Import Criteria
In this manual, you will learn how to set the basic import criteria. Criteria specific to each type of data import can be found in the manuals focused on these types of imports.
You set the import criteria in the property bar on the left.
In this manual, you will find an explanation of these criteria:
- Name
- Header line count
- String value for TRUE
- Measure unit
- Matching attribute
- Create new products
- Set new products for planogramming
The criteria specific for the CSV import:
Criteria used for importing a file from Excel (xlsx)
- Name
Name the data import here. The name is only relevant if you are saving the import criteria to the library.
- Header line count
If you have a header in the imported file that serves as the name of each column, you must ensure that this header is not imported with the items in the file. Therefore, you must set the number of rows in the header to 1 (if the header is only one row).
- String value for TRUE
Applies to properties that are marked with a checked / unchecked box. If you also import such properties, you must choose what Quant will consider the check box.
For example, if you fill in the imported file Yes for products for which this property applies, you must fill in "Yes" in this line.
- Measure unit
If you are importing dimensions, for example, you need to see in which unit you have them listed in the file and then select the correct unit (mm, cm, ...) in the Dimension unit criterion.
- Matching attribute
It is necessary to select the attribute according to which the imported data will be paired with the data in Quant.
- Create new products
If you are importing products that are not yet based in Quant, you must select the Create new products check box. If you do not check it, Quant will ignore these products and will not be imported.
- Set new products for planogramming
If you are importing new products and want to use these products to create planograms, you must select the Set New Products for Planogramming check box.
- Products marked Planogramming: You can see and create them when creating a planogram.
- Products not marked For planograms: Products are not visible in the table of products when creating a planogram until you manually reset this flag in the product properties in the Products tab. This option is used, for example, in cases where you do not yet know the dimensions of the products, so it does not make sense to create planograms from them.
Criteria used when importing a file from CSV
If you are importing a CSV file, in addition to the criteria described above, you will probably need to set other criteria:
- Character set
In this criterion, set a character set that ensures that you see the accented characters correctly in Source Preview and Import Preview. The most commonly used character set is UTF-8 and windows-1250. Furthermore, McRoman (in OS X) or windows-1251 and windows-1252 are sometimes used.
- Decimal point
If you use a delimiter other than a comma to separate the decimal places in the imported file, you must change this setting in this criterion.
- Date format
Here you set the format in which you enter the dates in the imported file. Verify that you have selected the correct format in the criteria in the Import Preview in any of the columns showing the date.
- Column separator
You must set a column separator based on exactly what file format you are importing. Therefore, if you are importing a delimited CSV file, you must set the ; character. For example, it is possible to import a text file into Quant, where a tab can be used as a delimiter, but there are several other options. If you set the column separator correctly, then you will see the columns in the source preview exactly as in the CSV file.
- Escaping
If there is a column separator character in the file even within an attribute value (for example in the product name, description, etc.), escaping must be used when exporting the file. Then, in the imported file, the values in the columns will be delimited by an escape character. To avoid importing the escape character, check the Escaping option in Quant.
- Escape character
If escaping is used in the file, it is necessary to set the Escape character correctly - quotation marks are most often used. If you set the escape character correctly, then you will see values without the escape character in the source preview.
We import a file that contains only these 3 properties: ID, name and description, and these properties are separated by a semicolon. However, there is also a semicolon in the description, so it is necessary to use escaping to prevent the description from tearing into several parts during import.
Example product in the file: 23425543; Cheese with nuts; Contains hazelnuts; walnuts; milk; sugar; pepper.
The escaping character must be added to the file (eg "): 23425543; Cheese with nut "contains hazelnuts; walnuts; milk; sugar; pepper."