Contents of the Import Sales Orders Screen

Use the fields and options to configure the Import Sales Orders 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

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.

    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.
File Name

Enter, or click to select, the name of the file to be processed.

Note:

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.

Deltek recommends using .TXT and .CSV file-naming conventions.

Field Description
File Format

Please refer to Input File and Error File Layout for additional information regarding input file and error file processing.

From the drop-down list, select one of two file formats to process. Valid options are:

  • Delimited: Select this option if each field in the input file is separated by a comma or other user-defined symbol, as indicated in the File Delimiter field. You do not need to include a comma (or user-defined symbol) after the last field entry in the input file.
  • Fixed Length: Select this option if each field in the input file is a fixed length (as described in Input File and Error File Layout) and must be filled with either an appropriate character or a space to the specified width.
File Delimiter

If you select the Delimited input file format, from the drop-down list, select the delimiter.

  • Comma: Select this option if the fields in the input file are separated by commas.
  • Other: If the fields in the input file are separated by some character other than a comma, select this option and enter the character in the Other Delimiter field.
Other Delimiter

If you select  the Other option in the File Delimiter field, enter the character to be used as a delimiter.

Note: You must not enter a character that is used for data in the input file. For example, you would not use a hyphen as a delimiter because date fields also contain hyphens. When the preprocessor encounters the declared delimiter, it interprets the delimiter as the end of the input field.

Error Handling

Use the options in this group box to determine how to handle validation errors. Errors occur when an input file record is not valid, or when a condition is not met for a field that is being processed in an input file.

Field Description
If errors are encountered on the input file

From the drop-down list, select one of the following options to determine how the preprocessor should proceed if an error occurs:

  • Process Valid Records: The preprocessor continues to process all sales orders that do not have errors.
  • Process No Records: The preprocessor does not process any records in the file.
Generate Error File

Select this check box to produce an error report, after you execute the preprocessor, that lists all validation errors and an ASCII error file. The error file has the same filename as the original input file, but with an extension of .ERR, and the file contains all input rows that are in error. You can correct this error file, rename it, and reprocess it until all rows pass. The program inserts the time into the TIMESTAMP field at the end of each record, indicating the most recent instance in which the file was created.

Rename Input File

Select this check box to rename the input file with an extension of .OLD after the process completes.

Generate Audit Report

This check box is selected by default to produce an audit report of all sales orders that have been processed. If you do not want to run an audit report, deselect the check box.

Process/Import

Use to select an option for processing and importing sales orders. Select one of the following options:

  • Import Sales Orders: Click this option to import sales orders from an input file. This action allows you to read the input file, validate the data, and insert or update the sales order tables. A batch mode option is also available.
  • Print/Import Sales Orders: Click this option to import and print sales orders from an input file. This action allows you to read the input file, validate the data, and insert or update the sales order tables, and print the error report if applicable. A batch mode option is also available.

You can also refer to Processing Details for further information.

Process/Print

Use to read the input file, validate the data, insert or update the sales order tables, and print the error report, if applicable.