Data team expands capabilities with Import XLS Batch

Mohammod Irfan has installed Import XLS Batch in the International Futures system, significantly speeding up the process by which researchers can add large data sets to the IFs historical database. This process will allow major data sets to be uploaded from Excel to IFs as a batch, rather than sheet-by-sheet, as our research assistants had done in the past. So far, Mohammod has implemented the process for the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, as well as for data from the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. In the future, the IFs data team also plans to incorporate International Energy Agency data into the system using the same Import XLS Batch process. Research assistants, Kate McGrath and Ara Go, have played the important role of vetting the Import XLS Batch code, and the most recent updates should be included in the forthcoming version of International Futures, Version 6.69.