Import Data
- Last UpdatedNov 27, 2025
- 4 minute read
Import Data allows you to import equipment tags, descriptions and other attributes from a CSV or XLS format file.
It is anticipated that this function will be used near the beginning of a project to pre-populate an Outfitting Design database with a list of data from other Engineering data systems. It is not intended for the transfer of data from one Project to another. The geometry of the imported data will not be defined by this method. It will be necessary to complete the definition of the data by using the Design GUI.
The import is a two-stage process that initially analyzes the import file and reports errors and identifies if the entry is new or appears to exist already in the database. The second stage is to import those entries that you want to, based on the results of the analysis.
The content of the import file used as the input for this function must follow certain rules as described below; otherwise the data import will be rejected by the system.
Note: The Lexicon Database must be correctly configured, and the supplied values must be valid for the User Defined Attribute (UDA) being set.
From the Import Data form, navigate to and highlight the required import file. If the import file is an XLS format file you need to select the XLS files (*.xls) option from the Files of type: pulldown list.
Click Open to display the content of the selected spreadsheet in the Spread Sheet Import form.
At this stage no data has been loaded into the database. The form lets you preview the data being loaded from the import file. When the file is loaded, some preliminary analysis of the data is carried out, and the icons, displayed to the left of the table, indicate the result of that analysis.
|
|
Indicates that an item does not exist in the database. If this form is actioned, then the item will be created. |
|
|
Indicates that an item already exists in the database. If the Load All Data function is actioned, then attributes of the item will be modified. No action will be taken on rows with this Icon if the Load New Data option is actioned. |
|
|
Indicates that the system has identified a problem with this row of data. No action will be taken on rows with this Icon when the Load All Data or Load New Data option is actioned. Selecting this row in the table will display a message in the Messages area of the form to indicate why this row cannot be processed as shown in the picture above. |
|
Clicking the Load All Data option will process all of the rows that create a new element or modify an existing element. Clicking Load New Data option will only process the rows that create new elements. |
New data is created at the current location in the database if an owning element field is not included in the imported file.
Note: That the owning element is considered to be the current element when the file was loaded and the rows of data analyzed, not the current element when a Load option is clicked. If an owning element field is provided in the import file, the system will attempt to create elements under the specified owner.
Now the Icons on the form indicate the result of the load operation.
|
|
Indicates that the creation or modification operation was successful. An element has been created or modified in the database. |
|
|
Indicates that the operation has not completed successfully because of an error found while the system was trying to create or modify an element. If an attribute value is incorrect as shown in the example above, then the element has been created, but not all of its attribute data has been loaded. You can choose to use the undo function to remove all of the changes made by the load operation and revert the database back to its state before the load, or to deal with the erroneous elements individually. |
Another import file can be loaded by using the File Open icon, the Browse option or by typing a name directly into the filename field on the form.
The Reload Data option reloads the file shown in the filename field. This may be necessary if the current element was incorrect or an owner element was missing when the file was first loaded.