HiFinance
4
SECTION
3.5.5.2 - SPECIAL PRICING MASTER-FILE ASCII IMPORT
USAGE: To import a file containing,
all or a subset, of new or changed information to be posted to the Inventory
Special Pricing master-file. The input file is required to be in a very
strictly stylised format so that HiFinance can allocate data to the correct
fields on the correct Inventory records.
DISCUSSION: Make sure that you have a good backup of your data
and that no-one is using HiFinance during the update. HiFinance may not update
the files as you expected and the only completely safe way to correct the
mistake is to restore your data from backup.
Note: Unlike other ASCII Import programs, this program
requires that all fields must be present. This is because the information must
be validated and crosschecked. The validation is the same as that in the SPECIAL
PRICING MAINTENANCE (see SECTION 3.5.1).
The import file required must be called spricemf.csv, although case is not important in Windows. This
file must reside in your data directory, eg \HF4DATA\COMP1. Also, the file must not be in use. This is
important because if you have created the file from a spreadsheet and have
saved it but not closed it, the file will still be locked by the spreadsheet
program and HiFinance will not be able to open it.
The input file must be in CSV format. This is a
comma-delimited file (without quotes) with one record per line.
Exporting from Excel, choosing the CVS format, will produce the correct format
automatically. Each alphanumeric field must be left justified. HiFinance will
make no attempt to remove leading spaces (for names, etc.). Numeric fields
should not have any dollar signs or commas. Do not use commas in any
alpha fields. These will be treated as a field break and HiFinance will
not import the row correctly. A blank cell will be treated as a valid entry,
thus a blank alpha cell will clear the corresponding field in the master-file
and a blank numeric cell will reset the corresponding field in the master-file
to zero. Thus if you do not wish to change a field, either delete the row,
delete the column or make sure that the cell contains the same information as
the field in the master-file currently has.
The first line of the input file must contain only
field names. These fields are mostly identical to those exported using SPECIAL
PRICING ASCII EXPORT (see SECTION 3.5.4.2).
In fact the easiest way to create the initial file is to export it first using
this program with the headings option turned on. This also has the advantage of
accurately exporting the current information. There are some fields available
in the Export program that are not required in the Import program. These must
be removed before importing. The full list is detailed below. Note the use of
the underscore character instead of spaces. This format must be copied exactly.
INVENTORY_CODE
DEBTOR_CODE
SPECIAL_PRICE
START-ON
STOP-ON
NORMAL_PRICE
Notes:
1)
The
order of the columns is not important but they must not appear more than once.
2)
All
columns must be present.
3)
If
you try to import the raw file form the ASCII EXPORT program, it will
not read in successfully unless you choose to export with comma
delimiters between fields and without quotes around fields (numeric and
alphanumeric). This can be set in the options part of the export program.
Normally this is not the way this function is used, the purpose of this
function being to manipulate the file in a spreadsheet program and importing
the result.
4)
All fields are verified on import. You must
enter valid information. For the field that are validated, invalid data will be
ignored.
5)
Dates
must be in the format dd/mm/yyyy, which is the default export for Excel. Leading
zeros are ignored, eg 1/1/2005 will work just as well as 01/01/2005 or 1/01/2005 but not 01012005.
6)
A
Debtor code * will be taken as meaning all Debtors to get the special price
for the chosen Inventory code.
When the program starts, it will firstly check
whether the import file exists and is accessible. Having established this,
HiFinance will read the first line of the file and check for its correctness.
If no obvious errors are found, you will be asked to confirm that you have made
a backup and then you will be asked to confirm that you wish to proceed.
You will be asked if you wish to clear the current
file. If you wish to just update a few entries or add to the existing file,
answer NO. Otherwise, if you wish to completely replace the current SPECICAL
PRICING file with the new data, answer YES.
HiFinance will then read import lines one at a time
confirming firstly that the INVENTORY_CODE field corresponds to an Inventory code and that the
DEBTOR-CODE refers to a Debtor and write or relace the fields and records, as
defined by the columns you have chosen. If an invalid or blank row is
encountered, it will be skipped. HiFinance will continue processing until it
reaches the end of the import program. Finally the import file will be renamed
to spricemf.old (to stop you from accidentally rerunning the program with used data)
before returning you the MAIN MENU.
