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Transferring data from MINDA to use with Alerts on an XRS2i/XRS2 EID stick reader

You can export a list of animals from LIC MINDA herd management software to a PC, then use Data Link PC software transfer it to an XRS2i/XRS2 EID stick reader for use with Alerts

Updated this week

This article applies to:

  • XRS2i/XRS2 EID stick readers

You can transfer a list of animals from LIC MINDA herd management software to your XRS2i/XRS2 EID stick reader using Data Link PC software. You can then use the Alerts feature on the stick reader to receive an alert when a particular animal is scanned. This is a handy way to sort animals if you don't have access to an auto drafter.

Examples of when this could be used:

  • Your cows are on a run-off block and you want to separate cows which are nearing their calving date (early calvers) to return to the main farm. To do this, you would create a custom report in MINDA with EID and Expected Calving Date attributes.

  • You want to separate empty cows for the vet to examine. To do this, you would create a custom report in MINDA with EID and Pregnancy Diagnosis attributes.

  • You want to separate cows with a poor BCS (body condition score) for extra nutrition. To do this, you would create a custom report in MINDA with EID and BCS attributes.

There are four steps required:

  1. Create a custom report in MINDA containing the information you want to transfer. Export this to your PC as a .csv file.

  2. Modify the file using MS Excel. Remove any animal records and columns you don't need. Add any alert messages (optional).

  3. Use Data Link PC software to transfer the alerts file to your stick reader.

  4. Enable the Alerts feature on the stick reader.

Step 1 - Create a custom report in MINDA

In this example, we are creating an custom report to identify cows with pregnancy status of Empty or Doubtful.

  1. Launch MINDA and on the dashboard, select Reporting:

  2. Click on Create a custom report:

  3. Select the group you want to create the report for, and a date range. In our example, we will choose Whole herd and 2024/2025 season. Then in the left-hand pane, select from the list of Available Attributes. In this example, we will add attributes EID and Pregnancy Diagnosis.

  4. Click on Print/Export then Export as CSV.

    The file will be saved in your Downloads folder.

Step 2 - Modify the .csv file using Excel

In this example, we will select animals with pregnancy diagnosis of Empty and Doubtful to make an alerts file. These are the animals we are separating from the rest of the herd.

  1. Launch Excel and open the .csv file you downloaded from MINDA.

  2. Remove all columns except the information you need (in this case EIDs and Pregnancy Diagnosis).
    Remove all rows with pregnancy status: Pregnant or with no pregnancy status recorded. We are only wanting animals with pregnancy status Empty or Doubtful in the file:

  3. Rename the heading rows:

    Animal-EID > EID

    Mating-Pregnancy Diagnosis > Alert

  4. Save and close the modified .csv file.

📝 The file MUST be saved and closed before it can be transferred to a device using Data Link PC software.

Technical information about creating an alerts file

  • A header row is optional.

  • The file must only contain one or two columns of data (one column for EIDs and one for alert messages - optional)

  • The file must be formatted with EIDs in the first column and alert messages in the second.

  • The file must only contain letters and digits. It cannot contain any of the following characters [ ] ( ) { } ; , ~ ^ \ | # ".

  • Up to 10,0000 alerts can be set.

  • There is no limit to the number of different alert messages used. Each animal can have a unique message, if desired.

  • An alert message can contain up to 32 letters or digits.

Step 3 - Transfer the alerts file from the PC to the stick reader using Data Link PC software

  1. Connect the stick reader to your PC using the cable supplied:

  2. Launch Data Link on the PC:

  3. Click Put information on device .

  4. Select Alerts file and click Next.

  5. Browse to find the modified .csv file and click Open.

    Data Link will confirm that the file has been successfully transferred to the stick reader. Click OK.


    📝 If alerts already exist on the stick reader, a dialogue box will ask you to confirm whether you want to clear existing alerts before uploading new alerts.

    • If you click Yes, existing alerts will be deleted and replaced by the new ones.

    • If you click No, the new alerts will be added to the existing ones.

    📝 If there is an existing alert for an animal already on the stick reader and another alert is uploaded for the same animal, the new alert will replace the existing one.

    📝 If some of the EIDs in the alerts file have messages and other EIDs do not, Data Link will only transfer EIDs with messages.

Step 4 - Enabling alerts on the stick reader

  1. Press to turn on the stick reader.

  2. Pressand select Settings.

  3. Select Alerts.

  4. Enable Alerts.

  5. Set alerts to be issued If EID is in alerts file.

👉 Scanning when alerts have been set up on the stick reader

  1. Scan an animal’s EID tag.

    If the animal has an alert set up against its EID, the stick reader will beep, the handle will vibrate, and a message will appear on the display. If your file contained alert messages, the message will also be displayed.

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Having trouble?

  • If you need help, click on the Live Chat bubble in the bottom right-hand corner of this screen or email sf-support@datamars.com

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