in the File Location field to select an alternate file location. If you choose the second option, leave the File Location field blank and use the File Upload Manager to upload the input file to the Costpoint database.The Import Items preprocessor is an add-on product that you can use to upload item information (parts, services, or goods) from flat ASCII text files into Costpoint. This preprocessor also updates item information for existing rows if the input file has a value for a column. However, if an input file field is null, the existing database columns in Costpoint that apply are not deleted or changed to null. You can specify the network location and name of the input file, and the application performs all necessary database and business rule validation.
If you select the Separate Items By Company check box in the Corporate Settings block of the Configure Product Definition Settings screen, Costpoint assigns your company ID to your newly processed items and saved parameters, based on the company logged into when the process was executed. Users logged into other companies cannot modify or delete these items or parameters. If you select the Separate Items by Company check box, you can have two item records in the database with the same ID (and revisions, if you also selected the Allow Multiple Revisions for Each Item check box in the Corporate Settings block of the Configure Product Definition Settings screen), as long as the items are linked to different companies. If you are modifying or deleting an item, item record, or its related data, the company ID must be the same for both your user ID and the item ID.
If you do not select the Separate Items by Company check box, all items in the database are available to users in all companies, and two items cannot coexist with the same item ID (and revision, if you also selected the Allow Multiple Revisions for Each Item check box) in the database.
Select the Plan MRP by Company check box (in the Corporate Settings block of the Configure Material Requirements Planning Settings screen) to enable MRP planning by company ID.
in the File Location field to select an alternate file location. If you choose the second option, leave the File Location field blank and use the File Upload Manager to upload the input file to the Costpoint database.You must perform the following before you run the Import Items preprocessor:
Set up the unit of measure codes referenced in the input file on the Manage Units of Measure screen.
Set up the commodity codes referenced in the input file on the Manage Commodity Codes screen.
Set up the product classification codes referenced in the input file on the Manage Product Classifications screen.
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 are also included in the saved parameter ID if there are any. You can change any of the associated selection defaults as necessary.
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 in the screen, such
as PERIOD or QUARTERLY.
When you save your record, all the selections made in 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 in the screen, you can override the defaults.
Enter, or click to select, a parameter
description of up to 30 alphanumeric characters.
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.
or
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.
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.
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, the Part 2 (PRT2) record format's maximum line length (that is, the entire input file) is a total of 689 characters and the last character of meaningful data is in position 90, you do not need to add the remaining 599 spaces. However, let's say that the Commodity Code (beginning at position 100 on the input file) is five characters long. You must include the Commodity Code plus three additional spaces before entering the Make or Buy Code beginning in position number 108. Please refer to the Processing Details section for additional information.
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.
If you selected Other in the File Delimiter field, enter the delimiter here.
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 Generate Error 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. The TIMESTAMP field at the end of each record indicates the date on which the file was created.
Select this check box to produce an ASCII error file listing the input file records not processed.
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.