Import Data From Excel

Imports from a grid that was previously exported to Excel. Imported grids are referred to as lists.

Use the Excel Import Wizard to map the elements and attributes for the imported data. The Excel Import Wizard has the same functionality as the Excel Export Wizard, which is explained in Export Data to Excel from Database.

Elements in an imported grid can be updated only by exporting them to Excel, editing the Excel file, and then importing them again.

Base elements

Each project type has an associated base type. Each base type has attributes. The base types for Engineer are:

ENGITE: Engineering Element

FUNITE: Engineering Functional Element

SIMITE: Engineering Simulation Element

To import other base types, such as library elements (LIBITE) and Engineering Typical Item Elements (TYPITE) use the Import and Export functionality in the Configuration module.

Overview of the import process and options

1. On the Manage tab, select Import>List. Browse to and open the file to import.

   

2. Select the data mode to use for the import.

3. Optionally, select a saved configuration.

4. Depending on the data mode, select the type of element to import or the database view or database view set.

5. If there are user-defined element types (UDETS), choose whether to include them in the import.

6. Optionally, if multiple element types or database views were exported, select Show All Worksheets. This option acts as a reminder that there are multiple sheets to map.

7. If multiple element types or database views are included in the Excel file, perform the mapping for each.

8. Map the appropriate attribute or database view column to each column in the Excel file to import.

9. Optionally, if any elements have cases associated with them, select the required case (attributes can have values that vary in different cases. For example, the viscosity of a liquid may vary at different temperatures).

10. Optionally, choose to remove carriage returns from all text elements. This ensures that element names, for example, display on one line.

11. Optionally, save the import configuration to use for subsequent imports.

12. Optionally, choose to close the import progress dialog automatically when the import completes.

Import modes and configurations

Optionally, if an import configuration has been created, select a configuration to use. A configuration pre-populates parts of the wizard, making it quicker to specify the import. Configurations are saved in User, Project, or Product locations. User configurations are stored locally and can only be used locally. Saved Project and Product configurations can be accessed by other users. You can create a configuration at the beginning or the end of an import. We recommend that you create it at the end.

You can import, and export, with these data modes:

• Element type
  Enables you to select a type of element to import from the Excel file.

• Database view(s)
  Enables you to select multiple types of element and their associated attributes to import from the Excel file. This mode also gives you control over column naming.

There is no requirement to use the same import mode as for the export. That is, you can use Element type mode to import a file exported in Database view(s) mode, or use Database view(s) mode to import a file exported in Element type mode. However, if you use Database view(s) mode for both import and export, database view columns are mapped automatically to Excel columns. If you use Database view(s) to export but Element type to import, that mapping must be done manually.

Differences in user interfaces of Element type and Database view modes

You can import the Excel file, in whichever mode it was exported, in either mode. However, the user interfaces of steps two and three of the Excel Import Wizard differ in these ways:

The Configuration options step of the Excel Import Wizard provides the option to remove the carriage return from text attributes to be imported. If selected, this option ensures that text attributes are displayed on one line.

Mandatory attributes

If the Excel file to be imported lacks a mandatory attribute, the file must be edited and imported again. If a file must be re-imported in these circumstances, additional attributes become mandatory.

The NAME attribute is always mandatory.

Which other attributes are mandatory depends on whether a project is conceptual or non-conceptual, on the import mode, and on whether the tags being imported are new or amended. For example, the OWNER attribute is mandatory for new tags in a non-conceptual project. Depending on these conditions, you may be prompted during an import for the NAME, REF, or OWNER (ENGITE) attributes.

Accept/Reject Changes

In Element type mode only, you are prompted to accept or reject some or all the changes. If a large volume of data is to be imported, you have the option to skip the Accept/Reject option:

Read-only attributes

These attributes are read-only:

• OWNER

• REF

• TYPE

• ACTTYPE

In the Column and element configuration step (Element type mode) of the Excel Import Wizard, you select the attributes to import from the Excel file. By default, the check boxes of all attributes, except those of the read-only attributes, are selected. You can:

• Deselect any of the readable attributes to exclude them from the import.

• Deselect the Name attribute (even though it must be present in the export file).

Although the check boxes of the read-only attributes are not selected, they are imported. Any differences between the current values of these attributes and the values in the Excel file are highlighted, but not updated.

Excel Import - has parts creation

If there is a Has Parts relationship in the data model between, for example, nozzles and pumps, then importing pump data also automatically imports the associated nozzle data. This contrasts with Can Have Parts and Reference relationships. In those cases, to import both pump and nozzle data, the import functionality requires separate worksheets containing the pump and the nozzle data.

Note:
Automatic Has Parts creation is available only for conceptual model projects. That is, for projects that have an associated data model.

Use this functionality to automatically create the has parts element(s) of a tag.

Note:
Has parts elements are created only if the has part element is not created using child information (parent-child relationship) to ensure no duplicates are created.

The functionality allows for the following on import of tags or Excel worksheet:

• If an imported tag does not have any information about the has parts element, the functionality automatically creates a has part by default.

• If an imported tag has any invalid information (part name provided does not exist in the database or excel worksheets), no has parts elements are created.

• If an Excel worksheet is imported which has information for has parts/can have parts/references, the functionality uses this information to create has parts/can have parts/references respectively.

  Note:
  An empty value cannot be set on a has parts attribute on a tag and imported for a tag which already has associated has parts.

Excel Import Tags Counter Override on Import

Engineer updates the counter for the tag from the attribute value of the source element on import using the Excel Import functionality and keeps the name consistent with the source element.

Note:
This functionality is available only for the NAM enabled projects. In other projects, the Counter mapping step of the Excel Import Wizard is not displayed.

Use the Excel Import Wizard, to map the Excel column with the counters that are to be overridden. Supported counter types are Numeric and Text. Thus you can override the numeric and text counters, for example. Only valid write attributes are displayed and the Excel columns available for selection are displayed in a drop down list. The selection of the Excel columns and therefore the configuration is optional

Note:
Excel columns which are already mapped cannot be used to map counters.

If required, configuration is not chosen, default counters are used, tags which have an invalid value are not considered, and any existing configurations can be modified.

When the import completes, the Accept or Reject dialog is displayed with the counter attributes with the counter tag in brackets. Single or multiple configurations can be accepted or rejected.

The Import Progress dialog shows the tasks being performed during the import (for example, Apply changes) and their statuses. The dialog remains on-screen when the import is completed, enabling you to view any errors and warnings, and a summary of the process. Optionally, select Automatically close import progress dialog on completion in the Save configuration changes step of the wizard, if you do wish to see confirmation that the import has completed or any errors that may have occurred.

There is also an option to close the import progress dialog on the dialog itself.