Description

Use this page to create and import custom import formats.


Formats are available to all companies on your customer code.

Usage

Creating an Import Format

  1. Click New
  2. Enter a name for the format in Import Format 
  3. Click Save

The following options may be set:

  1. Ignore Blanks - This is checked by default. If unchecked, blank fields will no longer be ignored. E.G. a blank Address 1 field will update the value to be blank.
  2. Ignore Headers - Column headers are checked by default. Uncheck this to ignore. The correct number of columns is still required.
  3. Locked - This currently stops a format from being deleted. This may be updated to fully lock the format.


Once saved, columns may be added to the format.

  1. Click the required Page
  2. Drag the Field(s) to the required position or double click to add to the end.
  3. Click Save


Once saved, fields may be edited by clicking the pencil icon.


Available options will depend on the field. 

  1. Display Name - The name that will show on the file
  2. Format - Currently only for date fields. You may select an option or enter a format using the rules shown in Date Formats.
  3. Invisible - This is explained in Invisible Fields.

Save changes by clicking the Save button, click the Close button to cancel.

Delete the field by clicking the Delete button.

Selected fields may be reordered by dragging and dropping. Be sure to click the Save button immediately after.

Reviewing an Import Format

Click the Download Detail button to download a CSV showing all field settings for the current format.

Downloading a Template

Click the download button to download a template for the current format. 

Importing

Importing is a two stage process. First the file data is imported. Then the data is validated and imported. Optionally, a What If report may be run before importing.

  1. Select the format in the Import section by selecting from the list or entering part of the name to search
  2. Click the Select File button and select the CSV file.
  3. Click the Import  button


Once the file has imported, it will show as Pending in the list of Imports. Click the import button to validate and import the file.

Progress will be shown when importing the file

If the file passes validation and is imported, the Import Status will show as Imported


If there are any errors, none of the data will be imported.

What If Report

Click the purple What If report button to generate a CSV report of what would be changed if the file were imported.

When the report is ready to be downloaded, the button will turn green click the button to download.

If there are any errors, these will be shown in the same way as when importing and the report will not be generated.

Once the report has been downloaded, it will be removed.

Viewing errors

If there are any errors when validating the file during importing or generating the what if report, the import will show the Error status as above.

Click the Error status to view the error messages

Error messages may be reviewed on the page or exported to CSV.

Date Formats

Formats can be set on date columns to import different date formats. Select an example from the list or enter a format using the rules below. These are case sensitive.

  1. d - The day of the month, from 1 to 31
  2. dd - the day of the month from 01 to 31
  3. M - the month from 1 to 12
  4. MM - the month from 01 to 12
  5. MMM - the abbreviated name of the month (Jan, Feb...)
  6. MMMM - the full name of the month
  7. yy - the year from 00 to 99
  8. yyyy - the year as four digits
  9. yyyyy - the year as five digits. E.G. 02021
  10. / - the date separator
  11. Any string not in the following list may be used as a date separator
    1.  d,dd,ddd,dddd,f,ff,fff,ffff,fffff,ffffff,fffffff,F,FF,FFF,FFFF,FFFFF,FFFFFF,FFFFFFF,g,gg,h,hh,H,HH,K,m,mm,M,MM,MMM,MMMM,s,ss,t,tt,y,yy,yyy,yyyy,yyyyy,z,zz,zzz,:,/,%

Invisible Fields

Invisible fields allow fields to be set on the format that are not present in the import file. 

Using the image above as an example, the import CSV file will not contain a Workgroup column. When the file is imported, a Workgroup column will be added, all rows will be set to the Invisible Value (PAY001)

Defined Columns

Defined columns allow us to have one column for a defined pay element instead of needing to have a pay element column. They also allow us to have multiple payments, adjustments and employee pay element rates per row.


To create two defined Employee Pay columns:

  1. Select the Employee Pay Page
  2. Drag on a Pay Element field (or double click to add to the end of the list)
  3. Select the Employee Pay Page again
  4. Drag on a Pay Element field (or double click to add to the end of the list) again
  5. Click the Save button
  6. Edit the first Pay Element field
  7. Select the Basic (or any other) pay element in Field Value 
  8. Set the Display Name to Basic Period Pay
  9. Select Period Pay as the Imported Value Field

FAQ