Import Alternates

This feature allows for the importing of global level alternate information into the Unanet system.

Roles

This screen is available to users having any of the following roles: Administrator and P&R Administrator

License

This feature is available with any Unanet edition.

Performance Tip Note: Depending on the number of users in your installation and other factors such as the overall performance of your platform, the activity of importing one or many files may take up to several minutes. Should this be the case with your installation, you may want to consider running these processes at non-peak times to minimize database contention.

Topics covered on this help page include:

Import File Record Layout (field by field descriptions)
Import File Format (note about csv layout and option to import a subset of columns using header values)
Excel Template (spreadsheet template containing column headings)
Import Screen (invoking the import via the user interface)

Import File Record Layout

		Field Header Name	Required/Comments
1	A	Username	ALWAYS REQUIRED. This is the username (userid) of the person you would like to define as another users alternate. This userid must already exist in the database. If this userid does not exist, the entire record will be rejected.
2	B	Alternate_For_Username	ALWAYS REQUIRED. This is the username (userid) of the person for whom you would like to define an alternate. This userid must already exist in the database. If this userid does not exist, the entire record will be rejected.
3	C	Role	ALWAYS REQUIRED. This field will indicate which role the alternate association is being defined. The valid values include: billingManager billingViewer customer expenseUser manager projectApprover projectLead projectManager projectViewer resourceAssigner resourcePlanner resourceRequestor timesheetUser viewer Note that you can only include one role per import record line. If you need to assign an individual user as an alternate for more than one role, or you need to assign an individual as an alternate for multiple users for a single role, you will need to include several lines to the import file for each distinct association.
4	D	Delete	This field can be used to trigger the system to delete an Alternate association. In order for the delete to happen, you must include the following text string !DELETE! in this field.

Related Properties

Note that the following properties may influence your ability to associate a particular user as an alternate for a specific role:

Note: Each role within Unanet can have its ability to support alternates removed, though you will need to contact Unanet Support for assistance in configuring this option directly in your database.

Check out the Unanet Data model for specific field data types, lengths, and other attributes.

Import File Format

The file to import must be saved in a comma delimited format. The fields can be enclosed in double quotes -- which would be particularly necessary should the data being imported contain commas.

Importing a Sub-Set of Columns using a Field Header Record

If you are not using the default column layout sequence as defined above, you must include a header record (prefixed with an asterisk *), containing the column Header Names for those columns you are including in the import file (to indicated what data is contained in each column). The specific Header Names for each column are listed in the table above.

Excel Template

You can create the comma delimited import file with any number of tools. For those interested in using an Excel spreadsheet to create the file, you can download an Excel Template with predefined headers and required fields noted.

See the Excel Tips regarding the use of double quotes and more.

Import Screen

The Import Alternates screen simply looks like:

Field Descriptions:

Field	Description
Type of Import	Select the appropriate import type from the list of available types of imports.
File to Import	Enter (or browse for) the file that you would like to import.
Output Options	Specify the level of detail included in the output.

The import process is triggered by pressing the Import button. All Warnings and Error messages are written to the screen and can then be saved if desired. While some line items may be found invalid and rejected, the remaining line items will be successfully imported and saved in the database. The rejected line items will be written out to a file on the Unanet server as well as displayed at the bottom of the user feedback screen. The rejected record file name will be UnanetAlternatesImportErrorxxx, where xxx is a randomly generated number. The file will be placed in the Unanet temporary directory (which is defined by the Temp Directory (Fully Qualified Directory Name) (unanet.temp_directory) Unanet property).