Tip for On Premise Alliance Customers Importing to v15

Phil Seifert
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For our customers who previously used older versions such as v12.5 or v10 and have now upgraded to v15, a small tip.

In the past it was handy to use the import utility on the server itself rather than the doing imports from the Astea Browser client.  Reason, the import from the client relied on the client connection to manage the import process.  If the connection was lost (say after no activity from the user for an hour), the import also stopped.  Long running imports were affected.

With v15 and the new Import process moving to the Web Employee Portal, when initiating the import from the Web Employee Portal using a data file for import, this file is now uploaded to the server and the server manages the import process from there.  It is no longer necessary to be connected with the client once the import starts.

This also allows you to use the Import Export Audit module to retrieve the data source file or the ITF used for the Import.

 

 

Please use the import module available in the Web Employee Portal going forward, not the server Import Utility.  Another consideration is that though this tool is still present, it is not maintained any longer plus also will not trigger event driven process flows if you should have any that are impacted by the import.  (e.g. Installed Item update triggers an event driven process flow to send outbound data).

 

11 replies

ktolkacevic
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Thanks for the information. 

 

We’re using 15.1 and have 30+ scheduled server imports for Consumables, Site information, etc. Even though the server import utility is no longer supported in the newer versions, will it still be available to use?

Is there any new security features available in the import utility to restrict access to certian import templates? Currently we can’t allow end users access because they can import setup data impacting all users

Phil Seifert
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Hi Kyle,

No, I am not aware of a template level security option.  As you know you can restrict access to specific pages using the Security Setup.  This actually would have been the case in previous versions prior to v15.

My point about the server import utility is it is not maintained and does not have all the functionality of the Web Employee Portal.  Whether the tool will be available in the future or not, I can't say from my own knowledge.

ktolkacevic
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Yes, I do restrict access to specific pages, but it does not restrict imports in 15.1. Example I could restrict user access only to problem codes. User can still import problem codes from the import utiltiy.

I’m very curious to see what the Web Employee Portal import ultitly has to offer. In 15.1, the server side import utility has more functionality. I can import using SQL script, and I can schedule import task to grab file from shared folder or SFTP server.

Phil Seifert
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Hi Kyle,

The service Import Utility should still be available to use for the automated imports, etc. for now though I understand using this will not trigger event driven process flows like the web employee portal.  We are investigating that aspect.

However, for those one-off type imports which can be initiated manually, the idea is to use the Web Employee Portal to do this instead of going to the server Import Utility only because the import process was going to take a long time.

 

bskallerud
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I can’t seem to have Import Export Audit avaliable in 15.2, Phil

L
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Phil, how does this work for Hosted customers?

Phil Seifert
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Hi Lynne-Grace,

I am not sure what your question is exactly?

Do you mean if hosted customers would have access to the server Import Utility? No, they would not as they do not have access to the server directly via RDP.

What exactly is the question?

 

L
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If Hosted customers are using the Import Export functionality within Alliance 15.4, how do they see the log files?

 

Phil Seifert
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There is a module called Import Export Audit… from here, you can download log files (if you are saving logs to file system and not database).

 

L
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Phil, you mentioned that you can download log files (if you are saving logs to file system and not database).   I have a customer reporting that for Type:  Import they are seeing all of the Actions enabled, but for Export, only Download Data File is enabled and for Type: Report, none of the options are enabled.  They are also reporting getting an error:  SYS160.  System failed to download the file.  I would like to understand the functionality with respect to what options should be enabled for each of the Types.  Thanks!

Phil Seifert
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Hi Lynn,

I don’t have a list of which options should be available for each type.  My recommendation is this should be checked with R&D.

However, for Export, I don’t see anything that should be needed other than the data that is exported.  There is no validation, etc.  as it is just an export defined by the module.

Report, same situation as I can’t think of what kind of option you would like to have other than getting the report itself which is done with other modules, not this one.

When I referred to download log files, I was thinking more along the lines of the GL distribution logs, invoicing logs, revenue recognition logs,  etc.

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