| Info |
|---|
Currently, only Sys Admins can configure the Workflow Import Queue. End user administrators may upload data, but not configure the available file types. See also: /wiki/spaces/DOCS/pages/1573978152 |
| Table of Contents |
|---|
Overview
When an Administrator goes to Admin → Import Data, the first thing they must do is select a “File Type”.
...
The options presented in this screen are fully configurable by Sys Admins so that the experience can be customized and tailored to a wide variety of business conditions and client needs.
Configuring the “File Types”
To configure the file types, go to Sys Admin → App Configuration → Workflow Import File Types.
...
Display Order | Controls the sequence that the options are presented in. |
|---|---|
Name | Displayed to the user as the “file type”. Should use business language, not system language, so that users associate the type to the task they wish to perform. |
Icon | The FontAwesome class(es) that specify the icon to use. This typically consists of a “weight” plus an “icon”, such as |
Entity Type | What type of Entity is being uploaded? This controls the type of Workflow on which the Data Import Step must be configured:
|
Description | Displayed to the user to provide additional instructions or context. |
Note | Internal notes that are NOT displayed to the user. Used to capture implementation details that might be helpful in understanding or supporting the configuration. |
Template | To assist users, you can optionally attach a CSV template file that documents the required columns and provides instructions. For more information, see Creating a CSV Template |
Status | Disabled file types are not displayed to the user. |
Creating a CSV Template
| Info |
|---|
This section describes concepts that apply to the Import Queue as a whole. For guidance on creating templates for specific import scenarios see one of these links: |
...
When building this template, you need to consider three four things:
Which identifier columns will be used to identify the pre-existing record to update, or the entities to associate with a newly-created record;
Which value columns will be used to collect data.
Which Workflow Action will be executed on a given row;
Whether you need to provide any instructions or supporting data within the file.
Required identifier columns
The set of required identifier columns will depend on the Entity Type associated with each File Type. The supported patterns are documented on the feature-specific documentation pages:
...
| Info |
|---|
For simplicity, it is recommended that all rows in the file use the same “identification strategy”. That is, even though the system supports multiple patterns of identifier columns, it helps to keep things simple and use the same strategy for each row in a file. Nothing forces you to do this, however. |
Value columns
To determine the value columns that should be included in the file, refer to the Data Import Step configuration. Only those Attributes that are added to the Step as editable fields can be modified by an uploaded file, and the column headers should match the Data Field Name.
...
| Info |
|---|
A data file is NOT restricted to a single Data Import Step. Each row in the file can potentially map to a different Data Import Step, and those Steps can be for entirely different Workflows. This is a common scenario for The potential for a single file to potentially map to multiple Data Import Steps is one reason that these template files cannot be auto-generated, and must instead be manually generated by a Sys Admin that is familiar with the business scenario being supported. |
Including instructions in the template
There are two ways to provide instructions or helpful content within your template:
...
Another way to provide instructions is by adding free-form text to the file. The template file is just a text file, so you can include anything you want in place of real “data rows”. However, this content must be deleted before the file is uploaded and processed.
Making the file accessible to end users
Once you have crafted your template file, attach it to the File Type. It will then become available for end users to download from the Admin → Import Data page.
| Note |
|---|
You must manually keep the template synchronized with the Data Import Step configuration. If you add or remove columns from the Step, but do not make corresponding changes to the template file, users may run into errors when they use that outdated file as the basis for a new upload. |
File Types vs Entity Types
| Note |
|---|
It is important to note that the user’s “File Type” selection has no bearing on choosing which Data Import Steps are used to process the file. The “File Type” is only a user-friendly way of indicating the Entity Type to associate with the uploaded file. |
...