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Attachments EDBL Import

Distributor steps for bulk-importing documents as attachments to Encompass records with the Attachments EDBL import routine, using a spreadsheet and Files.zip. Requires v23.05+.

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Written by Bailey Naas-Thornton

Minimum Version Required: 23.05

Pre-Conditions

To run an Attachments EDBL import, you will need the following

  1. A spreadsheet or report with:
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    ​ - Required Fields: Table, KeyValue, FileName OR ExternalURL
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    - Optional Fields:     AttachmentID, DocumentType, DocumentTypeID, ForeignValue
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    ​

  2. All of the documents to be imported as attachments

Steps

How to use Attachments EDBL
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The Attachments EDBL routine can be used to import documents and attach them directly to a table in the system.
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  1. Create a standard spreadsheet/csv that has columns matching the fields listed
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    - Required: Table, KeyValue, FileName OR ExternalURL
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    - Optional: AttachmentID, DocumentType, DocumentTypeID, ForeignValue
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    ​

  2. Create a file for 'Files.zip' that contains both the spreadsheet and all of the other documents that will imported
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  3. Use this file as the source of the Attachments EDBL import routine
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  4. Execute the import task to create the attachments and associated documents.
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    - The system will go through each line in the spreadsheet, find the file in the .zip, add it to the Documents table, then create the Attachment record to attach that document to the table/key value in the spreadsheet.

Fields And Definitions

Table

  • Name of the Table to attach the new documents to

  • REQUIRED

  • Data Type = Text

  • Max Length = 50
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KeyValue

  • Key Value for the record in the table that you are attaching to. For example, if Table=Products, then this is the ProductID of the product that document will be attached to

  • REQUIRED

  • Data Type = Integer

  • Max Length = 50
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    ​

FileName

  • File name to find in the .zip file, must be an exact match

  • REQUIRED (if ExternalURL is not provided)

  • Data Type = Text

  • Max Length = 255
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ExternalURL

  • A public URL that points to the document to be attached instead of having the document inside of the .zip file

  • REQUIRED (if FileName is not provided)

  • Data Type = Text

  • Max Length = 50
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    ​

AttachmentID

  • If an existing attachment can be found with this ID it will be updaated. If it cannot be found (or this column is not provided) then a new one is created

  • Not Required

  • Data Type = Integer

  • Max Length = 10
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    ​

DocumentType

  • When creating the document records, this is the DocumentType (as text) to use

  • Not Required

  • Data Type = Text

  • Max Length = 50
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    ​

DocumentTypeID

  • When creating the document records, this is the DocumentType (as an integer ID) to use

  • Not Required

  • Data Type = Integer

  • Max Length = 10
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    ​

ForeignValue

  • Will look up the respective 'Key Value' in Table Translations that matches this foreign value

  • Not Required

  • Data Type = Integer

  • Max Length = 50

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