Import Specifications
You can use this import specification to import data directly or you can process the import specification in further detail in the Define Import Specifications function. Regardless of how you define the import specification, you import the external data file from the same menu, that is, Transfer/External Data/Import External Data. You can create specifications on the basis of an existing data file from an external system.
To define an import specification you can enter such items as:
- Which existing data file the import specification is based on.
- File Format and Separator character.
- How many times the same file is loaded.
- Whether certain reconciliations must be performed when importing the external file.
- How values from the external file are imported and interpreted, that is, from which rows in the data files various values are retrieved.
- Whether data is to be translated into other structure codes, by connecting a lookup table to the import specification, before it is saved in IBM® Cognos Controller.
- Whether and how data is processed using operations before being saved in Cognos Controller.
Separator Characters
Separator characters determine which character is used to separate the values in the data file, and which characters are used to denote decimals and as a thousand separator. The characters depend on which language version of Windows you are running. Sometimes you have to use trigraph symbols to describe the separator, for example if you are using tab characters as separators.
Example: If you enter a period (.) as the decimal point and a comma (,) as a thousand separator, this means that the values in the data file are saved in the following format: 12,453.50.
Several Data Columns
Depending on how the data file is structured and how many columns with values the file contains, you may need to load the same file several times to retrieve all of the data. If the same file has to be loaded several times, each loading process is called a loop. You must define both the position of the information and the loop number for each loop.
Example: If the file contains accumulated values for 12 months on each row, the file will be read 12 times.
Compulsory Entries
The following fields are mandatory:
- Period
- Actuality
- Company
- Currency
- Account
- Amount
When you define each field you specify from where the value for the field should be loaded, i.e. the source, and if the value should be processed in some way, for example be converted by using a lookup table or be multiplied by a factor.