Import and export of data

The import and export of data is the automated or semi-automated input and output of data sets between different software applications. It involves "translating" from the format used in one app into that used by another, where such translation is accomplished automatically via machine processes, such as transcoding, data transformation, and others.

Import and export of data shares semantic analogy with copying and pasting, in that sets of data are copied from one application and pasted into another. In fact, the software development behind operating system clipboards (and clipboard extender apps) greatly concerns the many details and challenges of data transformation and transcoding, in order to present the end user with the illusion of effortless copy and paste between any two apps, no matter how internally different. The "Save As" command in many applications requires much of the same engineering, when files are saved as another file format.