Copy and paste tips
GraceBlocks supports the ability to copy and paste data to ease data entry and save time. This article describes the following topics to help you be successful when you copy and paste your data in GraceBlocks.
- Copy and paste commands
- Formatting your data before copying it into GraceBlocks
- Understanding your tab before pasting data
- Copying data by dragging it from one cell to an adjacent cell in GraceBlocks
- Copying data out of GraceBlocks
Copy and paste commands
The following table summarizes the common copy and paste data commands for Windows and Mac operating systems. Use these commands to highlight data and move it into GraceBlocks from other sources, such as Google sheets, Excel, a text file, or a web location.
| Copy | Paste | |
| Windows |
CTRL+C Right-click > Copy |
CTRL+V Right-click > Copy |
| Mac |
Command+C Or Edit > Cut from the menu bar Or press Control-click (or right-click) the item you selected, then select Cut from the shortcut menu. |
Command+V Or Edit > Paste from the menu bar. Or press Control-click (or right-click) the item you selected, then select Paste from the shortcut menu. |
Formatting your data for copying into GraceBlocks
When you highlight data for copying and pasting into GraceBlocks, you must keep in mind a few important formatting requirements:
- Do not select column headers; start directly with the data you want to highlight.
- Ensure that you can see all of the data you are copying by expanding all columns. When you expand columns, you should be able to copy from various types of source files, including .xls, .csv, and Google sheets. GraceBlocks will reject the paste command if the columns of data you are copying from were not expanded during the copy command. See the following images for an example of a good vs. a bad format.
Also, if you are pasting in multi-select values, see the second note (🔔) in the next section.
Understanding your tab before pasting data
When you paste data into a GraceBlocks tab, the paste operation works very much like it does for a spreadsheet. Rows are added to accommodate the new data for the Block builder or Block user who pastes data. Provided that you are a Block builder, and if what you paste dictates it, new columns will be added to accommodate your pasted data. For example, let's say you have three columns of data from Excel that you paste into a tab with only one column configured. Upon completing the paste action, the tab will contain three columns, instead of just one. By default, newly created columns will be of the short text field type. After these columns are added, you can edit and convert the new fields to the desired field type. If you are a Block user instead of a Block builder, the system prevents you from adding new fields or columns when you paste data. Block users can paste data into existing columns, provided that the formatting aligns, as described in the following table.
If you are pasting data into columns that already exist and are of specific field type formats, the field type formats impact how pasting will work. The following table explains what to expect based on the field type you are attempting to paste into. Some field types, as noted in the following table, are not compatible with pasting, so you must not attempt to paste data into these field types.
| Field type | Pasting notes |
| Short text |
Pasting in this field type is supported. Data will be truncated according to the length that is specified in the field's attributes. The maximum allowed text is 255 characters, but a Block builder can specify a shorter maximum length for the field when building it. |
| Long text |
Pasting into this field type is supported. This field type will accommodate lots of text, so it is the safest format for pasting into if you want to avoid possibly truncating data. |
| Single select |
Pasting into a single-select field will work, provided that the values being pasted match an existing value in the list of options for the field. Anything that is not recognized as an exact match to a single value in the list of options will be ignored and will not be pasted. |
| Multiple select |
Pasting into a multiple-select field will work, provided that the value being pasted matches an existing value in the list of options for the field. However, you are limited to pasting only a single value for each cell that is the target of your paste action. See the special tip below (🔔) if you want to paste multiple values. Anything that is not recognized as an exact match to a single value in the list of options will be ignored and will not be pasted. |
| Attachments |
Copy and pasting of the attachment field supports only the following: You can copy only a single attachment, using the traditional copy function. If a cell has multiple attachments, only the first attachment found will be copied. When pasted, the attachment will be uncategorized (if the pasted attachment field supports categories). If you use the drag function to drag attachments down to subsequent cells, it will drag multiple attachments and retain their categories and counts in the system as a physical attachment each time. Also, dragging will overwrite whatever is in the destination cell you are dragging into, so if attachments were there before, the drag will delete and replace the prior attachments. Finally, it's important to note that copied attachments reference the original attachment, so they do not take up additional attachment space. However, dragged attachments are not considered URLs; they copy the file type structure, the type, and the associated metadata, so these files do take up additional attachment space. |
