Using Data Import Templates

Data Import Templates enable you to do a batch import of data into FlexNet Operations. You can add new entities or modify existing ones. This approach may be preferred if there is a lot of data to be added or modified.

Note:Only suites in Draft mode can be updated on import.

Templates for entitlements, accounts and users, and products can be downloaded and populated with data that can be imported into a FlexNet Operations database using the import function (see the task described under Importing Entities). Features of the templates include

•

Color coded column headers based on transaction type, account, user, entitlement, line item, product and feature.

•

Column headings of required fields for a transaction are in bold.

•

Column heading comments containing information about the data expected for the column and any other column dependencies associated with this column.

Any Custom Attribute fields you have configured will be included in the templates. Unique Custom Attributes and License Model Attributes and Policies utilize the following heading name conventions:

•

License Model Attribute: LM[<LicenseModelName>|<AttributeName>]

•

License Model Policy Attribute: PO[<LicenseModelName>|<AttributeName>|<PolicyAbbreviation]

•

Custom Attributes: CA[<Entity>|<AttributeName>] where Entity = USER, PROD, ENT, or LINE

Downloading a Data Import Template

To download a Data Import Template, perform the following steps.

To download a Data Import Template

Click Administer > Import Data Objects.

Click the Data Import Templates tab.

Click the appropriate Download link for one of the following template types:

•

Product Packaging Template—Products, features, and other data associated with product packaging.

•

Entitlement Management Template—Entitlements, maintenance line items, bulk entitlements, web register keys and other data associated with entitlements.

•

Download Packaging Template—Download packages, files and other data associated with download packages.

•

Account and User Template—Accounts and users along with their associate data such as roles and permissions.

•

Updates Template—Updates.

Save the .xlt file

Editing and Saving a Data Import Template

To edit and save a Data Import Template, perform the following steps.

Editing and saving a Data Import Template

Open the .xlt file in Excel (or another compatible spreadsheet application).

Fill in the spreadsheet columns as appropriate.

When working with spreadsheets, follow these guidelines:

•

Do not change heading names. If they are changed, the transactions are processed but values in the columns whose names have been changed are not assigned to the corresponding fields in the database.

•

Only columns with a heading in bold text are required.

•

Hover over the heading to see comments on how to populate the field and to determine if there is a dependency requiring other columns to be completed. If there is more text in the comment that can be viewed by hovering over the heading, right click the heading and select Edit Comment to open the comment box and use the arrow keys to scroll up or down.

•

For Users, see Time Zone Settings for correct construct of the time zone attribute.

•

For Accounts, self-registered accounts cannot be imported into the Producer Portal. Also, the following restrictions apply to default accounts:

•

MYORG: Only the account name can be changed. No other updates are permitted and this account cannot be deleted.

•

PORTAL_ORG_UNIT: This account cannot be updated or deleted.

•

UNKNOWN_ORG_UNIT: This account cannot be updated or deleted.

•

Products and Entitlements contain multi-valued attributes such as features and line items. To have multiple features and line items, they cannot be set in a single row but must be added on separate rows repeating any identifier fields for the product or entitlement. Data that is only needed once for the transaction type is taken from the first row and data that can have multiple values is aggregated from the succeeding rows, which is why you cannot change a field using multiple rows of data for the same product or entitlement in the same Data Import Template file.

•

CreateUpdate transactions can blank existing data. If you upload a file containing transactions of these types, FlexNet Operations assumes any columns you include contain the desired value. If a column contains no values, then when FlexNet Operations updates the records, any existing data is lost. If you do not want to provide values in a column, then remove the column from the spreadsheet.

•

If you want to change a field for products or entitlements, upload it in a separate Data Import Template file.

•

When importing entitlements, do not delete the Activation ID column. Note the following behavior with regards to activation ID data:

•

If the Activation ID column is present and no value is provided, the activation ID is auto generated.

•

If a unique value is provided, a line item is created with this activation ID.

•

If a value is provided that already exists in FlexNet Operations, the line item is updated.

•

If the Activation ID column is not present and all other details are provided in the template, an entitlement is created without any line item. This entitlement cannot be searched for in the Producer Portal or using web services, but it can be used in the EntitlementOrderService SOAP web service to create a line item.

•

When importing a large number of Web Register Keys, it is recommended that you limit each job to a maximum of 1000 keys to optimize performance. If necessary, split the task into multiple jobs to stay within the recommended limit.

After all changes are made, save the file as a Unicode .txt file.

Example for Importing Data with Aggregation

The following example illustrates how data is processed and aggregated when importing data using a Data Import Template. Aggregation is widely used for entitlements and products (as in this example), but the principles apply for all data import templates.

Consider you want to create an entitlement with three line items, you could populate the EntitlementManagement.xls template as follows (split over two lines for better visibility):

The first line of the template has the entitlement header details, such as entitlement ID, state, account details, and any entitlement custom attributes. The first line also has the details for the first line item on the entitlement.

The next two lines are for the other two line items on the entitlement. You need to provide the transaction type and entitlement ID, but there is no need to repeat any other entitlement details. The account information and custom attribute details do not change because they are for the same entitlement. However, you must specify any other line item-specific details for each line item; for example, activation ID, start date, end date, version date, license model custom attributes, entitlement line custom attributes, etc. must be specified per line item.

If you do not specify a value in the ActivationId column, FlexNet Operations generates a unique value.

After you save the EntitlementManagement.xls above as a Unicode .txt file and import it, FlexNet Operations would create the following entitlement with three line items:

Any line item attributes that are not specified but have a column header in the template will result in an empty value in FlexNet Operations.