Import

You can import data stored in Excel spreadsheets and text files to create Materials records. When you drag data files onto the Import workspace, or browse to specify files or folders, an import job is created.

The job includes:
  • The job name and the type of import (Excel or Text). These are set automatically from the first data file added to the job.
  • The files containing the data to import. These may be Text data files in any text format (for example, *.txt, *.csv, *.tab) or Excel files.
    • MI Import may be used to import data from text files and Excel workbooks, but text data files and Excel data files cannot be included in the same import job.
    • The maximum recommended size for individual files is 1 GB.
  • Any additional files ("Attachments") referenced by the selected data files, such as PDF files or image files.
  • The import template - metadata that specifies how the data in the source data file is structured and how it should be mapped to the database (Attributes, Subsets, parameters). A template may also include autoplacement information - instructions on where (database, table, folder) the data will be imported - and conflict resolution options. This import metadata may be specified in a standalone import template file, or on separate worksheets inside the data file workbook (for Excel imports),
    • When importing text data files, a template file must always be specified in the job definition.
    • For Excel imports, you only need to add a separate template to the import job if the Excel data file does not include any import template metadata.
  • The import location: this is the specific database, table, folder where the imported data will be placed. This may be specified via automatic placement options in the import template, or by selecting the location from a browse tree in the Import app.