How to Import Setup Data into an Antero 7 Database

Antero 7 provides an import feature that allows users to import setup information, such as Equipment, Parts, Tasks, Suppliers, and more.

Antero 7 Import Process

Importing setup data into an Antero 7 database is done by downloading a CSV (comma-separated-value) template, and then populating the template with the data you would like to import row-by-row, with the column order of data and the data type of each value entered being of paramount importance to ensure no errors are encountered during the import process.

Once the template has been populated, and the data has been properly formatted, the import template is used from within Antero to write the new values to the database.

This article will provide instructions for downloading an import template, populating it with data in Excel, and then performing the import in Antero 7.

Downloading the Import Template

To begin the process of importing data into your Antero 7 database, you will need to download the appropriate import template from our Dropbox account.

Please find the links to each import template below.

Once you click on one of the links, you will be taken to the Dropbox website, where you will need to click a download button to download the selected import template. Pictured below is the Equipment template as viewed on the Dropbox website, with the download button marked by a red arrow:

• Equipment
• Parts
• Tasks
• Suppliers
• Group
• Equipment Priority
• Equipment Type
• Labor Account
• Labor Class
• Labor Type
• Location
• Product Group
• Product Type
• Warehouse
• Work Priority
• Work Type

Populating an Import Template with Data

The population of an import template will be demonstrated here using the Equipment import template, and Microsoft Excel. The steps here apply to all import templates.

1. To begin, open the downloaded import template in Microsoft Excel.

The import template will have two rows. The first row can be considered a column header, and will show the acceptable type of the value that should go into each respective column, and the maximum length of each value, such as (string 50), where the type of data that can be entered is a string, and the maximum length of the string is 50 characters. The second row in the import template is generally a sample entry, which shows an example of the type of data that can be entered. See below for an explanation of the acceptable types:

• String - Alphanumeric characters, such as 0-9, and A-Z, and certain other characters, such as a hyphen.
• Date - Simple date, such as 12/15/2024.
• Decimal - 1590.12, or 1590
• Integer - Whole numbers, such as 0 through 9, or 592
• True or False - Used for columns like In Service Status in the Equipment template, such as if the Equipment is Out of Service, the column should have False. If it is NOT out of service, the field should be left blank.

2. In Excel, begin by entering all of the data that you have for each piece of Equipment like in the image below. Generally, only the first column is required on most import templates. In the Equipment import template, only the Equipment Number (Equipment Name) column is required, so if you don't have a value for a certain column, continue to the next column.

3. Continue to add rows for each Equipment, and populate the columns with the data that is available.

4. Once the desired data has been entered, you will now need to remove any comma characters from the import template, or surround the commas with double quotes, like ",". If commas are not removed, or not surrounded with double quotes, when the import tool encounters a comma, it will treat it as the end of a column, which will cause the import tool to fail when it encounters a data type that it does not expect for the next column. The most common columns for commas to cause an issue with the import tool is in a "Notes" column, or in a "Description" column, where a user may enter a string that could contain commas.

There are two options: removing all commas, or replacing commas with "," which will allow the commas to remain in the string, but they will be surrounded with double quotes.

Option 1 - Remove All Commas

1. To remove commas completely from the import template, we will use the Microsoft Excel "Replace" tool. See the image below for the location of the "Replace" tool in Microsoft Excel 16:

2. Click Replace... to open the tool.

3. In the "Find what:" field, enter a comma. Leave the "Replace with" field blank. Next, click the Find All button at the bottom of the window to see all of the cells containing a comma. Next, click the Replace All button to replace all of the commas. A dialog window will be shown that will display the number of replacements made. See an example in the image below:

 

Option 2 - Replace Commas with ","

1. To replace all commas with "," in order to keep the commas in the imported data, but allow the import tool to function correctly, we will use the "Replace" tool in Microsoft Excel. See the image below for the location of the Replace tool in Microsoft Excel 16:

2. Click Replace... to open the tool. 

3. In the "Find what:" field, enter a comma. In the "Replace with" field, enter ",". Next, click the Find All button at the bottom of the window to see all of the cells containing a comma. Next, click the Replace All button to replace all of the commas with ",". A dialog window will be shown that will display the number of replacements made. See an example in the image below: 

4. Delete any rows with column headers, or sample data from the import template. In the Equipment import template, you will need to delete the top two rows.

Now that the data and import template have been formatted, save and close Excel. We will continue on to Antero 7 to perform the import.

Importing Data Using Antero 7

1. To begin, open Antero 7 and navigate to the File menu.

2. Select Setup Tools from the left, and then select Import Setup Data as in the image below:

3. The Import Setup Data window will open. Click the Import Class pull-down menu to select the type of import that you will be performing. For example, if you are importing Equipment, simply select "Equipment" from the Import Class pull-down menu to inform Antero that you'll be importing Equipment using the Equipment.CSV import template.

4. Click the button with 3 dots (...) in the File field to locate the completed import template through the Windows File Explorer.

5. Click the Import button as in the image below to begin

The import tool will run, and once the data has been imported successfully, a window will be displayed showing how many lines from the file were successfully imported, and how many total lines the file contained. If there were lines that weren't imported, the Import Log should be viewed  for more information (see the Import Log section of this article below).

If the tool encountered an error, a window notifying you of such will be displayed, and the Import Log should be viewed for more information. 

Import Log

A log file will be generated that will show what was imported, what rows were not imported, and why they were not imported.

To view the import log, navigate to the Log Files section in the Antero File menu, and select Import Log. If there were any issues with certain rows, the log will display what was wrong with the row.

For assistance in interpreting the Import Log, please contact AllMax Technical Support at 800-670-1867.

Import Troubleshooting

Please find troubleshooting information regarding common issues with importing setup data.

• Unexpected Comma Characters
  • When the import tool encounters a comma, it will be treated as the end of a field. If the data type the import tool encounters after the comma is unexpected, such as the tool expected a date, but instead found a string, that row will be skipped. In the same scenario, if the tool expected a string that was 50 characters long, and instead found a string that is 500 characters long, the line will be skipped. In this scenario, the import tool has basically "lost its place", and it is likely that the tool will skip all of the rest of the rows in the import template. A common error to find in the log for this situation is "Skipped line #3 because it has the wrong number of fields". In most cases, the comma will reside in the last row that was successfully imported.
• Too Many Characters
  
  • Each field in an import template has a character limit. If the import tool encounters a value that contains too many characters, the row will be skipped. Example: the import tool expects a string with 50 characters, but instead encounters a string with 51 characters - the row will be skipped.
• Improperly Formatted Data
  
  • Example: the import tool expects a date like 12/31/2024, but instead encounters 12-31-2024, or 12/31/24. The row will be skipped.

• Unexpected Data Type
  
  • If the import tool encounters a column that contains an unexpected data type, such as the import tool expecting an integer such as 125, and it encounters a string like "AllMax has the best clients!", the row will be skipped. Check that each column has the correct data type.
• Using the Wrong Import Template
  
  • Each Import Class requires its respective import template, as in, the Equipment Import Class requires the Equipment import template.
• Importing Data that Already Exists
  
  • The import tool will skip any rows that already exist in the database. For example: A piece of Equipment named BigScooper already exists in the database. If the import tool encounters a piece of Equipment in the import template named BigScooper, it will skip the row.

For assistance with troubleshooting the import tool, please contact AllMax Software at 800-670-1867.