This chapter describes how to load files of customer data from legacy, third party, or other external sources into interface tables for import.
This chapter covers the following topics:
Bulk import is the process of loading customer data in bulk from legacy, third party, or other external sources into the TCA Registry.
In Oracle Customers Online, you can load source files of organization, person, or contact data into the TCA import interface tables. See: File Loads Overview.
For the transfer of data from the interface tables into the TCA Registry, you have these options.
If the appropriate import profile options are set, the file load data can automatically transfer from the interface tables into the Registry, as soon as the file load completes successfully. See: Setting Up Import, Oracle Customers Online Implementation Guide.
Use the Oracle Customer Data Librarian (CDL) batch import feature, if you have CDL. See: Import Batches Overview, Oracle Customer Data Librarian User Guide.
Run the Import Batch to TCA Registry program using the Trading Community Manager responsibility. See: Import Batch to TCA Registry, Oracle Trading Community Architecture User Guide.
The import is only for information on the party level. To import both party and account information, use Customer Interface. See: Customer Interface, Oracle Trading Community Architecture User Guide.
Related Topics
Introduction to Oracle Customers Online
A file load contains information about loading data from one comma-separated value (CSV) file, or a file delimited by another allowed character, into the import interface tables. The file load:
Identifies the source file to load, as well as the location, format, and content of the file.
Defines how attributes from the file map to the interface table columns.
Each line in the source file, as separated by the end-of-line character, is called a party record. A party record contains a set of attributes related to an organization or person.
After a file load successfully completes the loading process, the interface table data from that source file is included in an import batch. The import batch has the same name as the file load, and contains information about transferring that same data from the interface tables into the TCA Registry.
A file load is active until its corresponding import batch is either:
Successfully processed, and the data from the source file is imported into the TCA Registry.
Rejected in Oracle Customer Data Librarian, and not available for import. See: Managing Import Batches, Oracle Customer Data Librarian User Guide.
In the completed file loads history, you can view completed, or inactive, file loads and their details. See: Reviewing File Load Details.
You can search for active or completed file loads that you created by:
Load Name: The user-defined file load name, which is not necessarily the same as the source file name.
Request ID: The request ID of the interface table loading process, Import CSV Flow : Load CSV Data.
Creation Date: The date that the file load was created, which is not necessarily the same as the source file creation date.
Load Status: The status of the interface table loading process. Aside from Pending, Processing, and Completed, possible statuses include:
Partially Completed with Errors, Awaiting Resolution: Records with no errors are successfully loaded into the interface tables, but there are records with errors that still must be resolved, either online or offline.
Partially Completed with Errors, Awaiting Reload: Errors from the load are resolved offline, and the corrected records need to be reloaded.
Import Status: The status of importing the file load's corresponding import batch from the interface tables into the TCA Registry.
View details of the file load, for any load or import status.
If the load errors were corrected offline, you can load the file with the corrected records.
If you decide not to correct errors or load the corrected file, you can remove file loads with the Partially Completed with Errors, Awaiting Resolution or Partially Completed with Errors, Awaiting Reload status. Removed file loads do not appear in the completed file loads history.
After the file load's corresponding import batch is either rejected or successfully imported, you can view the file load in the completed file loads history.
You can also manage mappings that define which target attribute to load each source attribute value into. See: Managing Mappings.
Related Topics
Loading a new source file into the import interface tables involves these main steps:
You should have strong knowledge of the data and data structure to be imported, and experience working with the source files.
Tip: If the source file does not have a file header, add it to the file.
The column delimiter for the source file must be one of these:
,
/
;
\
If used, the character to enclose fields in the file must be one of these:
"
'
The format of date values in the file must be one of these:
DD-MM-YYYY
DD-MON-YYYY
MM-DD-YYYY
MON-DD-YYYY
Make sure each record to be imported has a unique ID. See: Unique IDs for Interface Table Records, Oracle Trading Community Architecture User Guide.
Make sure the source file contains information for either organizations or persons, not both.
A source file for persons can also include persons who are contacts for organizations. All persons with contact relationships must have an associated organization name. After import, the corresponding contact relationships are also created in the TCA Registry. This feature does not include persons as contacts for other persons. See: Introduction to Contacts and Contact Relationships.
Note: Addresses and contact points in the person record apply to the person being loaded, not to any contact relationships that the person belongs to.
The source file must be a CSV file, or a file delimited by another allowed character, and located in a workstation on your organization's network.
Related Topics
Loading Data into the Interface Tables, Oracle Trading Community Architecture User Guide
Interface Tables, Oracle Trading Community Architecture User Guide
Bulk Import Interface Tables, Oracle Trading Community Architecture Reference Guide
Provide a unique file load name, and information about the source file to load.
