Import Purchase Orders

Location: Settings > Other Settings and Materials > Import Purchase Orders

The Import Purchase Orders function can import purchase orders into the application from an external ordering system. The ordering system creates a transfer file in XML or CSV format based on the purchase orders. The transferred information may comprise purchase order title data as well as order and receipt rows. This function is available if the license contains the paid additional feature for purchase order matching.

Tip: It is recommended to only import purchase orders into the application that are intended for matching, such as purchase orders that contain receipts.

Organizational Level:

Set the desired organizational level.

Interface:

You can select the interface via which data are imported into the application by using the Interface list. For more information, see Defining an Interface.

Material to be imported:

The Material to be imported setting specifies whether to import the material from a server or a workstation. The options are:

By selecting On Workstation, materials to be transferred can be read from the disc resource found by the workstation that the user uses. You can select the material to be transferred by pressing the button next to the Select the material to be imported field. The file selected in the selection window appears in the Select the material to be imported field. Only one file can be processed at a time.
By selecting On Server the material to be read will be read from the directory that has been specified through the Interfaces function.

Import the material into the application by using the Import button. The transfer will be recorded in the transfer log.

Tip: It is also possible to import purchase orders automatically without the user starting the purchase order import manually. This way, the application automatically imports the files that are generated in the transfer directory and deletes the contents of the directory after a successful import process.

Defining an Interface

By clicking the Interfaces button, you can edit the purchase order import interfaces. The button is active if the user's profile allows the function Purchase Orders, Interfaces. To configure a new interface, click the New button. In the window that opens, select the correct organizational level, assign a name for the interface, and click Ok.

To see the details of an existing interface, select the correct organizational level and specify the interface in the Interface Name field.

Basic Data Tab

The basic data of the interface specifies the interface type as well as whether automatic importing is used. The relevant interfaces must be established before importing the data.

Interface Type:

The Interface Type option specifies the format of the import file. Usually the selection ASCII is used.

Automatic Importing:

The Automatic Importing option specifies whether the interface is used for the automatic importing of purchase invoices. When Automatic Importing is selected, the user does not start the purchase order import manually. Instead, the application automatically imports the files that are generated in the transfer directory and deletes the contents of the directory after a successful import process.

Receipt:

The Create goods receipt from order rows option specifies whether a receipt row is created for the order row based on the defined receipt data or if the receipt data is imported from a separate receipt row. If the Create goods receipt from order rows option has been selected, the possible separate receipt rows in the material will not be taken into account and the receipt data will always be imported only from the order row. If the option has not been selected, the receipt data must be located on separate receipt rows in the material and the possible receipt data on the order row will not be taken into account at all.

Notification recipient and Backup person recipient

An e-mail notification is sent of errors detected in connection with the import of purchase orders that were entered into the transfer log to users defined in the Notification recipient and Backup person recipient fields. For additional information, see Error Situations in Timed Transactions.

Files Tab

On the Files tab, you specify the transfer directory, the description file to be used in the import and the character set of the transfer material.

Directory:

Directory that contains the transfer material to be imported. The directory reported from the viewpoint of the application’s server. A file name is not specified, and the application imports all of the files in the directory.

Description File:

The description file defines the format the material to be read is in. The description file must match the imported material. The list is available when ASCII is selected as the interface type.
Description files can be viewed by selecting Settings > Other settings and Materials > Manage Description Files.

Conversion file:

XSLT conversion file with which the material to be imported is converted into Basware XML material. The data is imported into the program from the Basware XML material. The list is available when XSLT is selected as the interface type.

Character Set:

The character set that was used to generate the imported material. In Western Europe, the most widely used character set is Latin-1.