Creating a new import template

Data import templates specify how the data in an imported file is mapped to Infor Public Sector business objects. To create a new import template, click the New Import Template button. You can also click the Template Editor’s File menu and select New, then Import Template.

The Template Editor launches the Create Import Template wizard in the main data pane, starting with the File Properties screen. As when creating an export template, you can click the View button on the toolbar at any point in the process to preview the XML. You can also click Cancel at any time to cancel the process.

The File Properties screen defines the type of file from which the data is to be imported. From the File Type list, you can select either FixedLength or Delimited to indicate whether the columns in the input are separated by a special character. If you select Delimited, the Template Editor also shows the Column delimiter field, which you can use to indicate which character is used to separate columns in the input file.

When you’re finished specifying the file type, click Next to show the Root Object screen.

As with an export template, you can add as many child objects as you require. When you’re finished, click Next to show the Data Section Details screen.

You can create three types of data sections:

• Header
• Row
• Footer

Headers and footers can be used for summary information, and rows are used for the input data. Typically there is one row for each record in the input file, but records can also be broken up across multiple rows. After selecting the data section type, click Next to show the Available Keywords screen.

In the Available Keywords tree, select the check box for each keyword you want to use in the current data section. Then click Next to show the Keyword Details screen.

You can define a larger variety of keyword details for an import template than for an export template, including whether it is required and whether it serves to identity a record or a default value. If you’re importing data from a fixed length file, you must also specify values in the Start Position and Length columns to indicate which part of the string in the input file contains the keyword value.

After you’ve specified your keyword details, click Next. At this point you can add another data section, or you can click Next again to advance to the preview screen, which you can use to preview the template’s XML. To finish and save the template, click Finish.