Best way to import part lists

[Anonymous]

I have a simple question about the import. I generate an Excel spreadsheet with a list of parts and their attributes. I'd like to import the list and have the new parts generated.

Instead, it tells me the field Number is non-editable and will be blank. Sure enough, I end up with a bunch of parts that have blank part numbers, which I am then unable to edit.

Periodically, I'd like to import a list of parts, have existing attributes updated and any new parts created automatically. I'm sure there's a way to do this, but I couldn't get it to work. Thanks

Edward

[Andrew.Shaw]

Hello Edward,

Could you please provide the settings of the number field or, even better, a screen shot of the dialog box displayed when you edit that field (so that we can see all the settings without you having to type them again).

Best regards,

[Anonymous]

Hi, Yes, definitely, here's a screenshot of the Number field, as it's set up now (NumberFieldSettings.jpg). If I try to import an XML file with one just one part, it gives me the warning in the original posting (Import Message.jpg). The part does get imported. When I try to edit it, then number cannot be corrected manually (Resultant Item.jpg). Thanks for the quick reply Edward

[Andrew.Shaw]

Hi Edward,

There is no screenshot attached to your reply but let's try to see what the possible culprits are:

1. Is there a behaviour script that runs at item creation? Wiki link

2. Is it computed field? Wiki link

Best regards,

[Anonymous]

I replied by e-mail; looks lile the attachments get pruned out. Let me try on the web page.

A script called "ItemSeqGen" runs at item creation. 

The script is:

var itemSeqID = '333';

var newItemNumber = nextSeqNumber(itemSeqID);
if(newItemNumber !== null){
var catNumber = item.ITEM_CATEGORY.CATEGORY_CODE;
item.NUMBER = catNumber + '-' + newItemNumber;}

The item number is obviously a bit of a special field. It should not be editable in general and certainly never changed. Having it generated automatically by script is great. But when importing parts that have been created in the past, the numbers just have to be accepted as-is. Even if they don't conform to the numering schema, they can't be changed anymore.

I may be totally on the wrong path here. What's the best way to approach this? Thanks

Edward

[michelle.stone]

Are you choosing any key fields to 'match on' during the import?  See section 4 of the tutorial.  In the 'Import Message' screen shot I didn't see one.  This will help identify which records exist already and will be updated rather than created.

[Anonymous]

Hi, Yes, I had watched the tutorial and did also try with matching on. The problem actually isn't the update for existing parts. The problem is that it creates parts with no part number. For non-existent parts, I want it to create them with the part number in the import file. iPhone$B$+$iAw?.(B

[Madhan_T · Accepted solution]

Hi,
 
From the attachment (NumberFieldSettings.jpg) I noticed that "Editable" is set to "False". This is the default setting for Part Number. But, prior to import, this has to be set to "True".
 
Regards,
Madhan

If my post answers your question, please click the "Accept as Solution" button. This helps everyone find answers more quickly!

[Anonymous]

Hi, Madhan

I also thought perhaps I should toggle the Number field to editable. But, when I tried to do so, I got an error message that the field was already in use (see FieldInUseError.jpg). It appears I cannot change it.

Of course, making the field editable in general would be less desirable, but I could go in, toggle it, do my loading, then toggle in back. If I could get the Import to load it directly, I could set editable to "On Creation Only". This work-around would be sufficient, I guess.

Ideally, I'd like to have autonumbers for everyone on most part categories, just free-hand for certain ones. But, I'd like the component engineer or other select people to be able to import & create new part numbers of any form. I'd rather not grant those people admin privileges to tinker with the Number attribute, but I guess it could be sorted out organisationally.

I thought this was a simple use case, but I guess I opened a can of worms. Maybe it can't be done. I do appreciate everyone's attempts to help.

Edward

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Okay, I was able to set "Number" to editable on "Creation Only": I must have clicked on "Clone" instead of "Edit" before.

After doing that, I was able to run the import and get the parts created.

I actually ran it twice, and it created the parts twice (!). I then added a validation to the Number field to make it unique, and the import now catches it.

This will work well enough. Thanks everyone

[michelle.stone]

Thanks for circling back to let us know you got it working.  This is great feedback for us - I'll work on another tutorial for importing into a workspace with a behaviour script.  

Michelle

[scottmoyse]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I actually ran it twice, and it created the parts twice (!). I then added a validation to the Number field to make it unique, and the import now catches it.

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Setting up the matching column on the import should stop duplicate items being created. Just match on the Part Number column. or any other unique property column which exists in your source file and within the Item Details of the Items already loaded into PLM 360.