Importing custom record data in your application


As an administrator, use Data Management Console to import the custom record data to BMC Helix Innovation Studio by using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. You can upload this data to your application in BMC Helix Innovation Studio. During data import, Data Management Console provides options such as handling duplicate values, mapping custom data, and formatting the imported custom data. 

To import the custom data

  1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Workspace tab. 
  2. Click the Data Management Console application. 
  3. Click Visit deployed application.
  4. On the Import tab, click New import job.
  5. On the New import page, enter the information in the following fields:

    Field

    Description

    Example

    Import job name

    Specify a name of the import job.

    221_Import data.png

    Import job description

    Provide a description for the import job.

    Data file

    Specify whether you want to import a .xlsx file or a ZIP file.

    Archived worksheet file name

    This field is displayed only if you have selected to import a ZIP file. The zip folder can contain other related files with other file types such
    as .png file and more than one .xlsx file.

    Enter the name of the .xlsx file that must be uploaded. 

    BMC Helix Innovation Studio processes only the .xlsx file from the zip folder that is mentioned in this field.To upload a file, browse and select the file.

    Important: You can upload only one .xlsx file or a zip folder at a time. 

  6. (Optional) To import the data without handling duplicates and mapping the files, click Quick data import.
    The file is imported and ready for loading the custom data.

    Important

    • If you are importing data previously exported by Data Management Console in another environment, you can use Quick data import option to avoid the time required to create the field mappings.
    • If you select the Quick data import option, by default the generating new ID for all records option is applied to create new records. While creating new records, the values in the ID field from the excel sheet are used.
      If the IDs already exist in the database, then the new records are created by using new IDs.
  7. To import the custom record data, define field mapping, and handle duplicate records, click Next.
    The file with custom record data is uploaded, and the New import page lists all the tabs from the uploaded excel file. 
  8. Perform the following steps for each of the tabs on the New Import page:
    1. On the Data mapping tab, enter the following details:

      Field

      Description

      Example

      Definition

      Select one of the definition types:

      • Record
      • Association

      221_Define mapping.png

      Add mapping

      Select the fields from the uploaded file to manually map them to the relevant fields in the target record definition. Select the target record definition or record association to which you want to map the fields from the uploaded file.

      Make sure that you add all the required fields of the selected definition to the mapping list. BMC Helix Innovation Studio does not store empty values in the required fields. 

      Important: If you select the Auto Mapping option, and all the source fields map with the target fields, the record definition or record association name is auto-populated in the Select Target field. You cannot remove the fields added in the list. 

      Auto mapping

      Map all fields from the uploaded file to all the corresponding fields in the selected target record definition.Important: If a source field name from the uploaded file matches with a corresponding field in the target record or association, those fields are auto-mapped.

      All non-matching fields must be manually mapped.

    2. Click Duplicate handling and enter the following details:

      Field

      Description

      Example

      Handle duplicates by

      Define how to handle duplicate records. Select one of the following options:

      • generating new ID for all records—Imports the record with a new ID.
      • generating new ID for duplicate records—Imports the record with new ID if the record already exists.
      • rejecting duplicate records—If the record exists, logs a warning. If record does not exist, creates a record with the specified ID.
      • replacing existing records—If the record exists, replaces (deletes and re-creates) the record with the specified ID. If the record does not exist, creates a record with the specified ID.
      • updating existing records with new data—If the record exists, updates the records with fields from the imported file. If the record does not exist, imports the records.

      221_Handle duplicates.png

      Match duplicates by

      Select from the list of fields with which you can match the duplicate record.

      The fields are listed from the Target fields defined in the Data mapping tab.

      Important: You can match the duplicate fields only by fields available in target fields.

    3. Click Options and enter the following details:

      Field

      Description

      Example

      Data Options

      Select the option to format the uploaded custom data.

      • Remove leading spaces and tabs—Specifies that all leading white spaces and tabs are removed from the imported data.
      • Remove trailing spaces and tabs—Specifies that all trailing white spaces are removed from the imported data.
      • Truncate strings exceeding field limit—Specifies that the data is truncated when it exceeds the length limit provided for the field in the excel sheet.

      221_Define other options.png

      Date format

      Select the date format. The options are:

      • dd/MM/yy
      • dd/MM/yyyy
      • MM/dd/yy
      • yyyy/MM/dd
      • yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss:SSSZ
        For example:
        2020-04-27T21:24:01:000+0000
        To set time zone as GMT.
        2020-04-27T11:12:13:000+0530
        To set time zone as IST (GMT+05:30) .

Important

  • yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss:SSSZ is a format for date/time field type. If the imported record has the field type as date, make sure that the format for the date field is yyyy-MM-dd.
  • Make sure that the type of the excel cell is text for the date or date/time string.
  1. Click Save.

To load the custom data 

After you upload the custom record data to BMC Helix Innovation Studio, you must run the data load process to load the data in your application.

  1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Workspace tab.
  2. Click the Data Management Console application. 
  3. Click Visit deployed application
  4. Click Import.
  5. Select the imported file that you want to load, and click Load data to trigger the data load process. 

    You can select multiple files for loading at one time; each file is considered a separate job and is processed individually. 

    Warning

    The data load operation is memory intensive, and any uploads that run longer than an hour are not processed. Make sure that you upload the data in smaller batches and then run the data jobs for each spreadsheet.

The Status column on the Import tab displays the status of the imported data. To view the status message, click View in the Status message column. 

The following image displays the sample status message screen:

221_Import status.png

After the process is complete, the status of the process is displayed for each spreadsheet on the Status column. The status can be one of the following:

  • New
  • Processing
  • Processed
  • Errored
  • Processed with Errors
  • Queued
  • Stopping
  • Stopped
  • Rollover Stopped
  • Upgrade Stopped

To download the processed imported data, click the file name in the Data load result column.

To delete the import request, select the import request, and click Delete.

To clone the import configuration

  1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Workspace tab. 
  2. Click the Data Management Console application. 
    The details for Data Management Console application are displayed.
    221_IS datamgmtconsole.png
  3. Click Visit deployed application.
  4. Click Import.
  5. Select the import request that you want to clone, and click Clone configuration.

To archive the imported file

  1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Workspace tab. 
  2. Click the Data Management Console application. 
    The details for Data Management Console application are displayed.
    221_IS datamgmtconsole.png
  3. Click Visit deployed application.
  4. Click Import.
  5. Select the file that you want to archive, and click Archive.
  6. To view all the archived files, click Filter, select Archived > True.

 

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