Creating import templates with FastMap

Applies to: All deployment types

The quickest way to create a FastMap data load template is to export data for an object type into a Microsoft Excel workbook.

You can use that workbook to modify the data, and then use FastMap to import the modified data into the IBM OpenPages® application.

The data that is exported to a workbook by FastMap

When you export object data, the resulting Microsoft Excel workbook has the following characteristics:
  • Object fields that are displayed in an object’s Admin View are exported to a corresponding worksheet in the workbook. However, fields that are included in the Other fields section of the Admin tab don't appear when doing a FastMap export.
  • Each object field is represented by a column on the worksheet.
  • FastMap exports fields in the order they appear in the Admin View of the object. If no Admin View exists, fields are not exported in any specific order.
  • The header row in the worksheet contains labels for each object field. However, if the useSystemNames export template parameter is set to TRUE or if duplicate labels exist in the current locale, there are two header rows. The first header row contains full system names in the format <Field Group>.<Field Name>, and the second header row contains labels for each object field.

    For information about the useSystemNames export template parameter, see Parameters for importing and exporting data.

  • The plural label of the exported object type is displayed on the worksheet tab in the workbook.
    Note: For compatibility with Microsoft Excel, FastMap removes the following special characters from a plural label on the worksheet tab: 
     /    \    ?    *    :    [   ]

    For example, if the localized plural label of Risk object types is /Risks10*, the tab on the exported worksheet would be Risks10.

  • Text fields are exported to Microsoft Excel as text cells.
  • In the default IBM OpenPages export template, the special Delete column and the three Parent columns are hidden on the object type worksheet.

    See Table 1 for details.

  • The Definition worksheet is included in the workbook and populated, by default, with the profileName, locale, exportDate, and ignoreReadOnlyWarnings parameters.

    See Using the Definition worksheet in FastMap for details.

The spreadsheet file name characters that are exported by FastMap

When you export object data for an object type, the file name of the exported spreadsheet is derived from the plural label of the object type. If the plural label of the object type contains special characters, these special characters might be removed from the spreadsheet file name by the operating system, which causes a mismatch between the object type label and the file name. Special characters in a file name are constrained to characters allowed by the operating system.

For more information, see the IBM OpenPages User Guide .

For additional information about special characters in the exported spreadsheet, see The data that is exported to a workbook by FastMap.

Defining property fields for objects in FastMap templates

The number and type of object field columns in a FastMap template for an object type are optional and depend on the type of data you want to import.

Follow these general rules for defining object fields:

  • Each object field that you want to update for a selected object type requires a separate column on the worksheet.
  • You must use localized column names and values.
  • All object field columns follow the path definition columns as described in Table 1.

For more information about working with object fields, see Guidelines for entering object data into FastMap templates.

Guidelines for entering object data into FastMap templates

The following are some general rules to follow when you enter object data into a FastMap data load template.

Associating child objects

To associate child object to parent objects, use the following columns:

  • Parent Object Types - This localized column identifies the type of parent to which you are associating the record. For example, Business Entity or Risk.
  • Parent Objects - This localized column identifies the name of the parent object to which you are associating the record.

Naming objects

If the Title field is enabled for an object type, FastMap expects the worksheet to include Name.ID and Name.Title columns.

If the Title field is not enabled for an object type, FastMap expects the worksheet to include a Name column.

Auto-naming

FastMap can override auto-naming. If auto-naming is enabled for an object and the Name column is excluded or left blank, the system assigns a name. If auto-naming is enabled for an object and a value exists in the Name (or Name.ID) column, that value is imported as the name.

Currency fields

For each currency field that you include in your template, you must use a special column syntax that defines the local currency code, the amount, and exchange rate of that currency data.

Where:

<field name> in Table 1 represents the name of a currency field for a specified object.

Table 1. Column syntax for currency fields
Use this column syntax... To define...
<field name>.Amount The amount that is based on the local currency code.
<field name>.Currency The local currency code of the data being entered.
<field name>.Exchange Rate The exchange rate to apply when calculating the value in the System Base Currency.
Note:
  • This field is optional.
  • If an exchange rate is not specified in the template or if the exchange rate is read only in the profile, it uses the default exchange rate set in the application.
  • When you enter data where the Local Currency Code is the same as the System Base Currency Code, this column must not be populated.
Note: If the following currency-related fields are included on a worksheet, these fields are ignored during import:

Base Amount (this value is a derived value)

Base Code (this value is set globally)

Enumerated multivalued selection fields

When entering data for enumerated drop-down or multivalued selection fields, only localized values are valid.

Each selection value must be entered on a separate line within the same worksheet cell.

Note: To enter data for multiple values in the same worksheet cell, press the Alt+Enter keys simultaneously on your keyboard (after you type the value) to enter a Microsoft Excel line break.
For example, you have a multivalued enumerated field that is called Domain with the following selection values: Compliance, Operational, Technology, Financial Management, Internal Audit. The following table shows how data that contains multiple values for the Domain field might look in the worksheet.
Table 2. Example of a multivalued selection field
Domain
Compliance
ComplianceInternal Audit
OperationalTechnologyFinancial Management
Internal Audit
ComplianceOperationalFinancial ManagementTechnology
Technology

Adding custom columns and worksheets to FastMap templates

You can add user-defined columns to a worksheet or user-defined worksheets to FastMap templates.

Each custom column that you add to a worksheet must have a heading name, and each custom worksheet that you add to a workbook must have a worksheet name.

So that FastMap does not try to validate any user-defined columns or worksheets, you must add the following parameters to the Definition worksheet:

  • ignoreColumns - use for any user-defined columns and specify each heading name. For example, "column1;column2".
  • ignoreSheets - use for any user-defined columns and specify the worksheet names. For example, "sheet1;sheet2".

See Using the Definition worksheet in FastMap for a sample Definition worksheet, and Parameters for importing and exporting data for more parameters.