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Contents of the Import Items Screen Oracle

Use the fields and options to configure the Import Items screen.

Identification

Use the fields in this block to create a new parameter ID or to retrieve a previously saved parameter ID. A parameter ID represents a set of screen selection parameters. After you have saved a parameter ID and its related parameters, you can retrieve them using Query.

You can use the retrieved parameters to produce reports and run processes more efficiently and with greater consistency. The saved parameters are also useful and necessary when you want to run the process as part of a batch job. Many users save a unique set of parameters for each different way they run a report or process. When you select a previously saved parameter ID or parameter description, the associated saved screen selection parameters automatically display as selection defaults. The page setup and print options, if there are any, are also included in the saved parameter ID. You can change any of the associated selection defaults as necessary.

Field Description
Parameter ID

Enter, or click to select, a parameter ID of up to 15 alphanumeric characters. Choose characters for your parameter ID that help identify the type of selections you made on the screen, such as PERIOD or QUARTERLY.

When you save your record, all the selections made on the screen are stored with the parameter ID. Later, you can retrieve the parameter using Query.

You can use the parameter to run the process more efficiently because you can select the parameter ID with its previously defined screen selections. After the default selections display on the screen, you can override the defaults.

Description

Enter, or click to select, a parameter description of up to 30 alphanumeric characters.

Options

Note: The input file layout may contain fields that are available only in Costpoint Advanced. If you are using Costpoint Essentials, these fields are excluded from the import process and may be left blank or null when you create the input file.

Input File

Field Description
File Location

Enter the location of the input file you are importing. There are two ways to do this:

  • In the File Location field, enter, or click to select, the alternate file location where the input file is located. Alternate file locations are set up in the Manage Alternate File Locations screen.
  • From the Global Menu, click Process > File Upload. On the File Upload Manager dialog box, click Browse and use the dialog box to select the file you want to import. If you select the Overwrite? check box, Costpoint will overwrite any file of the same name that already exists in the Costpoint database. Click Upload when you are finished. If you use this method, leave the File Location field blank. For more information about the File Upload Manager, see the File Upload Manager topic in the Getting Started Guide.
File Name

Enter, or click to select, the name of the ASCII text file to be uploaded. The file cannot have an extension of .ERR. The .ERR extension is reserved for the error file.

You can process only one input file at a time. The file being processed can contain different line types. Only the Item Line is required for inserting new items. All other lines are optional. The order of the lines is inconsequential.

Note: All user ID columns in the Costpoint database contain a maximum of 20 characters. However. the input file limits the user ID field lengths to 18 characters to accommodate existing fixed-length input files from previous Costpoint databases.

International users: The data can contain non-English characters, provided they are in the ASCII character set. Before creating an ASCII text (.TXT) file, be sure that your keyboard language is set to EN (United States English) to prevent the application from generating errors.  

We recommend the use of .TXT and .CSV file-naming conventions.

File Format

Use the drop-down list to select the file format. Valid options are:

  • Delimited: Select this option to indicate that the input file has delimiters as field separators. This is the default.
  • Fixed Length: Select this option to indicate the input file contains fields that start and end in a specified column. If the Input File is a fixed-length format file, you must fill every position with the appropriate number of either characters or spaces for a given column before entering data for the next column. It is not necessary to zero fill numbers; you can use spaces to maintain the proper format. Numeric fields must be right justified; character fields must be left justified. After you have entered the last character of meaningful data for the input file, you need not fill the remaining column lines with spaces. 

    For example, if the Item (ITM) record format's maximum line length (that is, the entire input file) is a total of 451 characters and the last character of meaningful data is in position 113, you do not need to add the remaining 338 spaces. However, let's say that the Commodity Code (beginning at position 114 on the input file) is only five characters long. You must include the Commodity Code plus three additional spaces before entering the Hazardous Material Flag in position number 122. Refer to the Processing Details section for additional information.

File Delimiter

If you selected Delimited in the File Format field, use the drop-down list to select a file delimiter. Valid options are:

  • Comma
  • Other

The default is Comma. To use another delimiter, select the Other option and enter a single character in the Other Delimiter field.

Note: The delimiter cannot be embedded in any of the input fields, such as item description. When the program encounters the declared delimiter, it interprets it as the end of the input field. For this reason, Deltek recommends using a delimiter type other than the comma, if you are loading item descriptions.
Other Delimiter

If you selected Other in the File Delimiter field, enter the delimiter here.

Error Handling

Field Description
If errors are encountered on the input file:

Use this drop-down list to determine how validation errors are handled. Errors occur if the input file record is not valid or a condition is not met for a field that is being processed in an input file record. Valid options are:

  • Process Valid Records: If you select this option, all valid rows on the input file are processed. This option is the default.
  • Process No Records: If you select this option, no input rows are processed when errors are encountered.

In either case, an error report listing all validation errors is produced along with an ASCII error file (if the GenerateError File check box is selected). The error file has the same filename as the original input file but for the suffix, which is .ERR, and the file contains all input rows that are in error. You can then correct this error file, rename it, and reprocess it until all rows are processed. TheTIMESTAMP field at the end of each record indicates the date on which the file was created.

Generate Error File

Select this check box to produce an ASCII error file listing the input file records not processed.

Import Items

To execute the application and import the items, click the arrow to the right and select one of the following options:

  • Import Items: Select this option to import the items.
  • Print/Import Items: Select this option to import the items and print the error report.