Query and Export

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Joel Silva
Joel Silva
Second Anniversary First Comment Acknowledger Level 1 Activity: First Reply
in SKY Developer General Discussions

So, I want to thank Ashley Moose for saving me time on their Query Flow.

However, how does everyone feel about Query API and not having Export…am I misunderstanding something?

Blackbaud has stated that Query should not be used to create reports and to use Export. Any thoughts or did I miss an update?

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  • Alex Wong
    Alex Wong Community All-Star
    Ninth Anniversary 1,500 Likes 2500 Comments Name Dropper

    @Joel Silva
    Query and Export serves different purpose and reason why BB does Query first is likely b/c it is easiler to implement.

    I understand your confusion, as many in Community has expressed that Query should not be used for exporting and even Blackbaud also recommend use Query for “filtering” and use Export when exporting.

    However, I do not agree with that point of view. Query and Export produce data differently and each serve a purpose. Query is “harder” to use and require the DB staff to know more about data relationship: what is one-to-many field that will cause a duplicate (row) in the data. I would strongly encourage anyone to use Query if they are to further their understanding of RE data. The day you know exactly why your Query's export is giving duplicates and how to avoid and use that to your advantage is the day you truly graduate Querying.

  • Josh Gould
    Josh Gould
    Ninth Anniversary 10 Comments 5 Likes Name Dropper

    @Joel Silva
    Depending on your needs and setup, you can use either option. We primarily use Query for nearly all reports because it's faster than Export. If you have a smaller database, you can manage with Export, but as your database grows, you'll want to avoid Export due to its extreme slowness.

  • Glen Hutson
    Glen Hutson Blackbaud Employee
    Ancient Membership 100 Likes 100 Comments Name Dropper

    @Joel Silva:

    So, I want to thank Ashley Moose for saving me time on their Query Flow.

    However, how does everyone feel about Query API and not having Export…am I misunderstanding something?

    Blackbaud has stated that Query should not be used to create reports and to use Export. Any thoughts or did I miss an update?

    If you haven't already, I'd suggest taking a look at our November Product Update Briefing (on demand version for RENXT is at https://www.blackbaud.com/industry-insights/resources/pubs-fall-2024-blackbaud-raisers-edge-nxt ). In the “RENXT Expert” section near the end, there is a slide shown briefly that talks about additional Import and Export capabilities on the horizon as well as discussion of Standard Reports that will have export options (even in API). You can also sign up at https://www.blackbaud.com/discovery if you want to throw your hat in the ring to be part of those discovery sessions.

  • Carol Grant
    Carol Grant
    Seventh Anniversary 100 Likes 100 Comments Name Dropper

    @Joel Silva- I thought I would toss my opinion in here. I cannot get a lot done using just Query API and I need Export. We soft credit both sides of a couple which causes duplicates in Gift queries for our org. Export is my lifeline so I am waiting for the Export API to come out. I'm still using Queue for exports for my reports. There are many great things that Export can do that Query cannot. Giving by Year, by Fund in one column, the list goes on.

    As Glen said we can get on the discovery and I have applied for many of those.

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