A typical job has many tagged objects in the system. To avoid manually loading or manipulating the data individually requires an alternate technique. Importing a Microsoft Excel file with the data into Completions HQ streamlines the process.
For example, the three highlighted areas in the image below can all come from your the design engineering firm on a project, but even from there, the data might be compiled from many different sources and get consolidated in the upload sheets.
Importing elements begins with an Excel import sheet. This Excel file is created and then imported into Completions.
Upload sheets can import the following:
Creating an accurate Excel file for import is critical. Your InEight representative will provide the import templates for your projects.
The steps below show how to set-up and begin your Excel file.
InEight will provide the names of the tables and Import templates at project set-up. The following rows are important for data import:
Row 1: Identifies which table you are writing information to.
Row 2: Identifies the column that you are writing to in the table.
Row 3: This is for reference only and identifies the data type. For example, a data type of STRING:32 indicates that the field can only be 32 characters long.
Row 4: This is for reference only and identifies the widget name. For example, it indicates if the field is a picklist or not. If it is, ensure that information exists in the Generic Picklist table before import.
You must delete rows 3 and 4 before you import the Excel file.
Field names must match exactly what is written in the database for both the table and the column.
Enter, import, or copy data into the remaining rows of the spreadsheet for import to the system.
If the field being uploaded to is a defined picklist, you must ensure that the values in Excel match the values defined. If the picklist is a hierarchy picklist, it must follow the convention of "Value 1", " / ", "Value 2", " / ", "Value 3". This might require concatenation of multiple columns from the data source.
After you create an Excel Import file, you can import that file into your project.
For the import to work correctly, be sure to upload your data hierarchically from the top down. For example, if you try to import an element and reference its parent but you have not imported the parent yet, a warning is shown.
Navigate to and open the newly created Excel .XLSX file.
There is an option to deselect, or not import, certain columns into the system by deselecting the applicable Import column check box.
The import replaces all values for each record that is imported. If a field is uploaded as blank from the import, any values in the system are overwritten. It is standard practice to select the Ignore blank values check box in the lower right.
To see what the imported changes are, a new spreadsheet shows as an Import Summary Report which identifies the changes made.
If there is a warning about a piece of data, that particular piece will not be shown. For example, a warning about not recognizing a hierarchy parent results in the element not showing up in the hierarchy.
To save this report, click Save in Excel.
InEight recommends that the project admin retains the reports and the imports for traceability.
Alternatively, the same data is presented in a different manner under the Import Summary Report Data tab.
To close the report, click the Don’t Save button.
Click on the Pending Updates button in the lower right.
Click Publish or Discard, and then click OK.
Other tables and fields of information are also populated using the Import function.
As a precautionary measure to ensure extra uploading security, the term Tag Details is shown on the HQ user interface and the name of the table as recognized by the server is Element Tag Details. Refer to the data model provided by your PDC for correct table names.
Scrolling across the top of the spreadsheet are different tables identified that align with the tables within Completions.
Uploading data follows the same process as shown above.
If a tag for an existing element needs to change, but you do not want to lose corresponding data on any other table, using an Instance ID makes that happen.
In all other situations, everything keys off the Element Id unless there is a column in the import called Instance Id.
This function is only available to ADMIN users.
When there is a value in that cell, the import looks up the Instance Id value in Column A, and not the Element Id in Column B.
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