Importing Data Into Clover

Moving data in, through, and even back out of the Clover Platform is central to the value we can provide to your organization and its Trading Partners.  Clover is full of tools and features that help you move data through the system quickly, organize it data effortlessly, and of course, track all of these activities in a ledger, permanently.  Importing data has always presented a unique set of challenges.  Import needs to be powerful, fast, customizable, and still approachable for Users that arent very "technical".  The new Import process has been introduced to address these challenges.

The Import Process

Regardless of the type of data you are importing, the process you will be guided through is the same.  Here's a look at what that process does, and how it's steps are broken down:

Let's take a look at the Product Import Process, to see how this looks in action.  From the Products Screen, we'll click on the Import Products Button.  

1. Upload File Selection - The first screen of the import process is displayed. You can drag and drop a file to upload or click the "Selec file" button to browse your computer for the file to upload.

2. Worksheet Selection - After your file is selected, it is analyzed to determine if it contains multiple Worksheets, and a screen is displayed allowing you to select any of the worksheets present, that contain data.  In most cases, you should be able to use the default selection here, and continue.

3. Header Selection - If your import file contains a Header row, the import process will attempt to detect it automatically.  The selected row is presented highlighted, as shown here.  You may select an alternate row containing your headers, if needed.  Click Continue to advance to the next step in the import process... Column Mapping.

4. Column Mapping - The import process needs to understand how the data in your file, relates to the data stored in the system.  In this step, the system displays what it "thinks" your column mappings should be.  The columns you have present in your uploaded file are shown on the left, and the fields where this data will be imported is shown on the right.  

Details for the selected column mapping are displayed to the right. You will generally not need to adjust anything in this screen, as using the Import Templates provided by the system removes the possibility of mismatched columns.  If needed, you can use this screen to adjust any mappings needed.

6. Review & Finalize - The last step of the import process is to review the data you are about to import, to identify any errors that exist.  Errors are highlighted with a red cell background. as shown here:

Clicking in the red cell causes additional details of the error encountered, to be displayed. In this case, indicating that the selected field is required.

Here we simply add the Product's Name into the empty field, to correct the error.  Click on the Error summary at the top left to cause the contents to be re-evaluated, and clear the corrected issue.

Clicking the "Save and finalize" button will complete the import process.  A piece of cake!