When importing the ShowSim .SHO format, there is always the possibility that the effects used to create the show do not exist in your effect library.  When this happens, a message will popup after the import completes, letting you know that some effects needed to simulate the show are not in your database.  The best practice is to import all the effects required for a show before importing the show itself.  However, you can also load the required effects after the show has been loaded and the system will repair the show installation so that the new effects will be referenced.  If you plan to export your shows and send them to other ShowSim users, be sure to export any custom effect library that the show requires and send that as well.

When importing formats other than the ShowSim .SHO files, some data will be missing depending on the format.  Some simple scripting formats do not have fields for firing positions, segments, groups etc.  Fields that do not contain data required by the ShowSim format will be auto-assigned default values during the import.  You will also need to assign effects to each cue that is imported from a non ShowSim system, since there is no reliable way to automatically guess the correct effect due to the endless variations of effect descriptions, abbreviations and order of wording.

NOTE: if you are importing both inventory and show data from your former scripting software and the shows reference product numbers from the inventory, then importing and setting up the inventory first would allow the shows to import with the correct effects.  This is because imported shows that reference product numbers will cross reference your inventory database and use whatever effect you have assigned to that product number.

If the import operation is initiated from the File menu, then the show will open for editing once the import is complete.  When an import is initiated from the Show Manager, the manager will show the new show in the show list without actually opening it.

Show Export:
Show data can be exported to a variety of formats, which is necessary if you plan to use a computer firing system to actually fire the show after the design is complete.

The ShowSim native format is also available for backing up your show data, which will create a .SHO file.  A .SHO format is a text file that contains a complete description of the show, which can be emailed and imported into another ShowSim installation as a way to move shows between different computers.  It is recommended that you occasionally archive your shows by exporting them to .SHO files and saving them on CD or other removable storage media.

The Export File field is used to specify the file where the show data will be stored.  The full path of the file location must be specified, so it is usually easier to use the Browse button to locate the file using a standard file navigator screen.