Coming from Grindstone 4

This topic explains how to bring your Grindstone 4 database into Grindstone 5 as a new folio, what comes across, and what stays behind.

Before you start

You need your Grindstone 4 database file. Grindstone 5 can import both kinds Grindstone 4 saved:

• .gsjdb files
• .gsxdb files

It can import them whether or not Grindstone 4 protected them with a password.

Grindstone 4 let you keep a database wherever you liked. Unless you chose somewhere else, look in your Documents folder.

Grindstone 5 only reads the database. It doesn’t change the file, so Grindstone 4 can go on using it.

Importing your database

1. In Your Workspaces, open Manage and choose Import. If you have no workspaces yet, choose Import a Folio File instead.
2. Pick your Grindstone 4 database file.
3. If the database has a password, enter it. See Password-protected databases.
4. In Import a Folio, Grindstone suggests the database’s file name as the new folio’s name. Change it if you like, and choose OK.

Grindstone builds the folio and tells you it was imported from Grindstone 4. The new folio is selected in Your Workspaces, ready to open. If any of your views couldn’t come across, Grindstone tells you which; see Views that stay behind.

You don’t go through Setup Workspace for an imported database. The folio is already set up for you, as the person Grindstone 4 had the database open as, and it starts from the General Time Tracking preset. See Presets.

If Grindstone can’t read the file, it says Unable to Import Folio and why.

Password-protected databases

When the database has a password, Grindstone asks for it in Password Required. Enter it and choose OK. If the password is wrong, Grindstone says That password isn’t right. and lets you try again. Choose Cancel to stop.

What comes across

A few details:

• Each list property also gets its own Selection and Traits system views, so you can see its values and their fields. See Traits.
• A time slice with no matching assignment still comes across: Grindstone makes an assignment for it.
• A view keeps its visible columns, its sorting, its filters and its Quick Search text. Dates and times show in your local time.
• A view that had Notify me when something is added to this view checked arrives with Alert Me When Something Is Added turned on for you. See Views.
• If a view’s name is already taken in the new folio, Grindstone adds “(Grindstone 4)” to it. A view with no name becomes “Untitled View”.

Everything from General Time Tracking is there as well, such as its views, statuses and timing formulas. How Grindstone thinks explains how work items, assignments and time slices fit together in Grindstone 5.

What stays behind

• Timing in progress. Nothing is being timed when the folio first opens. Start timing again where you left off. See Timing your work.
• Property notes. The notes on the properties themselves aren’t brought in.
• The views Grindstone 4 made for you, and Properties views. They aren’t brought in. Your fields are listed in the Traits system views instead. See Views.
• Views and columns with no counterpart. See below.

Views that stay behind

Some of what a Grindstone 4 view filters by or shows has no counterpart in Grindstone 5. When that happens, Grindstone shows Some Views Stayed Behind after the import:

• Views that filter by something with no counterpart aren’t brought in, and are listed by name.
• Columns that show something with no counterpart are left out of their views, and are listed with the view they came from. The rest of each view comes across.

You can rebuild what you need with your own views and formulas. See Views and Formulas.

Importing again

Each import makes a new folio, so you can import the same database again, under a different name, if you want a fresh start from it. If you no longer need an earlier import, remove it. See Workspaces and folios.

If something doesn’t come across the way you expect, speak with a specialist.