Three, broad stages are needed to establish an import process:

• Planning the import process (outside of the application)
• Developing the import process (inside the application)
• Troubleshooting

Plan the Import Process

The first stage in setting up an import process is to gather the necessary information for the process (usually with the assistance of AgileAssets support staff):

1. Identify the data to be imported.
2. If necessary, place the data into one of the acceptable formats (fixed-length ASCII text files, comma-separated (CSV) ASCII text files, Oracle database tables, or Microsoft Excel files).
3. Identify all data validity checks and data formatting checks that are needed.
4. Identify the target table(s) in the application into which the data will be imported.
5. Identify the crosswalk data transformations from the data columns of the input file into the columns of the target table.
6. Write the validity-checking procedure.
7. Create one or more test input data files. At least one test file should contain enough errors to verify all data validity checks that were requested to be in the procedure.

Develop the Import Process

Once the import process is planned and you have the procedure name from AgileAssets, develop the import process:

1. Launch the application, log on, and navigate to the Import window.
2. In the All Imports tab of the Import window, right-click the table and then click Insert. The system will add a new record to the table.
3. In the Import Name column of the new record, type the name of the import process.
4. In the Source Data Type column, click the down arrow and then click the type of file.
5. Press the tab key to move the cursor to the Table Name column and type the name of the target table. This name must be in upper case, without blanks.
6. Press the tab key to move to the DB Procedure column and type the procedure name provided by AgileAssets.
7. If the input file has a header row, click the check box in the Has Header Row? column.
8. Click the Import's Setup tab.
9. Place the cursor anywhere below the column heads, right-click, and then click Insert. A new record is added to the table. Note the value in the Order column. The number shown here corresponds to the input file field (that is, a 1 signifies the first field, a 2 the second field, and so on.) Do not edit the value in the Order column.
10. In the Column Name column of the new record, create a column name (in upper case and without blanks) that describes the data in the input file field that corresponds to the value in the Order column.
11. In the Data Type column, click the down arrow and then click the data type in the input file field that corresponds to the value in the Order column.
12. For numeric- and string-type data, tab to the Data Precision column and type the maximum length of the data in the input file field that corresponds to the value in the Order column. This information is required and is used for sizing the columns in the intermediate Oracle table. For date-type columns, this column may be left blank.
13. For numeric-type data, tab to the Data Scale column and type the value which is the maximum number of decimal places in the input file field that corresponds to the value in the Order column. For other data types, leave this column blank.
14. For date-type data, tab to the Column Format column and type a value which describes the data formatting in the input file field that corresponds to the value in the Order column. See Date-type Column Formats#topic_DateandTimePatterns for more information on the allowed data formats for dates. For other data types, leave this column blank.
15. If the type of import process is for a fixed-length ASCII file, the Data Source Length column will be displayed. Tab to this column and type the length of the data in the fixed-length type input file.
    Note: Do not skip characters in the description of a fixed-length type input file. This means that the columns defined in this tab must cover every character in the fixed-length input file record. Consequently, if data exists in the input file that you do not want to import, you should create a dummy column for it in this table and then instruct AgileAssets to write the import procedure to ignore this dummy data.
16. Click . The import process is now ready for testing and use. See Import Data with the Import Window for instructions on importing data.

Troubleshoot

After attempting to import data, the import process may not work as you expected. Consider the following when attempting to resolve the unexpected results:

• If the Import Set-up was incorrect, then the Insert command in the Import's Setup tab will fail for almost every input file record. Suggestions for identifying the error source are shown in the table below.
• If the Import Set-up is correct, and you have not yet run the Process Batch command, then the data in the intermediate Oracle table will mirror that of the input file.
• If the Import Set-up is correct, and you have run the Process Batch command, then data in the intermediate Oracle table will exhibit all data consistency errors.

Notes:

1. Error occurs when you select Insert in the Import's Batches tab.
2. Error occurs when you select Process Batch in the Import's Batches tab.