The master data import allows to insert datasets from other systems into the xentral database. For this purpose, the data from the foreign systems must be exported as CSV files (text files containing all information as comma-separated lists). For this purpose, the manual of the respective systems should be consulted.
This module is particularly relevant if master data is stored in another system and is to be imported to xentral.
The master data import is possible for:
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Addresses: Customers, suppliers, employees, contact persons
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articles: Single articles and parts lists
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Recorded working times
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Resubmissions to customers
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Customer notes
The import of master data is basically done in xentral via import templates. These templates can be reused at any time, if another import of data with the same structure becomes necessary.
For a newly created import template, the following settings must be made:
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Start import: upload CSV file → button to upload the file to be imported.
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Name → Any name for the import template
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Destination → Select the type of data upload (will be imported: Address, items, purchase prices, time tracking, reminders, notes).
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CSV data from line → Line number in the CSV file where the listing of the actual data starts.
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CSV Separator → Separator used in the CSV file to separate data from each other.
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CSV Masking → Masking character used in the CSV file (optional).
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Selection Charset → Encoding for the CSV file. For CSVs from Excel, ISO-8859-1 should also be tried.
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Charset → If a different encoding than in the Charset dropdown above is used, it can be entered here - otherwise leave empty.
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CSV fields → Here the column numbers in the CSV and the import variables are to be entered. Format = ColumnNoCSV:XentralVariable;
After that, save the import template.
To import the data in a CSV file, select 'Upload CSV file' in the 'Start import' tab. With the 'Browse...' button the CSV file can be selected. Then click on the 'Upload CSV now' button.
Notes for the CSV file: The data is not cleaned during import. It should therefore be ensured beforehand that there is no duplicate data in the CSV file. For the CSV file it is recommended to use a semicolon ( ; ) as field separator and a quotation mark ( " ) as text separator. If a variable is used in the import template and there is no content in the CSV file, xentral will overwrite a possibly existing content with an empty text field! Thus, always import only those variables that have the desired content in the CSV file. As soon as the file was transferred completely, a listing of the contained data appears, which can be checked thereby again. It is important that the 'Action' column contains either 'New' or 'Update', otherwise there is an error in the import template. The 'Import' button must be clicked to initiate the import of the data. If the process was successful, the imported data will now appear in xentral. The last assigned article number or address number must now be entered in the number ranges. This prevents an already assigned number from being created twice when incrementing by 1.