Using the Grid2 Importer

Start the 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.
 
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:

Cell Style
When cells are imported, the cell style can either be a custom style based on the imported cell, or the style can be mapped to one the standard styles such as Jump, Vocab cells or Action cells.

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.

Include Workspace
If checked the importer will insert a workspace in the first row of every grid.

Picture Search
These options control how the importer searches for pictures. You can select the prefered picture library (PCS, Widget etc) from the drop down list. The option buttons allow you to control how the importer searches for images. 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 wil try to use information in the file to select an appropiate picture.

Grid 2 User
Where the files being imported contain single grids, the grids are imported to an existing user. Select the required user, or create a new user. 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.

Language
Where the file being imported contains lots of grids, the importer creates a new user based on the name of the file. If multiple languages are installed, the user can select the language options for the new user. This option is hidden if only one language is installed.

Use Spanish text
Some Dynavox formats contain English and Spanish text. The 'Use Spanish text' option will extract the Spanish text in preference to the English. 

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. 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 Files\Sensory Software\The Grid 2\Users\xxx\Grids\ggg\convert.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.

For more details on how images are handled see the second part of this article here.