If the source file format does not match what you define for the file load, the file cannot be successfully processed.
This is an example of the first few columns and rows of a source file:
"Name", "ID Number", "Birthday" "Smith, Jon", "12345", "27-09-1950" "Lee, Jennie", "67890", "10-10-1979"
This table describes source file format elements and the format definition for the above example.
| Format Element | Description | Source File Example | Source File Format Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| File header | The first line in the file, with attribute text describing the values in the corresponding column | "Name," "ID Number," "Birthday" | File header exists |
| Column delimiter | The alphanumeric character that separates column values | The comma between separate fields, for example between "Smith, Jon" and "12345" | , |
| Field enclosed by | The alphanumeric character that encloses a column value, used if values contain the column delimiter | The quotation marks, to indicate that "Smith, Jon" maps to a full name field, whereas Smith, John without quotation marks would map to last and first name fields | " |
| Date format | The format of date values in the source file | "27-09-1950" and "10-10-1979" | DD-MM-YYYY |
Specify if the file includes organization or person records. If the persons are also contacts for organizations, you must provide a mapping that includes the organization name attribute. See: Providing Mappings.
Select information types to be loaded. See:
Your party and information type selection determines the interface table attributes that are available to be used for mapping to the source file attributes.
Related Topics
A mapping contains a specific set of attributes from the source file and the corresponding interface table attributes that they are to be loaded into. You can save mappings and use them for loading files from any source system.
By default, all the source attributes are displayed, in the order that they appear in the source file. You have these options for providing the target attribute mapping to use.
Manually select the target interface table attribute for each source attribute. The available target attributes depend on the party and information type selected for the file load definition. See: Defining File Loads.
Automatically map the attributes. If a target attribute has the same name as a source attribute, those attributes will be automatically mapped. It is possible that not all source attributes have a match. You can still manually select target attributes after the automatic map.
Note: You can automatically map attributes only if your source file has a file header.
Select an existing saved mapping. After you click Go, the target attributes that match your source file are displayed next to the corresponding source attribute.
For example, the existing mapping has source attribute Name mapping to target attribute First Name, and source attribute Surname to target attribute Last Name. If your source file has attribute Surname, but not Name, then only target attribute Last Name would appear next to Surname.
You can still modify the mapping after using the existing mapping.
You can optionally save the mapping as it is in the table, no matter which method you used to create or modify it. Enter a new mapping name or an existing one to overwrite it with the mapping that you are saving. You can manage saved mappings. See: Managing Mappings.
Whatever mapping you have when you move on to the next step is the mapping used for this file load, whether or not you saved it. If you saved a mapping, modified it, and then clicked Next, the modified mapping is used for the file load.
Caution: If you leave any target attribute blank, then the value for the corresponding source attribute will not be loaded.
Each target attribute can only be used once in a mapping. Other rules and validations for the mapping that you provide include:
Persons
Person records must have either a first or last name. Include the First Name or Last Name target attributes in the mapping, or both.
Do not include the Organization Name attribute.
Contacts
You must include these target attributes:
Both First Name and Last Name.
Organization Name.
Optionally include the Department Code, Department, Title, or Job Title attributes.
Contact Points
You must include the Contact Method Type target attribute. This table describes additional mandatory target attributes, based on the contact method type.
| Contact Method Type | Mandatory Target Attribute |
|---|---|
| Phone or Fax | Either Telephone Number or Primary Phone |
| Email Address | |
| Web | URL |
Saved mappings can be used for file loads from any source. See: Providing Mappings. Access mapping management from the File Loads page. See: File Loads Process.
To manage mappings, you can:
Rename mappings. All mappings that you create and update must have unique names.
View source-to-target attribute mappings in the details.
Delete mappings.
Related Topics
File load details are available for review:
As the third step in loading a new source file, before you submit the file load. See: Loading New Files.
As the second step in loading a file with corrected records. See: Reloading Offline Corrected Records.
For all submitted file loads, active or completed. See: File Loads Overview.
The file load details include:
The file load definition. See: Defining File Loads.
The source name is always CSV for file loads created through this process. See: Loading New Files.
The source-to-target attribute mapping for the file load. See: Providing Mappings.
If you are reviewing file load details as part of loading or reloading a file, you also get a preview of the source file. You see all the source attributes and the first five party records in the source file, as they would be loaded. Review this information for obvious errors, such as missing or incorrect file headers or other formatting issues with the source file. You can still revise your source file.
Note: This preview does not reflect changes from online error correction. See: Resolving File Load Errors.
