Summary
This article explains how to use the Product Designer Inventory Assistant.
More Information
The Product Designer Inventory Assistant is a utility that can be used to perform functions that are
not available in the Inventory Setup module of the Product Designer.
Open the Product Designer Inventory Assistant by first running the Inventory Setup screen. Then
from the toolbar click the Assistant button.
Importing and Exporting Items
Importing Complete Items
Importing complete items allows you to import one or more inventory items along with criteria
and usage formulas. With this option you can add or update inventory items in the product.
To import complete items
- Click Import complete items
- Click the browse button and select the file to import.
- Click the Start button.
If there are problems with any of the data during the import a message will be displayed
indicating the problem and you will have the option to skip that line or cancel the import.
In order to import complete items you must create a delimited text file. You can select either
comma delimited files (.csv) or tab delimited files (.txt). The first line of the file must contain
the column headings for the data you will be importing. For more information on the file
format when importing complete items, see the section File Format for Importing Complete
Items below.
To importing item criteria formulas only
- Click Import item criteria formulas
- Click the browse button and select the file to import.
- Click the Start button.
If there are problems with any of the data during the import a message will be displayed
indicating the problem and you will have the option to skip that line or cancel the import.
In order to import formulas you must create a delimited text file. You can select either comma
delimited files (.csv) or tab delimited files (.txt). The first line of the file must contain the
column headings for the data you will be importing. For more information on the file format
when importing criteria formulas, see the section File Format for Importing Criteria Formulas
below.
To importing item usage formulas only
- Click Import item usage formulas
- Click the browse button and select the file to import.
- Click the Start button.
If there are problems with any of the data during the import a message will be displayed
indicating the problem and you will have the option to skip that line or cancel the import.
In order to import formulas you must create a delimited text file. You can select either comma
delimited files (.csv) or tab delimited files (.txt). The first line of the file must contain the
column headings for the data you will be importing. For more information on the file format
when importing criteria formulas, see the section File Format for Importing Usage Formulas
below.
To export complete items
- Click Export complete items
- Select the inventory items that you want to export.
- Select the file that will contain the exported data. If this file already exists it will be replaced.
- Click the Start button.
The file that is created will be a tab delimited file.
To export criteria formulas only
- Click Export item criteria formulas
- Select the inventory items that you want to export.
- Select the file that will contain the exported data. If this file already exists it will be replaced.
- Click the Start button.
The file that is created will be a tab delimited file.
Note: A line will be created for each inventory item even if the item does not have any criteria.
To export usage formulas only
- Click Export item usage formulas
- Select the inventory items that you want to export.
- Select the file that will contain the exported data. If this file already exists it will be replaced.
- Click the Start button.
The file that is created will be a tab delimited file.
Note: A line will be created for each inventory item even if the item does not have any criteria.
Find and Replace
Use the find and replace functions to find and replace text within inventory items. For example
replacing instances of [Width] with [WidthDec].
Find and replace item categories
Use this to find inventory items with one category and replace them with another category. You
can also use this function to remove categories from items.
Find and replace criteria or usage formulas.
Use these functions to find whole formulas, either criteria or usage, and replace them with new
formulas.
Find and replace parts of criteria or usage formulas.
Use these functions to find text within formulas, either criteria or usage, and replace the found
text with updated text. For example, find all occurs of the word [Width] in all criteria formulas and
replace them with [WidthDec].
Other Functions
Deleting Items
Delete one or more inventory items. Note: Once deleted the items cannot be recovered.
File Format for Importing Complete Items
Requirements
- Delimited text file. For comma delimited files the file extension must be .csv. For tab delimited files the file extension must be .txt.
- The first line must contain the column headings for the data that will be imported.
- The ItemName column heading is required.
- Text values must be enclosed in double quotes if the data contains the delimiter. For example, to import the item Wand, 24 inch you must format the data "Wand, 24 inch".
Available Column Headings
- ID
- ItemName
- FriendlyName
- Category
- UnitOfMeasureType
- UnitOfMeasureSubType
- Description
- Notes
- Criteria1
- Criteria2
- Criteria3
- Usage1
- UsageCriteria1
- Usage2
- UsageCriteria2
- Usage3
- UsageCriteria3
Notes
- Use the ID column only if you are replacing items. You will most likely never have to do this.
- The ItemName column is required.
- The maximum length for an inventory item name is 64 characters.
- The maximum length for a friendly name is 64 characters.
- The maximum length for the category is 48 characters.
- The maximum length for the description is 255 characters.
- UnitOfMeasureType and UnitOfMeasureSubType are numeric values. See the section UnitOfMeasureType Values and UnitOfMeasureSubType Values below.
- Only three criteria formulas can be imported for each inventory item. Importing any formulas will erase all existing formulas for the respective item.
- Only three usage formulas can be imported for each inventory item. Importing any usage formulas will erase all existing formulas for the respective item.
- Usage Criteria formulas can only be imported if the usage formula is also imported.
File Format for Importing Criteria Formulas
Requirements
- Delimited text file. For comma delimited files the file extension must be .csv. For tab delimited files the file extension must be .txt.
- The first line must contain the column headings for the data that will be imported.
- The ItemName column heading is required.
- Text values must be enclosed in double quotes if the data contains the delimiter.
Available Column Headings
- ItemName
- Criteria1
- Criteria2
- Criteria3
Notes
- The ItemName column is required.
- The maximum length for an inventory item name is 64 characters.
- Only three criteria formulas can be imported for each inventory item. Importing any formulas will erase all existing formulas for the respective item.
File Format for Importing Usage Formulas
Requirements
- Delimited text file. For comma delimited files the file extension must be .csv. For tab delimited files the file extension must be .txt.
- The first line must contain the column headings for the data that will be imported.
- The ItemName column heading is required.
- Text values must be enclosed in double quotes if the data contains the delimiter.
Available Column Headings
- ItemName
- Usage1
- UsageCriteria1
- Usage2
- UsageCriteria2
- Usage3
- UsageCriteria3
Notes
- · The ItemName column is required.
- · The maximum length for an inventory item name is 64 characters.
- · Only three usage formulas can be imported for each inventory item. Importing any
- usage formulas will erase all existing formulas for the respective item.
- · Usage Criteria formulas can only be imported if the usage formula is also imported.
UnitOfMeasureType Values
- · Distance = 1
- · Area = 4
- · Volume = 5
- · Mass = 6
- · Piece = 7
UnitOfMeasureSubType Values
Distance Values
- · Millimeters = 0
- · Centimeters = 1
- · Meters = 2
- · Kilometers = 3
- · Inches = 4
- · Feet = 5
- · Yards = 6
- · Miles = 7
Area Values
- · Square Centimeters = 0
- · Square Meters = 1
- · Square Inches = 4
- · Square Feet = 5
Volume Values
- · Milliliters = 0
- · Liters = 1
- · Pints = 2
- · Quarts = 3
- · Gallons = 4
Mass Values
- · Grams = 0
- · Kilograms = 1
- · Ounces = 3
- · Pounds = 4
- · Tons = 6
Piece Values
- · Piece = 0
- · Each = 1
- · Pair = 2
- · Box = 3
- · Bag = 4
- · Roll = 5
APPLIES TO
- Product Designer 4.2