The XML Input File for loadusers: General Information

The loadusers utility takes an XML file as input. You must create and populate this file. Bear in mind the following when you create the file:

  • Lawson does not provide an automated method for populating the file. If you have a tool that can generate XML in the appropriate format, you can use it.

  • Lawson delivers a template file to:

    GENDIR/system/loadusers.xml.template

    This template shows the syntax that loadusers expects from the input file. Depending on the attributes you plan to populate, the template might not meet all your needs. If, for example, you need to auto-populate unique attributes that you created through the Schema Editor tool, you must correctly specify the attributes in the XML file.

    The template also includes attributes that you might not use at your site. These attributes will need to be removed from your input file.

    If you use the Lawson-delivered template, make sure to save your version under a new name.

  • Consider loading users by type. That is, create multiple input files for users who are similar and then run loadusers for each type of user (for example, run it once for Self-Service center only users and then again for batch users).

    Technically, it is possible to have many different types of users in a single input file and to run loadusers only one time to load all of them. However, any troubleshooting that might be necessary during the loadusers process is simplified when the input file contains similar users.

  • If you do not use an attribute, it should not appear in the file. (The RMID attribute is an exception to this. See the next bullet point.) For example, suppose your installation includes the Employee/Manager Self-Service centers and the Requisition Center . Some use only Employee/Manager; some also use the Requisition Center. In this case, the input file would include the COMPANY and EMPLOYEE attributes (needed by Employee/Manager) for all users. It would also include the REQUESTER attribute (needed by the Requisition Center), only for Requisition Center users.

  • If you are auto-populating the RMID attribute with the same data as in the ID attribute (which is what most Lawson customers do), you must include a placeholder for the RMID attribute in the input file.

    For example, suppose the "ID" attribute value for a user is "johnd" and you also want the RMID to be "johnd." You can include two double quote marks as placeholders for RMID and loadusers will auto-populate RMID with the same data as ID. In this case, your input file (<USER> node) would include the following:

    ID="johnd" RMID=""

    Note: It is not a requirement for ID and RMID to contain the same data, but Lawson recommends this for ease of user administration, and this is how most customers operate.

  • User attributes do not need to be in any particular order. Global nodes must be at the beginning of the input file. Global attributes must be at the top of the node in which they appear. For example, if you are populating <ROLEDATA>, it must appear at the beginning of the file. If you are populating the global attribute ProductLine, it must appear at the beginning of the <USERDATA> node.

  • Separate multi-valued attributes with commas. For example, suppose you want to assign three roles to a user (Employee, Manager, and Batch). The Role attribute for the user would be:

    ROLE="Employee,Manager,Batch"

  • The XML file must contain a <USERDATA> node, even if you are not using the file to add or delete any users. For example, if you are deleting some roles but making no other changes, the XML file would contain an empty <USERDATA> node.