Creating or updating Product Definitions one by one can be a slow and tedious process if you have many different products you need to manage within RFIDLinked. Management of Product Definitions can be automated via our API, however this is often a heavy lift for a non-developer user. For this reason RFIDLinked supports bulk importing/updating of Product Definitions via CSV files.
How It Works
You upload a CSV file where each line contains at least the product's GTIN14 and Name, but optionally can include the Description field and any Custom Fields you have defined in your account.
Once uploaded into the application, you will map the corresponding columns in your CSV to the appropriate Product Definition fields in RFIDLinked.
RFIDLinked will then match up any existing Product Definitions that already exist in your account based on their GTIN14. When an existing Product Definition is found, it will use the latest values provided by your CSV file and update it. When no existing Product Definition is found, it will create a new one using the values provided by your CSV file.
Important Note: Any un-mapped field will NOT be updated. For example, if you do not map any column in your CSV to the Product Definition "Description" field, then any Product Definitions that match on the GTIN14 field within the CSV, will NOT have their Description field updated, and their currently Description values will remain unmodified.
Supported CSV File Format
RFIDLinked supports CSV files with the following characteristics:
- Must be a CSV file using UTF-8 character encoding.
- The first row of the CSV is considered a "header row." It will be used to help you map the columns in the CSV to the Product Definition fields. It will NOT be imported.
- The CSV file must include at least GTIN14 and Name fields.
- The CSV file must contain at least 2 rows: a header row and at least one row of data.
Generating a Template CSV (Optional Step)
This step is optional as RFIDLinked supports the ability to upload and map your own CSV files. However this feature allows you to generate and download a template to help you with importing your data. RFIDLinked will generate a CSV file with the appropriate header row including any Custom Fields that have been setup in your account that you can then use to populate with your own data.
From the Home menu, tap Settings.
From the Settings menu, tap on Product Definitions.
Tap the "hamburger" menu and select Import from the drop down menu.
Tap on the "Generate a Template CSV file" link.
On the following Popup Dialog, tap the Generate Template button.
A new Template file will be saved to your Documents folder named "Product Definition Import Template <Todays Date>.csv". This template CSV will contain the appropriate header row to match all custom fields that have been created within your account. It will look similar to the example shown below. Custom fields will contain the data type of the field within parenthesis.
Performing a Bulk Import
Once you have a CSV file meeting the above defined criteria, and containing information about at least one Product Definition, you are ready to start.
From the Home menu, tap Settings.
From the Settings menu, tap on Product Definitions.
Tap the "hamburger" menu and select Import from the drop down menu.
Selecting your CSV File
The first step of the Import process is to select your CSV file. You will tap the Select File button and Android will present to you a file chooser. Navigate your files and select the CSV file you want to import. RFIDLinked will then scan your selected file and verify it meets the minimum requirements for import. If no issues are found, tap the Next button.
Mapping your CSV Columns to Product Definition Fields
The next step is to match up which column of your CSV should get associated with which Product Definition field in RFIDLinked. You will be presented with a list of fields that you can map to your Product Definitions. At a minimum you are required to map the GTIN14 and Name fields.
NOTE: Any un-mapped fields will NOT be imported, and will
not change values stored on existing Product Definitions. To "clear" or
"delete" a product definition field, import a blank value into that
field.
NOTE: If you used a generated
template (see above) or if the values in the Header Row columns match
up with Product Definition field names, then RFIDLinked will
automatically map your columns for you.
To map a field, tap on the field name. You will be be shown a list of columns from your CSV file, along with the first 5 rows of data for that column. By tapping the arrow buttons you can scroll through the columns until you find which column matches the field selected. Then tap the Set Mapping button to assign it.
Once you have mapped all of the fields you wish to import, you can tap the Next button. It is not required that you map every field.
Reviewing Any Problems Detected
After mapping your fields, RFIDLinked will pre-process your file and detect any problems. If no problems are detected, simply tap the Next button.
If issues are found they will be categorized into two types: Warnings and Errors.
Warnings generally mean that there is some kind of problem with a field, but it will not prevent the row from being imported. Examples of these could be:
- Field Value Too Long - This means that the value exceeds the maximum number of allowed characters for the field being imported. If you proceed a truncated value will be imported.
- Custom Field: Invalid Number/Boolean Value - This means that the value could not be converted into a Boolean or Number value. If you proceed, no value will be imported for this field.
Errors generally mean that there is a problem that cannot be automatically resolved with the row being imported. Examples of these could be:
- Invalid GTIN14 - The GTIN14 is not valid, this row will not be imported.
- Duplicated Name - Product Definition names must be unique, a duplicate name will not be imported.
Please review any issues detected. If there are issues that need to be fixed before proceeding, please adjust your original CSV file and restart the process.
Preview Changes
The last step is to review and confirm the changes that will be performed during the import. If a Product Definition already exists with the GTIN14 it will be matched up and have its fields updated according to the row in your CSV file. If no Product Definition exists with the provided GTIN14, a new Product Definition will be created.
For each row of your CSV file, a Product Definition will be displayed. It will note if it is being Created or Updated. A field that is being changed will have the old value displayed in red with the new value in green. Any unmodified field will be shown in grey.
Importing
If the changes look correct, tap the Import button and the import process will begin.