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NEW  Creating an import profile

You begin to import a package of documents by creating an import profile. An import profile specifies the rules to apply when you import the package into a vault. Only after you create an import profile can you import a package with that profile.

Notes

To create an import profile:

  1. In Meridian Enterprise Server , in the DATA EXCHANGE group, click Import Profiles. The Import Profilespage appears and lists the existing import profiles .

  2. To create a new import profile:

    To edit an existing import profile:

  3. Click options or type values using the descriptions in the following table.
Import profile properties
Property Description

GENERAL group

Name

Type a descriptive name for the import profile. We recommend that the name refer to the source of the documents and to the destination of the documents.

Description

Type a detailed description of the import profile.

Repository

The destination vault for the documents that are imported from packages to which you assign this import profile.

SOURCE ADDRESS group

Address

The location of the archive file that contains the documents that will be imported by this profile. This address can be specified as a UNC path or as a URL address (HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, FTPS).

If the address is a URL path, the system will look at this location for an archive (ZIP) file with the same name (and no extension) as the metadata of the package.

If the address is a UNC path, an option labeled Use content from a folder is available when the package is made that can be enabled to indicate that the documents are contained in a sub-folder with the same name (and no extension) as the metadata of the package. If the folder is not found, the system will look for an archive (ZIP) file with the same name.

If a folder or archive file name that is different than the metadata filename is specified when the package is created, the system will look for that name first.

User name

Name of an account with read access to the location specified in Address. This account is only used for that purpose. The account of the user that performs the import is used to import the documents.

Password

Password for the account specified in User name.

Click TEST to test the user name and password for the location specified in Address.

SOURCE DEFINITION group

Template

An existing MS Excel workbook file that contains one or more worksheets of columns only. The columns specify the property names of the metadata to import from the packages that will be assigned this import profile. For information on creating this workbook, see Creating a property mapping template.

To provide a metadata template:

  1. Click UPLOAD. The Upload Template dialog box appears.
  2. Click the Browse icon . The Choose File to Upload dialog box appears.
  3. Select the workbook file that you want to upload and then click Open.
  4. Click UPLOAD. The page refreshes to show the KEY COLUMNS, MISCELLANEOUS, PROPERTY MAPPING, and PERMISSIONS pages.

Document table

Name of the worksheet in the workbook file specified for Template that contains the document metadata columns.

Reference table

 Name of the worksheet in the workbook file specified for Template that contains the reference file metadata columns for the documents in the packages.

DESTINATION REPOSITORY group

Destination repository

The destination vault for the documents that are imported from packages to which you assign this import profile.

Destination folder

Vault folder where to import the documents. The default is the root folder.

Note    This location will be overridden if:

  • A path is specified in the column in the import package metadata that is mapped to the Import folder option on the Key Columns page of the import profile.
  • The document already exists in this folder and a folder is specified for the Duplicates folder option of the import profile.

Duplicates folder

Vault folder where to import duplicate documents if they already exist in the folder specified for Destination folder.

Document number property

Fully qualified Meridian Enterprise property definition name that holds the primary identifier for every document in the vault. This property is used to determine if an imported document already exists in the vault.

Note    If this property is empty during synchronization, the filename (without extension) is used to identify the documents.

To specify the property name:

  1. Click EDIT. The SELECT PROPERTY dialog box appears.
  2. Select a vault property from the list. Typically, you should select the NAME property in the Common property set.
  3. Click OK. The property name appears in the option field.

Default document type

Document type to assign to the imported documents if no document type is specified in the Property Mapping options.

Note    If the Document type workflow option of the document type is set to Use workflow definitions, the After importing documents option of the vault should be set to Set state to Under Change. After import, the documents will be in the Released workflow state depending on the configuration of the document type and of the vault. If the documents cannot be released, they will be left in the Under Change state for the user that performed the import and the reason that they could not be released will be entered in the publishing log.

Default reference type

Reference type to assign to the imported documents if no document type is specified in the Property Mapping options.

  1. If you are creating a new import profile, click SAVE. The page refreshes to show additional options.

    OR

    If you are editing an existing profile:

    In the menu, click KEY COLUMNS. The Key Columns page appears. These options specify the columns in the package metadata to map to the most important Meridian Enterprise properties. The metadata should contain columns for all of the following options that apply to the source documents.

    The available values for these options are only the column names that were found in the worksheet specified for Document table in the workbook that you uploaded for Template. Any columns in excess of those that are mapped to these options are considered as custom properties and they can be mapped on the PROPERTY MAPPING page.

    Note    All properties that are mapped in the import profile must exist in the metadata of the import package or the import will fail.

  2. Click options or type values using the descriptions in the following table.
Key mapping properties
Property Description

DOCUMENT KEY COLUMNS group

Document number

The column that contains an identifier that is unique for each document (including the parts of assemblies). This number should be the same for all revisions of the same document and the same for project copies of master documents.

Document name

 The column that contains the document name as it should appear to users.

Revision

The column that contains the document revision number. This must be unique for all revisions of the same document.

