Data loading - csv2xml and LoadFromFile

[gchampoux]

If anyone has had success with these utilities, could you share an example?
All I would like to do is create a product and library (from an existing template) and also create additional folders/sub-folders into a product/library.

As I practice configuration of Intralink 9.1 M060, I find myself doing tasks repeatedly, and would like to automate as much as is practical. I have been reading the "Data Loading Reference and Best Practices Guide", and it seems that csv2xml and LoadFromFile might be just the tools I need. However, the documentation is clearly incomplete and frequently incorrect, nor is there a simple womb-to-tomb example.

Gerry

[MikeLockwood]

The data loading guide is clearly not written for human beings - don't know who it is written for...

But - with enough persistence, loading from file actually works. Recommendation:

- Start with the sample xml files in loadfiles. Edit one at a time and play with loading. A very good one to start with is users. You can load users and immediately see the result in principal administrator, and play with various attributes.

- Once the xml files work, play with the sample csv files. They're generally all out of date but you can get the latest from tech support. The command CSV2XML really does work (resulting in an appropriate xml file) but it's a bit tricky to get the windchill shell on the right folder relative to the CSV file. Once the xml files are created, they load as before.

[ptc-1470646]

Adding to Mike's comments....

1. Create csv file with help of csvmapfile.txt, you can only use those xml tags
available in csvmapfile.txt
2. Use CSV2XML to convert csv file in xml format, this xml file can be used
alongwith LoadFromFIle utlility in windchill shell.

HTH
Regards,
Dhananjay Sandbhor

[SteveVinyard]

Once you get used to walking through the CSVMap file things get a LOT easier technically. The CSVMap file will give you all of your columns for loading in some info which will allow you to build an excel template. It’s kind of cryptic at first but is a guide of all the object types you can load.

Once that is done, CSV2XML. The xml output will most likely be imperfect but now that you have the XML file it’s a lot easier to see what you are working with. The tricky part was building an Excel workbook that allowed me to copy and paste source data and have it automatically properly formatted my other workbook pages then save out a CSV file. Once you have that, its just a matter of copy and paste. I used many of the excel functions to strip out or replace invalid characters, spaces etc amongst other things.

For installs I use this for creating attributes and users mainly. Any sort of custom attributes for WTParts and Documents gets more complex as you’ll have a BeginCreatePart(sp) header line and then subsequent IBA lines below it in your CSV just to create a single part. We’ve had to write our own program to properly format these in the past (source data was just one line with IBA’s as headers). Was migrating 40k objects manually from MRP system.




[cid:image001.gif@01CBB7B7.D3E41730]

Steve Vinyard
Application Engineer

[Sudeep_Bhattara]

If you need more control on how you want to convert CSVs to XMLs, you can
download XSV to XML converter - free solution from


On Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 3:05 PM, Gerry Champoux
<->wrote:

> If anyone has had success with these utilities, could you share an example?
> All I would like to do is create a product and library (from an existing
> template) and also create additional folders/sub-folders into a
> product/library.
>
> As I practice configuration of Intralink 9.1 M060, I find myself doing
> tasks repeatedly, and would like to automate as much as is practical. I have
> been reading the "Data Loading Reference and Best Practices Guide", and it
> seems that csv2xml and LoadFromFile might be just the tools I need. However,
> the documentation is clearly incomplete and frequently incorrect, nor is
> there a simple womb-to-tomb example.
>
> Gerry
>

[MartyRoss]

Can anyone share some example loadfiles for creating / modifying attributes and soft types?

We want to modify the "Discrete Set Constraint" values for soft type attributes, add or remove attributes to / from soft types, create or rename existing attributes, etc.

Doingdozens of these changesby hand is too tedious, and error-prone! Help!! 😉

I see the first few lines of "csvmapfile.txt" refers to entries that look relevant, but figuring out how to use them - and whether they work - is the question now for me.

1. TypeNodeIconRoot
2. BeginTypeDefNode
3. BeginUpdateTypeDefNode
4. TypeDefAttrValue
5. TypeDefConsValue
6. EndTypeDefNode

[NirmeshJain]

Hi Marty,
You should be able to find some sample files in your <wt_home>/loadFiles folder. I am attaching sample file that I found in Windchill installation. Hope this helps.

-Nirmesh