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Master Data Loader Hints and Tips#

Template#

Some of the most demanding tasks to populate and upload Master Data is the correct preparation of the data sources and also the relationships between the entities within the Excel sheets. Due to the sheer number of possible objects that can be loaded by the Master Data Loader tool, the scenarios used to create and load a template file into the system without any problems are too varied to be properly described, so here are a few hints and tips that any user may take into account when starting out:

  • Trim all leading and lagging spaces from the labels of any data element.
  • Use Name and Description when generating new entities.
  • It is recommended that preparing the source data should be done in an Excel spreadsheet, using columns matching the already existing columns in the Master Data template. If there are columns in the Master Data template that you do not want to populate, insert blank columns in your source spreadsheet in the same index of those same columns in order to facilitate copy and paste operations and prove easier to manage.
  • Regarding entity names, try to use a short and consistent format. Avoid special characters (@, &, #, !, among others) in the actual Name of the entity in order to maximize compatibility. If it is essential to use special characters, use them in the Description field.
  • Many entities use values from the LookupTableValues tab. Prepare your Lookup tables in advance so that the values are available to be inserted into the entity sheets.
  • In terms of Smart Tables, updating values is only allowed for the cases where the property Multiple Values for Same Key is defined as false.
  • Populate tabs that have dependencies in the proper sequence and keep the tabs together so you can move easily in the file, for example:
    • Calendar, ShiftDefinition and ShiftDefinitionShift
    • Facility and Area
    • Service and Resource
    • Checklist, ChecklistItems and ChecklistParameters
    • Step, Flow, Flow structure
    • Product, BOM, BOMProducts
    • DataCollection, DataCollectionParameters, DataCollectionLimitSet
  • Data Collections, Checklist and Protocols use Parameters, so prepare the Parameters Tab before working on the mentioned entities

  • The Data Collection Limit Sets are populated as a collection of concatenated strings of several fields from the parameters. Use a formula to concatenate the fields to improve data entry and avoid typos. Example:

    • Parameter string: =CONCATENATE("Parameter[",B15,"] LimitType[Absolute] LowerErrorLimit[",L15,"] LowerWarningLimit[Null] Target[",M15,"] UpperWarningLimit[Null] UpperErrorLimit[",N15,"]")

      Tips1

    • Limit Set string collection: =CONCATENATE(P15,";",P16)

      Tips2

  • If you want to create a relation between versioned entities, use the EntityTypeProperty sheet to define whether the Source or Target entities belong to the version, to the definition or to the complete entity. The Reference Type field in that sheet defines that relationship and has three possible options:

    • EntityDefinition
    • EntityVersion
    • Entity