Import formats and results

This page lists the files Ilena reads when you import, what each file and folder becomes in your workspace, and what Ilena says about a file it could not bring in as it is. Look here before you gather files for an import, or when an import did not give what you expected. The steps are in Import your songs.

The formats Ilena readsThe formats Ilena reads

File types an import reads
FileExtension
Plain text.txt
Markdown.md
Rich Text Format.rtf
Word document.docx
PDF.pdf

If you choose only files Ilena does not read, such as an .odt, nothing is imported and a message says so: Nothing here can be imported. Ilena reads .txt, .md, .rtf, .pdf and .docx.

What each file becomesWhat each file becomes

Each file Ilena reads becomes a work inside the project you right-clicked, named after the file without its extension: Midnight Train.txt becomes Midnight Train. If the project already holds a work of that name, the new one is numbered: Midnight Train (1), then Midnight Train (2), and so on.

What a folder becomesWhat a folder becomes

  • The folder becomes a project of the same name inside the one you right-clicked.
  • Each folder inside it becomes a project in turn, and each file Ilena reads becomes a work where it was.
  • An empty folder does not become a project.
  • A file in a format Ilena does not read, such as an .odt, is left out without a message.

The Import reportThe Import report

When a file in the import cannot become an ordinary work, the Import report opens and gives one line per such file. The other files are imported as usual. Select Close when you have read it.

The Import report dialog, with one line: Latin1.txt could not be read.
The report lists each file that could not be imported as it is.
An empty file
was empty — an empty work was created. The work is there, with nothing in it.
A text file Ilena cannot read
could not be read. A .txt saved in Latin-1 rather than UTF-8 gave this line. No work is created.
A file that is too long
holds too many lines for one work. A 251-line file gave this line. No work is created.

Example: seven files, two importsExample: seven files, two imports

Two imports into the same project, which already held a work named after each of the first four files. The first import, of four files, ended with a confirmation counting 4 files imported, and no report. The second, of three files, opened the Import report with three lines.

What each file became
File chosenIn the projectIn the Import report
Paper Moon.mdThe work Paper Moon (1)No line
Desert Road.rtfThe work Desert Road (1)No line
Harbor Song.docxThe work Harbor Song (1)No line
Harbor PDF.pdfThe work Harbor PDF (1)No line
Empty.txtThe work Empty, with nothing in itEmpty.txt was empty — an empty work was created
Latin1.txtNothingLatin1.txt could not be read
Long.txt, 251 linesNothingLong.txt holds too many lines for one work