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Southern Oregon University

Banner Systems

Banner Data Extract

Overview

You can extract data from a Banner form to a spreadsheet. You can extract detail data from the current block with or without data from the key block. Once the Banner data is in a spreadsheet, you can easily graph anreport the data.

Availability of the Extract Feature

The extract feature is available on most Banner forms. You can tell that the extract feature is enabled on a specific form if one or both of the following options are enabled in the Help pull-down menu:

  • Extract Data with Key.
  • Extract Data No Key.

Data Security

Because of the potential to have protected data in these extract files, data which is saved must be adequately protected from outside access. We recommend that you password protect all data files saved to a portable device (laptop, flash drive, PDA, etc) and that you use the Windows XP workstation locking feature or screen saver password on all of your computers with this data.

Extracting Data

When you extract data from Banner, it creates a file in a comma separated value format (extension of .csv) which can easily be viewed in a spreadsheet.

  1. Access the Banner form.
  2. If applicable, display the desired records on the form.
  3. Select one of the following options from the Help pull-down menu located at the top of the form:
    • Extract Data with Key (to extract key data and data in the current block)
    • Extract Data No Key (to extract data in the current block only)

Extract Data No Key
  1. When the extract is complete, a dialog box identifies the name of the Excel file and asks you if you want to open, save, or cancel.
  2. You may open or save the document.
  3. If you uncheck the "Always ask before opening this type of file" box, future data extracts will automatically open in a browser window in a spreadsheet format.

Notes:

  1. On a macintosh, when the file is extracted, it may display quotes and commas. If this happens, save the file with a .csv extension and then open an Excel session and open the file using Excel.
  2. Microsoft Excel and Quattro Pro will truncate leading zeros of numbers in fields that are alphanumeric. If there is data that you do not want to be truncated, you will need to go through a few extra steps to import the file (see instructions below).

Troubleshooting:

  1. When using Internet Native Banner with Internet Explorer, if you have problems using the data extract feature, reset your browser settings.
    1. From the Internet Explorer browser, choose Tools/Internet Options from the menu bar
    2. Click on the Advanced Tab.
    3. Click on the Restore Defaults button.
    4. Click on the OK button.
    5. Click on the Security Tab.
    6. Click on the Trusted sites zone.
    7. Click on the Custom level button.
    8. Scroll down to the Downloads section.
    9. In the Automatic prompting for downloads option click Enable.
    10. Click on the OK button.
    11. Click on the OK button again.

Manually Importing Data in MS Excel

If you wish to change the data format of specific columns before opening it in Excel, you need to manually import a data file:

  1. Go to MS Excel.
  2. On the Data menu at the top of the window, point to Get External Data, and then click Import Text File.
  3. In the Files of type box, select the "All Files *.*" option.
  4. In the Look in list, locate and double-click on the extract file that you want.
  5. The Text Import Wizard window will come up and prompt you for how the file is formatted. In the Step 1 of 3 window, select "Delimited" for the Original Data Type and click the Next button.
  6. In the Step 2 of 3 window, select "Comma" for the Delimiters and click the Next button.
  7. The Step 3 of 3 window will pop up with the extract file separated into columns. Here's where you can specify the data format for each column. The default format for all columns is General. For alphanumeric fields that with numbers, the Text format works the best. For date fields, the Date or General formats work fine. Select the column that you want to change the format and click on the appropriate format option in the Column data format section.
  8. Repeat step 7 for all the columns that you want to change the default formatting. When you are done formatting the columns, click on the Finish button.
  9. An Import Data window will pop up. Select the "New worksheet" option for the question 'Where do you want to put the data?' and click the OK button. Now the spreadsheet is ready to work with.

Help

For additional help, please call the Faculty & Staff Help Desk at 552-6900 or email banner@support.sou.edu.