If you are moving from a different system to RIB CX or are in need of uploading a large number of documents to the Publication Space, the excel import utility can be used to achieve this goal.
Download the Excel Template
1. In the Project toolbar click on the Cog icon.
2. Click on Utilities.
3. Click on Import to Publication Space.
4. Click on Download Excel Template.
The Excel Template
Across the top of the template are the standard fields along with custom fields. Column A to Column I are the standard fields (refer here for how to edit standard fields), column J onwards are custom fields (Refer here for how to create and edit custom fields).
Across the bottom are user field tabs that show the options available for that user field. Referring to these tabs ensures the correct options are entered. As the template is dynamic you can easily fill out the template using other excel tools eg data validation.
The required fields will also be highlighted with a red * asterix.
Fill in the Excel Template
If uploading multiple revisions of the one document with the same date they may not load in revision sequence.
If there is no time on the excel spreadsheet in he Rev Date column when uploaded it will default to midnight.
Fill in the mandatory fields in the excel template.
| Doc# | Document number. |
|---|---|
| Title | Title of the Document. |
| Rev | Revision of the Document. |
| Rev Date | Revision Date of the document. |
| Rev Status | Revision Status of the document. |
| File Path | Folder location of the Document on the publication space. |
| File Name | Document file name eg A101.pdf. |
| Type | Type of the Drawing. |
| Discipline | The Discipline the drawing belongs to. |
Additionally, if you have other user fields you would like to populate add them as new columns by the user field code.
It is recommended that you use the RIB CX excel template for your imports. However, if you have a custom excel file with your data filled in already RIB CX can match those columns to the user fields configured on your project.
See how to do this below.
Upload the Excel File Wizard
After all the data has been filled in on the excel template.
1. Choose whether you are importing new documents or updating existing documents.
What Do I Choose?
Import New Documents is for uploading placeholders, new documents and for bulk importing new revisions of existing documents.
Update Existing Documents is for updating metadata of existing documents WITHOUT creating a new revision/version.
2. To bulk import placeholders, new documents and new revisions of existing documents select import new documents.
3. If you are importing placeholders place a tick in the import documents with blank file names as placeholders only checkbox.
4. If you want to update metadata for existing documents without updating a revision select update existing documents.
5. Choose whether you want to:
- update placeholders (place a tick in the checkbox if you want to update placeholders).
- clear the existing value (unless it is a required field) or keep the existing value if a column (cell) in the excel file is empty.
6. Click on Select files.
7. Select your excel file.
8. Click Next.
The Import Utility Wizard will open.
Column Matching
If you uploaded a custom excel file with Columns that do not match the Columns already configured on your project this step in the Wizard will let you match them together.
1. On the left side are the columns on your excel file that do not match the columns already in RIB CX Publication Space.
2. The right hand side will show available columns in the Publication Space that you can map to.
3. Simply make a selection by selecting them in the drop down.
4. If locations in excel file cannot be matched in RIB CX, you can either "Select Actions" individually for each file or complete "Bulk Actions" options.
Select Actions;
Bulk Actions
Or choose Do not Map this field - note this means the data in this column will not be uploaded to RIB CX.
5. Columns already matched are not displayed in the selection.
6. You must make at least 1 selection per row to continue to the next step.
If there are columns in your excel spreadsheet that do not match a valid column in RIB CX and you want them to upload, you need to create these columns as user fields in RIB CX first before restarting the import.
7. Once all the Column matching is done. Click Next.
Excel Errors
The errors page shows errors detected on the excel file. Validation is performed on Mandatory values that are missing.
- Document Number
- Rev
- Rev Date
- Rev Status
- Folder Path
Missing data from the excel file needs to be completed prior to proceeding with the import process.
You will need to go to start of the import by clicking Back and then upload the updated excel file to proceed.
User Fields
This tab will display user field options that do not match with the options for that user field on RIB CX.
You will be required to map the unmatched user field value with one of the existing values OR if you have the rights to add new user field options you can select add options (Click here for how to add options on the fly).
Folders
This tab will display folder locations listed on the excel file that are not currently in the publication space.
You will need to decide between 3 options.
Create these folders - this will create the folder for you and upload the documents to this location.
Do not create these folders - this will ignore the folder location on the excel file and upload the documents to the top level of the Publication space.
Select an existing folder - you are given the option to replace the folder location on the excel file with a folder that already exists in the Publication space.
Attachments
This tab is where you upload the actual files that are listed in your excel file in the filename column.
Attachments Errors
This tab will display a list of Document attachments (uploaded in the previous tab) that did not match the file names in the excel file - in the filename column, or attachments that are completely missing (not uploaded).
To proceed you have three options.
Match a document uploaded in the attachments tab to one of the file names in the excel.
Upload a new document against the correct row.
Upload a ZIP File to with the relevant documents and iTWO cx will try to match them for you.
Transmittal Field
The final step in the wizard is to complete the Transmittal tab. This includes selecting required fields, the rev status and attaching any additional files required on the transmittal.
Summary
Once the import has finished a Summary of the import results will be displayed.
Notes Field / Rev Column
When it comes to Excel import, there are two columns to pay particular attention to. Rev Column and Notes Field.
Revision Column (Rev):
Added an optional "Rev" column to the import/update Excel file.
Users can choose to fill it in or leave it blank.
Revision Matching:
The system will match document numbers and revisions to update the relevant revisions.
Only the specified revisions will be updated based on the provided data.
Handling Blank Revisions:
If the "Rev" column is left blank, the system will treat it as updating the latest revision the user can access.
Example: If Revision C is the latest and "Rev" is blank, it will update Revision C.
User Field Updates:
For user fields specific to a revision, the system will update the specific revisions.
For non-revision-specific user fields, only the latest revision will be updated.
Duplicate Revision Handling:
If a document has multiple revisions marked as the same (e.g., Revision A), the system will update the latest accessible revision marked as A.
History Tracking:
A history log will be added to the document and revision where values are updated via import, ensuring traceability.
Notes Field:
Added a "Notes" field to the PS Excel import file template to update documents.
Users can enter document numbers along with revisions and import data so that specific notes can be imported against a specific revision.
Notes Import:
Users can fill in the "Notes" field and import values for each row.
Imported values will be stored and recorded against the respective document.