Import Data into a Contract Management Project Overview

How can the Import function help me?

When you have large amounts of data to enter in a Contract Management module, or data that you enter regularly, it may be easier to do so in Excel. In order to do this, you must first create an export file (see Export Data from a Contract Management Project) in either the CSV Spreadsheet with Headers or CSV Spreadsheet format. Contract Management supplies the correct structure when you run the export. After you create the export file, you can open it, enter or update the data in the file, and save it. You can then use the import function to populate the appropriate module with the added or updated information.

You can import data from comma separated values (CSV Spreadsheet with Headers or CSV Spreadsheet) to insert and update data for the modules (see Modules for which you can insert or update data below). The import file must contain specific column names on the first line of the CSV file being imported.

Guidelines for preparing import files:

You must have access rights to import. This right is set by selecting the Can Import option on the User Account – Edit Window window in the Contract Management Administration Application.
You cannot import fields that cannot be edited on screen.
The first row of the import file must be a "header" row that contains the column names for the data to be imported.
Spec sections will be imported across all projects when you select a project. Contacts can be imported into a group or a project based on the settings in the Companies tab of the Project Settings Dialog Box.
Each data line must have the same number of columns as the header row. If these criteria are not true for any line in the import, no data will be imported from that file.
Do not include blank lines or documents in the import file.
The import file can contain both master and detail column information in the same row. Master and detail columns can be interspersed.
- If the same column name appears for both the master and detail table, the first occurrence of that column will be placed in the master table, and the second in the detail table.
  For example, both submittal packages and submittals contain a column for 'title,' so there must be two title columns in the header for the data to be placed in both the package and the submittal.
Import files must include all key fields for the type of data imported; for example, import files for the Company Directory must include the contact initials. Key fields are identified in the following table.
To import unit items, you must include at least one column along with the master row. The item number will increment automatically if the unit item number is not included.

Modules for which you can insert or update data:


Imported Data	Key Field Name
Contact Directory*	vendor_abbrev (for contact master data) initials (for contact address data)
Cost Worksheet	cost_code
Submittals**	package_number (for submittal packages) submittal_no (for submittal master data)
Spec Sections	section_value
Drawings	drawing_number
Notepads	note_pad item_number
Punchlists	punch_list_name item_number
Request for Information	item_type to_vendor from_vendor change_number
Contracts/POs Contract/PO Unit Items	to_vendor from_vendor document_number
Daily Reports	vendor_abbrev vendor_abbrev_ini report_date report_period
Notices	item_type to_vendor from_vendor change_number
Procurements	spec_section title purchase_type csi_division cost_code_key
Each contact initials and address row must be associated with a contact. Each of these rows must contain the vendor_abbrev of the contact with which the initials belong. *You can only import submittals that are part of submittal packages. If importing only submittal master data, you must include a column for the package_number of the submittal package to which the submittal belongs.

Import Data into a Contract Management Project Overview

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