Switching sheets can be exported to your local file system. Exported switching sheets are written in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). All of the data from the sheet is included in the JSON file, which can be opened in any application capable of reading a JSON.

Exported switching sheet JSON files can be imported by Administration and Trainer user types who can use them to populate NMS training or test environments. When importing switching sheets, unique handles for devices, steps and sheets are looked up on the new system or are reset; in other words, you may not have the same sheet number on the import environment as was displayed on the export environment since multiple sheets cannot have the same switching sheet number. This is also true if you export and import on the same environment. Switching sheet, safety document, and step states will all be set back to their initial state when those objects are imported. NMS does not support the option to import state data from a partially or fully executed switching sheet.

The Import Files dialog box is limited to only showing files with the json file extension. You are given the option of selecting individual files or a parent directory. If a directory is selected, then only the files in that directory will be included in the import (in other words, the function will not look for any files found in any sub-directories).

As part of the import mechanism, the original sheet's external documents, impacted customers, events, crews, and audit log will be ignored. This data cannot be imported, but can be found in the exported JSON file. Your project can also configure which additional data elements should be ignored when importing switching sheets. The import also assumes your project's configuration is synchronized between the systems where the sheets will be exported or imported. If you export a switching sheet and later add or remove data fields to a switching sheet, those data fields will not be populated during the import. You will be required to manually edit the JSON data file or export a new file with the matching data fields if that data is needed during an import.

When exporting or importing multiple switching sheets as part of one request, you will be restricted to 100 switching sheets at a time. When the request is being carried out from the Switching Sheet List, a progress bar will be displayed at the bottom of the list. You will not be able to cancel this operation unless a conflict occurs with one of the switching sheets and you are presented with a dialog box that includes a Cancel button. The feature is also limited to one user at a time; in other words, multiple users on the system cannot export/import switching sheets at the same time. You will need to wait for the current operation to finish before initiating a new request. An error dialog box will be displayed if an import/export is already in progress.