Import vendors form

This popup form can be used to import a number of vendors into a selected organisation and can be accessed via the import icon at the bottom of the Vendors tab at the organisation view page, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 – Access via risks tab

Completing the vendors import consists of a number of phases: The import popup is shown in conjunction with each phase below, and can be used to import a number of vendors from a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file into the selected organisation. There are four steps when importing vendors:

Phase 1 – Import file

Figure 2 – Import vendors form (1)

The first phase is to select file you want to import and some details about the file, using the browse option of the import file field. You can also set the delimiter used in the file, whether the file contains a header row and whether you want to skip a certain number of rows  (e.g. if you have a surplus of lines before the header). You may also select the update existing check box if you want Psoda to match the entries in the file with existing vendors and update those. Click the Next button to move to the next step.

Phase 2 – Mapping

Figure 3 – Import vendors form (2)

Phase 2 allows you to map or specify which columns from the import file should go into which fields of the new vendors. For example the Name field allows you to select which column to import into the name field. The Description field allows you to select the description information, and so on. If the column headers already match the field names then Psoda will automatically select those, as has been done in Figure 3. If you do not want to import a particular column from the file the just select the “Do not import” option from the list. You will be given an opportunity in the next step to specify default values for any fields you do not want to import. NOTE: The name field must be unique for every vendor in this organisation so you cannot choose not to import the name. Select the Next button to move to the next step. If you have selected columns for all the fields then you will skip over the next phase (default values) and go straight to the last phase (results).

Phase 3 – Default values

Phase 3 allows you to set default values for any fields you chose not to import from the file. The fields may be the same as for creating a new vendor, but the fields present in this phase are very much dependent on which options you selected in phase 2. Click the Import vendors button to start importing the vendors.

Phase 4 – Importing…

Figure 4 – Import vendors form (3)

Phase 4 performs the actual import. You will see a progress bar that will automatically update and show you how much of the file has been imported. If you do not see automatic updates then you can force a refresh with the Refresh button. Once the import is complete the Refresh button will change to a Next button.

Phase 5 – Results

Figure 5 – Import vendors results

Once the import is completed, click on the Next button to see the results. If there were any failures while importing a table will by shown listing all of the failures including the line where the failure occurred, descriptions of the failures and the first 20 characters of the line to make it easier to identify. If any vendors were successfully imported they will be listed in a table with links allowing you to easily view the new vendors, as shown in Figure 5. The Import vendors form will remember the options that you selected for next time that you want to import more vendors.