Importing Customer, Vendor and Item Data
Import customers, vendors, and items into Business Central for a clean Bevica start.
You are able to use configuration packages to import data. We have standard packages within Bevica for items, vendors, and customers.
Prerequisites
Knowledge of Bevica.
Knowledge of configuration packages.
Testing configuration packages
Before you load an Excel template file into your production environment, it is advisable to test importing the data into a sandbox first. Once imported, check the data looks correct and you can post transactions correctly.
Importing configuration packages
The standard Bevica configuration packages are available at the bottom of this article. Once downloaded, you can import them into Bevica:
If you need to amend the template by adding or removing columns you can do this by ticking or unticking the Include Field column.
B-DM-CUSTOMER
Use this package to import customer data. See Customer Template (table row 18) for details of the fields included in the template and how to populate them.
This template can also be used to import the following:
Ship-to Addresses (table row 222)
Customer comments (table row 97)
Emails for document outputs such as invoices and statements (table row 9657)
B-DM-ITEM
Use this package to import item data. See Item Template (table row 27) for details of the fields included in the template and how to populate them.
This template can also be used to import the following:
Sales and Purchase prices - new price experience (table row 7001)
B-DM-VENDOR
Use this package to import item data. See Vendor Template (table row 23) for details of the fields included in the template and how to populate them.
This template can also be used to import the following:
Vendor bank accounts (table row 288)
Vendor comments (table row 97)
Exporting Templates
All templates can be accessed from the Configuration Package page.
Open the Company you want to import records into; from the Role Centre select the Cog icon (top right), then My Settings. Change the Company value to the required company.
Open the relevant Configuration Package, put your cursor on the table row you would like to import data for and on the line ribbon select Excel and Export to Template.
This will open a pre-configured Excel spreadsheet where you can enter or copy/paste your details. The details of how to populate each column is provided in the links above.
Data Checks and Field Types
When importing data, Bevica checks that the data is technically correct, it does this in two ways:
any data entered that relies on a related table exists. i.e. the currency code held against a customer exists in the Currency Code table. The template explanation pages detail where related tables exist.
that the data matches the field type, i.e. you can't enter text into a date field.
The template articles detail where related tables exist and field types.
It does not check:
Spelling
the validity of the information itself, i.e. that a price is correct or that the currency code entered against a customer is the right one for that customer.
Common field types:
Code (##)
Denotes a special type of string that is converted to uppercase and removes any trailing or leading spaces. ## denotes the maximum number of characters allowed.
Text (##)
Denotes standard text. ## denotes the maximum number of characters allowed.
Date
Date field. The format is as per your Microsoft Windows settings.
Number/Decimal
Denotes decimal numbers ranging from -999,999,999,999,999.99 to +999,999,999,999,999.99.
Integer
Stores whole numbers with values that range from -2,147,483,647 to 2,147,483,647. No decimal places allowed.
Boolean (Yes/No)
Indicates true or false.
Option
Denotes a predefined set of options. You must use one of the options listed.
A full set of data types can be found here: Data Types and Methods
Import Templates
After populating the Excel spreadsheet, from the Configuration Package, highlight the correct table row and on the line ribbon select Excel then Import from Excel. Follow the dialog boxes and locate your file on your network, click Open.
The View - Config. Package Import Preview dialog box appears. On this screen select Import on the ribbon.
This will start the import process, checking the data and creating Package Records, the data is now inside Bevica but not yet applied to the master record. You can view it if necessary, from the line ribbon select Table, Package Data (or drill down on the No. of Package Records field).
To apply the imported details, from the line ribbon select Functions and Apply Data. After confirming the Do you want to apply package data for the selected tables? message, Bevica attempts to import the data into the selected table. This may take some time as it runs through the number of records and validates each field. Once completed a status box tells you the result.
Viewing the imported data
Where there are no errors or some records were imported successfully the data can be seen from the line ribbon, Table, Database Data (or drill down on the No. Database Records). It is also possible to navigate to the real list or card page that holds the data and view it normally.
Fixing import errors
If the above dialog identifies a number of errors, navigate to the table row you were trying to import and, from the line ribbon select, Table and Errors (or drill down on the No. Package Errors).
The Config. Package Records page that appears will list all the records that were not able to be imported because of one or more errors. To see the error, on the ribbon select the ellipsis (...) then Show Error.
Where there are a small number of errors they can be manually fixed on this list page, then rerun Apply Data. Where there are a significant number of errors, you can make a note of the errors, fix the data in your Excel spreadsheet and reimport. Importing the Excel template will overwrite any existing Package data.
Further information
The RapidStart Configuration Worksheet and Configuration Packages used above have been predefined by the Bevica team to let you import data quickly and easily. There may be occasions where a piece of information that Bevica can hold is not included. To learn more from Microsoft on how you can create your own data export and import routines see here:
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