Advanced Import

There are many reasons for importing large quantities of records in a single batch. For example, transferring data from a legacy system to your new PortalProdigy system or loading newly purchased data as in the form of purchased prospecting lists, product lists, etc. The Advanced Import utility makes importing large amounts new records and updating existing records with large and complex data structures a fairly simple, quick and easy procedure.

 

The common format for importable records is called a CSV file. CSV stands for “Comma Separated Values”. In computer professional speak, the comma used to separate values is called the delimiter. Characters other that commas are often used as delimiters. For example, tabs are generally the default delimiter for Microsoft Excel spread sheets saved to a text file. Since PortalProdigy’s import utility only recognizes commas as delimiters, one must export or save a Microsoft Excel file as a CSV format file before it can be imported into Portal Prodigy.

 

The content of a CSV file might look like the following:

 

FirstName,LastName,Street,City,State,Zip,Phone

Stephen,Reuning,510 Horizon Center,Robbinsville,NJ,08691,609-584-4474

John,Jones,2 Smith Street,Perth Amboy, NJ,07728

 

OR,

 

ProdCode,Name,Price,Type

SMR-123,Top,1,Test

SMR-234,Spindle,1.5,Test5

 

In such a case, the top row is called the header row and it is used to designate the field name of the data between delimiters.

 

 

The Advanced Import Page:

 

Select the Utilities Access Icon  located in the Site Management menu column of the Main Administration menu (Ctrl-Alt-m) to view the Utilities Menu page.

 

Clicking on the Utilities Menu Advanced Import Edit  button accesses the Advanced   Import page.

 

 

Changing the Data Type will change Import Page type.  When Exchanges is selected, the Source Reference field changes from a text box to a list box listing all defined Exchanges Types.  You must select an Exchange Type before proceeding.

 

• Profile Name Entry Field - Enter a descriptive name here. It will be displayed in Import Profiles dialog window selection list.

 

 

• Retrieve Profile Button - Click the Retrieve Profile Button  to display Import Profiles dialog window with selections that correspond to selection in the Data Type field.
• Data Type Selection Field - Used to indicate the type of record to be imported: Products, Documents, Exchanges, etc. Changing the Data Type refreshes and switches to the appropriate Import Page.
• Source Reference – Memo field for reminder note or comment typically used to note source of data.
• Import File Browser - Used to browse the user’s work station in order to locate the CSV file to be imported.

• Last Imported File Field – Indicates the name and directory path location of the last file imported.
• Update Existing Records Selection Field – The system will search for existing records and merge import data if this field is set to Yes. The system identifies matching existing records by one of the four listed fields by priority of their listed order:

1.      Item ID

2.      Product Code (must be unique)

3.      Manufacturer Name + Manufacturer Product Code

4.      Preferred Vendor Name + Preferred Vendor Product Code. 

 

§         Replace Existing Values Selection Field – If set to Yes, the system will replace imported values for existing values in the records. If set to No, the system will not import values into fields that already have data for existing records.

§         Does First Row Contain Field Names Selection Field - If the import file contains a header row, then select Yes, otherwise select No.

§         Add New Values to Lookup Tables Selection Field - The Advanced Import Utility provided the ability to map import data fields to internal record fields that use selection data such as Product Type. If you set this field to Yes, data that does not already match a current selection available to such fields will be added to the selection list and the record. If you set this field to No, data that does not already match a current selection available to such fields will be ignored and not imported.

Open Import File Button – Click on the  button to load the data from the import file. If the Import Sample Data column of the Import Fields Selection table is empty then there is no data loaded to import.

 

 

The Import Sample Data column of the Import Fields Selection table must be loaded with data in order to import.

 

 

Click on the Import button  to import the data.

 

 

Importing Documents in Bulk – Document Specific Issues:

 

Documents can be loaded in bulk using the Advanced Import feature using a little variation on the CSV file.

 

Each document must be saved as a separate file and stored in “Documents” sub-folder of folder containing the CSV file.  (Note that all files in /documents subfolder will be uploaded regardless of whether specified in CSV file). 

 

 

 

 

 

The CSV file for importing the three document listed in the figure above could follow the format as shown below:

 

Name,Description,File

Test Document One,The first Document in list,test1.doc

Test Document Two,The second Document in list,test2.doc

Test Document Three,The third Document in list,test3.doc

 

Map the Document Name column to “[Documents]:DocumentTitle

Map the Description column to “[Documents]:DocumentDescription”

Map the File column to “[Documents]:OriginalFileName”

 

Importing HTML Documents with Related Files:

 

  Note that when you copy an HTML file in Windows it automatically copies this sub-folder for you.

 

 

Importing Exchange listings in Bulk - Exchange Specific Issues:

 

An Exchange Type must be selected using the Source Reference list box.  This will load the defined fields for the selected Exchange Type.  The Exchange import is limited to importing new records.  Unlike the other import Data Types it cannot update existing records.  Your import CSV file must contain a Contact ID column with a valid Contact ID value in each import row.  The Contact ID will be assigned as the Created By User for each Exchange listing record.  Note that Exchange import does not validate the import fields to check that required fields contain imported values. 

 

Importing Products in Bulk - Product Specific Issues:

 

Associated product images can be loaded in bulk using the Advanced Import feature using a little variation on the CSV file. Each product image must be saved as a separate file and stored in “Images” sub-folder of folder containing the CSV file.

 

 

 

The CSV file for importing the three document listed in the figure above could follow the format as shown below:

 

ProdCode,Name,Price,Type,Image

SMR-123,Girl One,1,Test Girl,girl.gif

SMR-234,Girl Two,2,Test Girl,2girl.gif

SMR-767,Girl Three,3,Test Girl,3girl.gif