| Relational |
Pasting into a single-select relational field will work, provided that the values being pasted match an existing value in the list of options for the field. Pasting into a multiple-select relational field will work, provided that the value being pasted matches an existing value in the list of options for the field. However, you are limited to pasting only a single value for each cell that is the target of your paste action. See the special tip below (🔔) if you want to paste multiple values. Anything that is not recognized as an exact match to a single value in the list of relational options will be ignored and will not be pasted. |
| Lookup |
Not compatible; see special note below (🔔🔔). |
| Numeric |
Pasting into a numeric field is supported, provided that the number you are pasting is an unformatted numeric value. Some currency and percent signs will be stripped, allowing the number to come in even if it is formatted. Depending on the format and (currently) on the symbol used, the value may be rejected. Anything that is not recognized as a number will be ignored and will not be pasted. |
| Date |
Pasting into a date field is supported, provided that the number you are pasting can be interpreted as a date format. Examples of some supported formats are: mm/dd/yyyy, mm-dd-yyyy, m/d/yy, m-d-yy, dd-mmm-yyyy are all valid formats that will work. However, d/m/yy is not supported. It is also not possible to paste in time values with dates at this time. It's best to test your data before doing any kind of large-scale paste of data to ensure the format of your dates will work. Anything that is not recognized as a date field will be ignored and will not be pasted. |
| Counter |
Not compatible; see special note below (🔔🔔). |
| Messaging thread |
Not compatible; see special note below (🔔🔔). |
| Phone number |
Pasting into a phone field is supported, provided that the number you are pasting can be interpreted as a phone number. The number needs to be a valid number. For example, if you paste in a bunch of numbers starting with 555, this will be rejected. Anything that is not recognized as a phone number will be ignored and will not be pasted. |
|
Pasting into an email field is supported. Anything that is not recognized as an email will still be pasted, but it will be highlighted in red to illustrate that it is not valid. |
|
| URL |
Pasting into a URL field is supported. Anything that is not recognized as a URL will still be pasted, but it will be highlighted in red to illustrate that it is not valid. |
| Checkbox |
Pasting into a checkbox field is supported. Any value will be considered not checked except for the following text, which will be interpreted to mean checked: true. |
| Added on |
Not compatible; see special note below (🔔🔔). |
| Updated on |
Not compatible; see special note below (🔔🔔). |
| Added by |
Not compatible; see special note below (🔔🔔). |
| Updated by |
Not compatible; see special note below (🔔🔔). |
| System ID |
Not compatible; see special note below (🔔🔔). |
Important notes:
🔔 Pasting into multiple-select fields or relational multiple-select fields is possible. To paste multiple values you must separate them with %|%
Multi-value Paste example: Red%|%Blue%|%Green
🔔 🔔 Make sure that any fields of types that are not compatible with copy and paste are not included in the columns that are part of the body of content you are pasting into. If any incompatible column exists in the range of cells you are pasting, they will block the paste action from proceeding. You can move the incompatible columns out of the way by moving your cursor over the column header while the column is highlighted until you see the grab icon, and then dragging your cursor to point at a column title in the spreadsheet view that is out of range from where you plan to paste data.
Copy data by dragging it from one cell to an adjacent cell in GraceBlocks
For data that is already inside GraceBlocks, you can drag it from where it is into an adjacent cell to copy the dragged cell's data into the destination cell. This works, provided that the cell you are attempting to drag into supports the field type of the copied data. For example, you cannot drag to copy a text value into a numeric field, but you can drag to copy a text value into another text field.
Dragging works when you see and grab the small blue square in the bottom right of a cell. In the image below, the blue square is highlighted in red, and the red arrows next to the highlighted cell indicate all the directions where you can drag this data, provided that the destination cell's format aligns.
Unlike traditional copy and paste, which appends the copied data to existing data in a pasted cell that supports multiple values (multiple-select, relational multiple-select, and attachment fields), dragging does not append values but will always overwrite any values that exist in the fields to which you are dragging data.
Don't see the blue square shown below in the cell you are working with? Press the ESC key (Windows) or Command-period (Mac) to exit edit mode in the cell. Then, you will be able to find the little blue box you need to start dragging.
Copying data out of GraceBlocks
You can use the guidelines described above to copy data from one location to another inside or outside of GraceBlocks. However, some cells in GraceBlocks, such as data in relational, lookup, single or multiple select field types do not copy as straight text. If you need to copy data from these types of fields, use the Download feature, and then copy from the .csv file that is generated.