Select Data Source

Previous Topic: Importing Data into ServiceCEO

The first step of importing data into ServiceCEO is to select the data file that contains the information you want to import. Typically, this is

This is done on the first page of the Data Import Wizard. Accessing the Data Import Wizard varies depending on the type of data that you want to import:

To import customers, select Tools > Customer Import from the Customer list.
To import ZIP Codes, select Tools > Import ZIP Codes from any tab of the Zone Manager.
To import inventory, open the Parts Catalog tab for the Vendor whose Catalog you want to add to or update and click Import Parts.

Regardless of how you access it, the Data Import Wizard appears.

The Data Source Configuration wizard will enable you to choose the file that contains the data you want to import and configure it for importation into ServiceCEO. There are three basic types of files:

Importing Data from a Text File

The following text file formats can be imported into ServiceCEO:

Fixed-width text files (*.TXT). A text file where your values are separated by a fixed distance (i.e., five spaces).
Comma-delimited text files (*.CSV). Note that CSV files cannot have any spaces in the column names. If any column names contain a space, you will receive an error message.
Tab-delimited text files (*.TAB)

To configure a TXT, CSV, or TAB file:

Click Configure. The Text File Configuration dialog box appears.

Click . The Select File dialog box appears.
Navigate to and select the file you want to use.
Click OK. The file appears in the Filename field.
Select the option button corresponding to the type of file you are importing. Depending on what you select, the name of the check box in section (3) will change.
If you are importing a character-delimited file, click the First Row Contains Field Names check box if the first row of the file contains the names of the fields you are importing.
If you are importing a fixed-width file, click the Skip First Row check box to skip the first row when importing data. Typically this is done if the first row contains the names of the import fields.
Click Next. The second page of the Text File Configuration dialog box appears. Depending on the option you selected in step 5, the screen will appear differently:


The second page of the Text File Configuration dialog box, if you selected Character-delimited file	The second page of the Text File Configuration dialog box, if you selected Fixed-width
Select the option button corresponding to the character that separates the values in your file. Click Next. The third page of the Text File Configuration dialog box appears, displaying the data separated by their fields.	Click Add. A new row appears. Type a name for the row. Type the length of the fixed-width segment. Repeat the above steps until all segments have been defined. Click Next. The third page of the Text File Configuration dialog box appears, displaying the data separated by their fields.

Review your information. If you are importing a fixed-width file and you need to adjust your column widths, click Back and make any necessary adjustments.

Tip!

Tip:
Be sure to scroll to the right to view all of the available fields.
Note that you can edit the column headers by clicking into the header and editing the name of the field.

Click Finish. The first page of the Data Import Wizard reappears.
Click Next>. The second page of the Data Import Wizard appears. Continue by following the steps in the Mapping Fields section.

Importing Data from a Microsoft Access file

To import inventory data from an Access database (a .MDB file):

From the first page of the Inventory Data Import Wizard, select the Import data from an Access database option button.
Click Configure. The MS Access Database Configuration dialog box appears.

Click . The Select File dialog box appears.
Navigate to and select the MS Access database file (*.MDB) you want to import.
Click Open. The file path appears in the Filename field.
Enter the optional security properties, if necessary.
Click Next>. The second page of the MS Access Database Configuration dialog box appears.

Select the option button corresponding to the query or table you want to use.

Note!

Note:
The table or query you select in this dialog box will control the data that is imported from the database. If the database contains more than one table, you can select the table you want to import from the drop-down list. If you want to limit the data you import, you can select or enter a query.

Select or enter the table or query you want to use.
Click Next>. The third page of the MS Access Database Configuration dialog box appears, previewing your data.
Verify this information is correct. If not, click <Back to edit your import settings.
Click Finish. The data will be imported.

Importing Data from a Import Configuration File

To import inventory from a previous import file (.XML):

Tip!

Tip:
See the Preview Import section for details on saving an import file

Click the Load a previous Import Configuration File option button.
Click Load. A Select File dialog box appears.
Navigate to and select the appropriate .XML file.
Click Open.
Click Next>. The second page of the Inventory Data Import Wizard appears. Continue by following the steps in the Mapping Fields section.

Next Topic: Mapping Fields

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