Are you looking to import your historical tools/assets data or migrate your data from the old system to Qooling? The purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for importing multiple tools in Qooling with as complete data as possible, all in one go. This will enable you to instantly use Qooling to manage your tools/assets and inspections.

Use the table of content bellow to navigate through the document.  Make sure that you follow the steps in the given order. 

Table of content

• 1. Download template
• 2. Data elements explained
• 3. Tools import sheet
  • Import per tool category
  • Preparing the tools import sheet
  • Common pitfalls:
• 4. Transform tools import sheet to csv file
• 5. Import tools csv file to Qooling

1. Download template

To import tools data, you have to use a csv file. We have compiled an excel file import sheet template that you can download and use to prepare the data import. 

• Qooling tools import sheet_EN
• Qooling tools import sheet_NL

IMPORTANT: This template consists of all standard data fields in Qooling. In case you are using additional custom fields and have multiple tool categories, then you will need to add those data fields to the template as extra columns. We will explain how to do this later in this document. For now, you can proceed further.

In the following part, we will explain how the tools import sheet works.

2. Data elements explained

When you open the excel template, you will encounter a uniform setup. To familiarize with how the data sheet has been organized, here is an explanation of the  data sheet elements:

1. Data fields - These fields represent the requirements of which data you need to collect

2. Explainer fields - We have added a short explainer to each data field in the sheet so that you know what data is required from you to collect.

3. Data input - This is the actual data that you will be collecting

4. Selection fields - This is a special field that only allows you to choose between a given range. It is case-and spacing-sensitive, meaning that this data needs to be precise and needs to exactly match with Qooling specifications. In contrary, the import will not work. Therefore, please pay close attention to these fields and the consistency of your data input.

Now, lets begin with the import preparation...

3. Tools import sheet

Import per tool category

Qooling offers the possibility to import tools in bulk per tool category that you configured in Qooling. This means that if you for example have 3 tool categories configured in Qooling, you will need to assemble 3 separate import sheets and load them separately in Qooling. See the screenshot for more context.

In this example we will use the tool category "PTP - Pallete truck" to walk you through the process. To import tools for other tool categories, just repeat the same process as described here below.

Preparing the tools import sheet

1. Download and open the import sheet template, containing standard fields in Qooling.

2. On the general level (extra fields), we have included a standard set of fields in the import template. Double-check if you are using any additional custom fields and or if some of the standard fields do not apply in your case. (Configurations >> Tools tab >> Extra fields >> Edit button). 

3. Check if the tool category for which you are doing the import contains additional custom fields. In Qooling navigate to Configurations >> Tools tab >> Tool categories >> PTP - Pallete truck >> Edit button.

4. On the general level, lets assume that no other custom fields other than the standard ones are in use for this case example.

5. For the tool category, notice that two extra fields are being used, unique to only this tool category (Color and Comments). Do not change or edit anything here. Go back to your configuration screen.

6. You now need to add these extra custom fields to your import sheet as columns. You can do this manually by inserting new columns in your excel sheet and copy-paste the names from Qooling. 

7. In case you have a lot of extra fields, there is a quick way to get them all:

• On your configuration screen click on the button"import" for your tool category.
  
  
• Upload a random csv file
  
• This opens the import mapping pop-up where all data fields are displayed, both standard and custom fields. In case you use custom fields on general level, they will also be present here.
• Simply drag your mouse across custom fields that you need and copy them.
• In your excel paste the fields as extra columns.
  

8.  Now populate the data fields. Here is an example of how this would look like:

Common pitfalls:

It is important to be consistent as possible during the data filling process. Otherwise, the import may not work or at best case will not import the complete data. To reduce the chances that this happens and to help you out, we have compiled a short list of common pitfall that can trigger import errors, resulting in the import failing:

• IMPORTANT: Non-existing data - if you try to import and map certain data from csv file to Qooling, make sure that this data is first existent and configured in Qooling. For example, make sure that the tool owner is already an active user in Qooling
  
  Other pitfalls:
• Spacing - sometimes when you copy and paste data, an extra spacing can be created before or after the data text. Make sure that this is deleted. Otherwise it can impact the mapping process with Qooling.
• Captions - Qooling is sensitive to small and capital letters so be precise.
• Duplicate emails - make sure that your csv file does not contain duplicate emails.
• Duplicate usernames - make sure that your csv file does not contain duplicate usernames.
• Spelling mistakes - make sure the names and descriptions in the csv exactly match the data from Qooling.
• Formatting inconsistencies - make sure that you follow the formatting guidelines. Use the instructed date format and numeric data should be formatted as numbers while text data as text.

4. Transform tools import sheet to csv file

Now that your data set is complete, it is time to transform your excel sheet into a csv import in order to load it into Qooling.

1. Copy all columns and fields from your import sheet.

2. Create a new excel file

3. In new excel file paste special >> values only. Very important to do it this way, because all formatting and data validation will be nullified, which is what we need for the import to work.

4. Remove the first column A "Fields" and the second row "Explainer".

5. If all goes well, you should be left with a clean data set like this:

6. When finished, save/download your excel file as a csv file.

5. Import tools csv file to Qooling

1. In Qooling navigate to Configurations >> Tools tab >> Tool categories >> PTP - Pallete truck >> Import button.

2. This opens up a pop-up with a short explanation what you need to do and some tips

3. There is also a link to a demo on how import works. We added this video here as well in in step 7 of this part. 

4. Select file and upload your csv file.

5 You will now see an import pop-up from which you can:

• Specify the first row of your csv file to be header ---
• See a preview of your data ---
• Manually map the columns from your csv file with Qooling data fields. If your columns in csv have matching names with Qooling data fields, the mapping will for the most part be done automatically. In our case, we need to manually map one custom field (naam). ---

6. Manually map the field from csv with Qooling by clicking on "Select Column". In our case, for "Naam", when we open the mapping popup, notice that the there is a column "Tool/Asset name" that does not have a green frame around it. We will click on this column to map. Notice that the field "inspection passed/not passed" is also not mapped. This field cannot be imported, but the data from this field will come in handy for managing your inspections which comes after the import process. To find out more about inspections refer to this article.

7. Once you finished the mapping, notice that the data from the newly mapped fields is now available in the data preview. You can also see which data fields from csv are mapped with Qooling.

Here is also a short demo of how the import works to give you a better picture.

8. Execute the import and go to your tools/assets overview in Qooling. Notice that your data has been imported.