Revision sort

The column upon which to sort the revisions for a single document (if present) so that they are imported in the correct order. Typically, this is the same column as Revision field.

Hybrid sort

The column to sort to identify the main document (imported first) and the parts (imported next) of hybrid documents.

Path

 The column that contains the path to the content of the documents. This location must be relative to the location specified for Address.

Rendition path

 The column that contains the relative path to a rendition of the document. This location must be relative to the location specified for Address.

Import folder

The column that contains the names of folders where to import the documents. The values in this column override the Destination folder option on the Overview page.

REFERENCE KEY COLUMNS group

Source document number

 The column that contains the document number that is the source of the references.

Destination document number

 The column that contains the document number that is the destination of the references.

Source revision number

 The column that contains the revision number of the document that is the source of the references.

Destination revision number

The column that contains the revision number of the document that is the destination of the references.

Reference name

 The column that contains the names of the references to create between the documents.

Reference type

The column that contains the names of the reference types to create between the documents.
  1. In the menu, click MISCELLANEOUS. The Miscellaneous page appears. These options specify how you want Meridian Enterprise Server to perform the import.
  2. Click options or type values using the descriptions in the following table.
Miscellaneous options
Option Description

SCAN OPTIONS group

Import title blocks

If enabled, searches imported files for title blocks that are specified in the vault configuration and if any are found, sets the corresponding document properties.

Notes

  • The Perform automatic title block updates option and the When the document is imported option of the document type must both be enabled.
  • Only when a title block property is specified in a title block link configuration of the vault and it is also mapped to a column in the import metadata will the title block property values be imported to the documents. The import metadata will not be imported.
  • Title block properties are only imported after a document is successfully imported into a vault, not during package scanning.
  • Title block synchronization during package import has the same requirements and limitations as during normal application link operations in Meridian Enterprise. For example, Meridian Enterprise Server must run under the same account as was used to install the native application (Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks, and so on) that provides the libraries that are used to perform the synchronization.
  • Any errors that occur during title block synchronization will appear in the Comment log of the document and will not cause the import to fail.

For more information about configuring title block links, see the BlueCielo Meridian Enterprise Configuration Guide.

Include references

If enabled, scans imported files for external references and creates corresponding Meridian Enterprise references. These references are in addition to the references created by the worksheet specified for the Reference table option. If an external reference is missing from the package, an error will be logged and the parent document will be skipped.

Create thumbnails

If enabled, generates thumbnail images of documents during import.

IMPORT OPTIONS group

Existing documents

Specifies how to process documents that already exist in the destination folder in the vault.

Missing content

Specifies how to process documents for which a content file could not be found in the sub-folder or archive file at the location specified in Address.
  1. In the menu, click PROPERTY MAPPING. The Property Mapping page appears. These options are supplemental mappings of vault properties to custom properties that can be included in the document metadata worksheet.

  2. Create a mapping for each column in the metadata that you want to import as a document property in the vault. For each mapping, click options or type values using the descriptions in the following table.

    Notes

Property mapping options
Option Description

TARGET group

Initialize property on import

If enabled, the property will be set for the document in the vault with the value specified by the other options that you select. If disabled, the property will not be set during import.

Validate property on import

If enabled, the value specified in the metadata will be evaluated by the Input required and Apply input restrictions validation options that are configured in the destination vault just as if the document were created new in the vault.

SOURCE group

Fixed value

If selected, sets the property to the value specified in Fixed value.

Database field

If selected, sets the property to the value specified in the metadata column selected from the list.

Expression

If enabled, evaluates an expression to calculate the value of the mapped property.

To specify the expression:

  1. Click EDIT. The EXPRESSION dialog box appears and lists the available properties in the source system.

  2. In the Expression pane, type an expression to be evaluated during import. The expression may use any .NET compliant methods (except Parse) and operators in the C# language syntax. The result of the expression will be the property value in the destination system. Double-click a property in the list to insert it into the expression. The result of the expression must be compatible with the data type of the destination property. If necessary, you can convert data types, for example, using the ToString method.

    Following are examples of text and date expressions:

    {Title 1} + " " + {Title 2} + " " + {Title 3}
{PropertyName}.SubString(0, 1)
{NonStringProperty}.ToString() + " days"
{ProjectEndDate}.AddDays(-30)
  3. To validate the expression, click CHECK. Errors in the expression appear in the Errors pane. Correct all errors until the Errors pane is empty.
  4. When you are finished editing the expression, click SAVE.
  1. In the menu, click PERMISSIONS. The Permissions page appears. These options specify which security groups can perform various actions with import packages that have been assigned this import profile.
Permissions options
Option Description

ADMINISTRATIVE PERMISSIONS group

View

Can see packages.

Create and edit

Can create and edit a package.

Scan

 Can start scanning of a package.

Approve

Can approve a scanned package.

Import

 Can start the import of a package.

Close, reopen, delete

Can close, reopen, and delete a package.
  1. Click SAVE.

BlueCielo Meridian Explorer 2016 User's Guide

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