# Importing runs

> Take a .glab file recorded on another installation into this archive as an independent, fully traceable entry: what is validated, what the copy gets, and what it never gets.

The **Import** control sits in the head of the run list, beside Refresh, and accepts one
`.glab` file recorded on another installation ([Exporting a run](histories-export#glab)).
The control is drawn only for a role with the **Export/import histories** permission; any
other role sees the head of the list without it. It needs a station that accepts writes
("The station is read-only."), because it publishes a run file and an index row, and it is
greyed while another verb of the strip is running ("The previous command is still running.").

## What is validated {#what-is-validated}

The file is streamed to a temporary copy (uploads are capped at 1 GB; the feed reads
"Importing · file…") and validated there first. A refusal creates no entry:

| Refusal | When |
| --- | --- |
| The selected file is empty or could not be read. | An empty or unreadable upload. |
| The selected file is not a Ganter Lab run file. | A file that carries no run-file schema history. |
| This file was created by a newer or incompatible version of Ganter Lab and cannot be imported. | A run file from a later or incompatible format. |
| The selected file is not a readable Ganter Lab run file. | Not a SQLite database, or a corrupt one. |

## The receipt and the published copy {#the-receipt-and-the-published-copy}

A file from a supported older baseline is upgraded on the temporary copy only; the
received file is never touched. The copy then has its **import receipt**, the import
instant and the received file name, stamped into itself, so the record can always state
where the run came from and a rebuilt index restores the Imported mark; a copy re-exported
from another station carried that station's receipt, and this copy's provenance is its
arrival here. The station publishes a fresh local copy under a unique name
(`Imported_<run name>_<id>.db`) and registers a new, independent entry; the feed reads
"Imported · name · from file (size)" and the list opens on it.

## What the copy gets, and never gets {#what-the-copy-gets-and-never-gets}

- The imported run gets a brand-new local identity; the original run id stays inside the
  file as evidence, so two installations can exchange runs without collisions.
- It is never linked to local configuration, even when a procedure of the same name
  exists: it belongs to no unit, its procedure is none, it cannot be resumed, it never
  counts toward local productivity, it configures no label for **New label**, and
  "(procedure's report)" renders it with the all-sections default.
- Its state is the terminal state frozen in the file: a run ended by an interlock imports
  as Aborted, and a frozen state that is not terminal is clamped to Completed. A file that
  never wrote its snapshot (the source station died mid-run) imports as a Failed run named
  after the file, so it is not lost.
- Nothing is overwritten or merged: importing the same file twice yields two independent
  entries.
- The responsible travels with the copy as frozen evidence. On a station sharing the same
  user roster the frozen identity keeps pointing at the same operator; elsewhere it names
  the person without matching any local user.

## Using the imported run {#using-the-imported-run}

Once imported, the run is browsable, commentable, annotatable and re-exportable like any
other, and its label artifacts and report registrations come with it: an artifact's frozen
bytes can be reprinted here, while a registration's published PDF is not on this station,
so it can be opened or resent only when the source station kept a copy inside the run;
otherwise generate a new PDF from the file.

## If the app stops mid-import {#if-the-app-stops-mid-import}

If the app stops in the narrow window between publishing the file and registering it, the
file is not lost: **Rebuild run-history index** in [Settings](settings-backups) rescans the
run files, which are the source of truth, and gives it its entry back.