WA WolfieAssist Migration
4D practices

Export from 4D or DVMAX, then import here

DVMAX was written in 4D. The live clinic file is a sealed 4D data file (.4DD). This portal reads text exports, the same family we already use for La Vega Vet Clinic db. It does not open the raw database.

Open the migration portal

The author of the WolfiePIMS family (WolfiePIMS, LoneWolfiePIMS, WolfieAssist) is also the author of La Vega Vet Clinic db, a 4D-based PIMS. WolfiePIMS is the successor to that product.

1. What not to upload

Do not send the live 4D database. These are not import files:

  • .4DD — data
  • .4DC or .4DB — compiled or uncompiled structure
  • .4DR, .rsr, data.match

4D’s own docs treat export as a separate step: EXPORT TEXT writes the current selection of one table to a text document (default field delimiter is tab). EXPORT DATA opens 4D’s export dialog and can write Text, XML, SYLK, DIF, DBF, or 4D format. Use Text, not 4D format.

2. If DVMAX still opens

Work inside DVMAX, not a separate 4D Developer copy. A generic 4D v20 license will not open a clinic .4DD unless you also have that clinic’s matching structure file.

  1. Open the practice in DVMAX the way the staff always did.
  2. Look for an Export, File, or Report command that can save text or CSV. Menu names vary by DVMAX version; use whatever that copy actually offers.
  3. Export at least clients and patients. Add invoices, line items, inventory, reminders, and rabies tags if those exports exist.
  4. Turn on a header row of field names if the dialog has that checkbox.
  5. Tab or comma between fields is fine. UTF-8 if you are offered an encoding.
  6. Name each file so the table is obvious: clients.csv, patients.csv, invoices.csv.

3. If you have 4D Developer and the matching structure

This is the path for a 4D developer (v20 is fine) who can actually open the data file with its structure. Public command docs: EXPORT DATA and EXPORT TEXT.

  1. Open the structure and data together in 4D. If 4D says the data file does not belong to this structure, stop. That is the UUID mismatch. A different 4D license will not fix it.
  2. Open the Export Data dialog (EXPORT DATA with an empty path, or the Design-environment export dialog).
  3. Choose format Text. Do not choose 4D, SYLK, or DBF unless you have no Text option.
  4. Export one table at a time. Default field delimiter is tab; record delimiter is return (Mac) or return+linefeed (Windows). You can change those in the export dialog.
  5. Include field names as the first row.
  6. All records in the table, not a leftover selection, unless you mean to send a subset.
  7. Save as clients.txt, patients.txt, and so on.

A single file with section titles Export csv Clients, Export csv Patients, and the rest is also accepted. That is the La Vega-style multi-section dump our 4D parser already knows.

4. What to pick on this portal

  • 4D export folder (lvvc_* files) — tab-delimited files whose names contain client, patient, and so on.
  • La Vega (4D lvvc_x_* files) — Control-C / Control-D La Vega exports.
  • 4D multi-section single-file CSV — one file whose sections start with Export csv ….
  • IDEXX DVMAX (CSV export) — separate client and patient CSVs with a header row. Confirm the column map.
  • Multi-file CSV or TSV pack — any other 4D Text export. Map columns yourself.

5. Pair, convert, apply on the iPad

  1. On the iPad: WolfieAssist → Settings → Migration → Start Import Job.
  2. On a phone or computer, open migrate.wolfiepims.net and enter the pairing code.
  3. Pick the format above, upload the export files, confirm mapping if asked, then Convert.
  4. Back on the iPad: preview, take the local backup if asked, then Apply.

Full general steps: WolfieAssist migration user guide. Mac product page: DVMAX replacement for Mac.