database and see each others edits.
1.0 Cloud Syncing
You must setup a Wine Tracker account to enable cloud syncing. You will be prompted to do this the first time you start Wine Tracker. If you skipped this step, go to Cloud Settings and select Login. If successful, Wine Tracker will periodically sync your device to the cloud. In addition, from Cloud Settings you can manually sync with the server as follows:
- Sync with server: immediately initiates a sync operation with the server. Changes will be synced.
- Import from server: deletes the database on your device and transfers over your database from the cloud. You shouldn’t need to do this.
- Export to server: deletes the database on the cloud and transfers your device database to the cloud. You shouldn’t need to do this.
2.0 Importing/Exporting CSV Files from your PC
If you store your wines in a spreadsheet on your computer, you can transfer your inventory back & forth to Wine Tracker. You do this through CSV files (a comma-delimited format used by a variety of spreadsheet programs). The recommended way to do this is through our web portal. This imports and exports directly to your account on the cloud. If you import a CSV file, the changes will be pushed out to all your devices that use this account. There’s no need to connect your device to the USB port on your computer. Images will be synced automatically (if enabled and you’re using the paid version of the app). The web portal makes it easy to select your CSV file and to see errors that occur during the import process.
Below are sample files to get you started. Note that CSV files don’t contain formatting information so may correctly indisplay fields such as the BarCode.
Sample spreadsheet (xls) for tracking your wines
Sample CSV file to transfer wines to WineTracker
2.1 Import a CSV File using the web portal
Instructions below assume Microsoft Excel, however, other database programs typically provide a way to save the spreadsheet in an alternate format.
- To create a CSV file from your computer, open your wine spreadsheet.
- Click “Save as…” and select “Other Formats”
- From the “Save as type” drop-down menu, select “CSV (comma-delimited)”
- Select a file name, then save the file. You may be prompted to save just the current sheet (if so, click “Yes”).
- Go to the web portal located here. Log in. Select Import CSV and follow the instructions.
2.2 Export a CSV File using the web portal
- Go to the web portal located here. Log in. Select Export CSV and follow the instructions.
- Depending on your browser and its settings, the exported CSV file will either open automatically in which case you case save it, or it will download and appear minimized at the bottom of your browser window. If there are errors during the export process, open the file to see the specific messages.
3.0 Importing/Exporting CSV Files on your mobile device
Wine Tracker still supports the ability to transfer CSV files directly with your mobile device. This feature is deprecated and will be removed at a later date. This imports and exports directly from your mobile device. If you import a CSV file, the changes will be eventually synced with the cloud, then pushed out to all your devices that use this account. This requires you to connect your device to the USB port of your computer and navigate the directories to locate where the CSV file is stored on the mobile device.
3.1 Import a CSV File into Wine Tracker (Exporting from your PC)
Instructions below assume Microsoft Excel, however, other database programs typically provide a way to save the spreadsheet in an alternate format.
- To create a CSV file from your computer, open your wine spreadsheet.
- Click “Save as…” and select “Other Formats”
- From the “Save as type” drop-down menu, select “CSV (comma-delimited)”
- Select a file name, then save the file. You may be prompted to save just the current sheet (if so, click “Yes”).
- To transfer the file to your mobile device’s SD card, attach your mobile device using your USB cable (see instructions that came with your device for how to do this and make the SD folder visible).
- Copy the CSV file to the SD card folder.
- Start Wine Tracker, select Cloud Settings, then Import Wines.
- Enter the name of the file stored on the SD card and click Read Columns. This can be tricky to find as sometimes the SD folder is the root directory, sometimes it’s /sdcard, sometimes it’s /mnt/sdcard
- If successful, this brings up a screen allowing you to map column names from your spreadsheet to the names used by Wine Tracker. Wine Tracker will automatically match up identical field names, but otherwise, requires you to specify the mapping. This information will automatically be stored for future imports (assuming you don’t change the columns).
- Once the mappings are good, press the Start Import button at the top of the screen which will attempt to import your wines.
To transfer the file without using USB, you can email yourself the CSV file, download the attachment on your mobile device, save it to your SD Card, then perform the steps starting from step 7. Note that you will need to specify the full path for the file in step 8 if it’s not in the root directory of the SD card, eg. “downloads/mywines.csv”. Instructions to save email attachments to your SD card vary by email program. [Editor's note: In our testing, Outlook supported this while Gmail did not.]
3.2 Export a CSV file from WineTracker (Importing into your PC)
- From Wine Tracker, select Cloud Settings, then Export Wines.
- Enter the name of the file to save on the SD card. To save the file to the SD card, don’t check the Send export file checkbox. If you wish to email your database, then check this.
- Press Start Export.
- Attach your mobile device to your computer using the USB cable (see instructions that came with your device for how to do this and make the SD folder visible).
- Double-click on the CSV file (the one named in step 2). If this doesn’t work, start your spreadsheet program and try to open the file from there.
Alternatively, in step 2, check the Send export file checkbox and after pressing Start Export, select an email program. Use this to email yourself the file. Then instead of doing step 4, you can start your email program on your computer and double-click on the attachment.