After you submit a file load, party records that pass all validations are successfully loaded into the interface tables. If any of the party records fail validation, then the record is marked with error and not loaded. The file load status is Partially Completed with Errors, Awaiting Resolution.
To resolve file load errors you can:
Correct specific types of errors online by:
Attribute: Correct all errors for one attribute at a time, across all party records. Use this option when errors are concentrated around particular attributes. A party record with errors, however, cannot be reloaded until all of its attributes with errors are corrected. See: Correcting Errors by Attribute.
Party Record: Correct all errors for one party record at a time, across all attributes. When all attributes for the party are corrected, that record is immediately revalidated for loading. See: Correcting Errors by Party Record.
You can switch between these two methods until you resolve all errors that are correctable online. See: Errors Correctable Online.
Export records with any type of errors to a file and correct errors offline. See: Correcting Errors Offline.
If the number of errors at the attribute level exceeds 200, then you must correct errors offline. Even if not, you might choose this option if there are many errors, or if you prefer to work with files offline. After you correct errors online, if you still see that there are errors, then those are errors that you can only correct offline.
Important: You can export records for offline correction only once for each file load. You can still correct errors online after you export, but it is up to you to keep track of your work if you correct errors both offline and online. Consider your options and strategy for error resolution before you export.
These type of errors can be corrected online, either by attribute or party record.
Data Type: The source attribute contains a nonnumeric value for a target attribute that takes only numeric values.
Date Format: The source attribute value is a date in a format that differs from what is defined for the file load. See: Defining File Loads.
Lookup: If the target attribute uses lookups, then the source attribute value is validated against the lookup. For example, if a Gender target attribute uses lookup values Female and Male, the source attribute would fail if the provided value is anything else, such as F or M.
Mandatory Attributes: Some target attributes are mandatory, either conditionally or unconditionally. The corresponding source attributes would fail if they do not contain values for mandatory target attributes. For information on some of these validations, see: Mapping Rules and Validations, and Bulk Import Interface Tables, Oracle Trading Community Architecture Reference Guide.
Related Topics
Within a file load, correct errors online across party records for particular attributes. The attribute summary lists only the source attributes that contain errors, in the order they appear in the source file.
After you select the attribute to correct, you get the party records with an error for that attribute. These party records can collectively have one or more errors for the attribute. See: Errors Correctable Online.
Tip: Use the source file row number to identify the party record, especially if the party name itself, organization or person name, is the attribute with error.
Provide new values for every party record before you apply the changes. If all the new values pass the validation for the online correctable errors, then the number of attributes with errors decreases by one. If the attribute is also the last correction needed for particular party records, then those records are loaded into the interface tables, and the number of party records with errors decreases accordingly.
Aside from correcting errors online by attribute, you can also:
Related Topics
Within a file load, correct errors online across attributes for particular party records. The party record summary lists only the records that contain errors, in the order they appear in the source file.
Tip: Use the source file row number to identify the party record, especially if the party name itself, organization or person name, is the attribute with error.
After you select the party to correct, you get the attributes within that record with an error. Each attribute can have one or more errors. See: Errors Correctable Online.
Provide new values for every attribute before you apply the changes. If all the new values pass the validation for the online correctable errors, then the party record is loaded into the interface tables, and the number of party records with errors decreases by one. If any of the corrections is the last one needed for particular attributes across all party records, then the number of attributes with errors decreases accordingly.
Aside from correcting errors online by party record, you can also:
Related Topics
For a particular file load, you can export all party records with errors to a file for offline correction. The exported file contains only the records with errors, and the file header, if any exists in the original source file.
Each line in the exported file contains all the attributes for a party record, in the order that the attributes and records appear in the source file. The exported file uses the format that is defined for the source file, for example the same column delimiter. See: Defining File Loads.
Tip: To see which attributes to correct offline, you can view the errors that are correctable online by attribute. See: Correcting Errors by Attribute. The exported records, however, can contain errors that are not correctable online.
After you export for offline correction, the file load status is Partially Completed with Errors, Awaiting Reload. The file load is totally complete after you load the exported file with all errors resolved. If there are still errors after a reload, you can re-export and reload until you correct all errors.
Related Topics
Single quotation marks are automatically added to the beginning and end of each record in the exported file. You must remove those marks before loading the file. See: Prerequisites.
Search for and select the original file load to load the corrected records for. See: File Loads Overview.
Provide the location of the exported file with corrected party records.
Review the load of the corrected records. This reload occurs with the same file load definition and mapping as the original source file. You also preview the corrected records to reload. See: Reviewing File Load Details.