The Data Import Process

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to identify the components of Importing in APM

Validation During the Import Process

The import process includes two default validation checks.

Data Type:Prohibits importing alpha characters into a numeric field.
Data Length:Prohibits importing a field longer that specified in the database schema.

Additional validations can be manually added in the Entity Edit functionality or in the Import Format field mapping definition.

In the example in the Import Request section, the Import request ended in Error. Select the View Messages or View Log icons to reveal descriptions of the error.

In this case, the CustomerId value was 48 characters, but the InCustomer.CustomerId field has a limit of 30 characters.

Hint

Avoid relying on errors in Import Requests to ensure data integrity, as errors cannot be resolved in the user interface. The record(s) in error will need to be identified/resolved and reimported in another Import Request. The best practice is to add validations as part of the post process so the errors can be corrected in the user interface if possible.

Manually Import a List of Customers

ExerciseStart Exercise

In this exercise, you will manually import a list of customers using the TrainCustomerImport.xlsx file that was provided by your instructor.

Steps

Create an InFile record and add basic data.
1. From the Integration Portal, select Inbound Data - File Search
2. Select New (+).
3. Populate the fields with the following:
  - File ID: CustomerImport
  - Name: Customer Import
  - Eff Date: 1/1/2022
  - Billing Month: 6
  - Billing Year: 2022
  - Payout Type ID: CLIENT Payout
  - Comments: Customer Import for Training
4. Select Save.
Add an import file.
1. In the Import Requests section, select Add Import Request.
2. On the Import Format dropdown, select TrainingCustomer.
3. Set the Upload Type to Client.
4. In the File Content field, select Choose File.
5. Navigate to TrainCustomerImport.xlsx and select Open.
6. Select Next.
  The Import Request Summary screen of the wizard appears with the ID of the new Import Request.
7. Select Complete.
  The data is uploaded into the appropriate staging tables based on the Import Format. The File Detail screen is updated as shown below.
Manually Resolve Import Errors
It looks like our import had an error! In this step, we will find and resolve the error.
1. Open Integration - Import Data - File Search.
2. Select the CustomerImport record.
3. Select View Messages to reveal descriptions of the error.
4. Hover over the Error row to display the full description of the error. In this file, line 13 is invalid because the CustomerId is too long.
  Note
  There is no way to correct this error in the user interface since the data hasn’t been committed to the database. To correct this issue, we’ll correct the data in the source file and reimport.
5. Open the TrainCustomerImport.xlsx file.
6. Delete the first 12 rows of data.
7. Move row 13 up to row 2, just below the header.
8. Change the Customer ID in the row to Training12 and save the file.
Repeat the import process
1. Select Add Import Request.
2. From the Import Format dropdown, select TrainingCustomer.
3. Set the Upload Type to Client.
4. Select Choose File and set the fixed file.
5. Select Open.
6. Select Next.
7. Select Complete.
  Note
  The Import Requests list should look like the image below.

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