How to Import Data › How to Import Data › Map Data File Columns to Data Fields

Map Data File Columns to Data Fields

You can map the columns in your source data file to fields in CA APM. You perform column mapping to specify where the source data is imported. You can select most objects and associated fields as destination fields during column mapping.

Note: If you created your data import from a legacy map file, the column mapping exists. If you want to change the values, you can edit the existing mapping rules. You can also add or remove mapping rules and filters.

When you log in, the user role that your administrator assigned to you determines the objects and fields that you can see and use. If your role specifies that you do not have permissions for an object field, the field is not available for a mapping. You can only create a mapping and import data for the objects and fields for which you have permissions.

Note: We recommend that, before you map data, you review the CA APM user interface to determine the required information for a mapping. For example, review the Asset page to see that the asset name, asset family, model, and class are required. Because a model is required to create an asset, you review the Model page to see that the model name and asset family are required. By reviewing the user interface before you create a mapping, you ensure that you have all required information to create a mapping.

Follow these steps:

1. On the Administration tab, Data Importer page, in the Mapping area for a selected import, click New or click Load Source Fields.
   • New allows you to select the source fields individually from the source data file.
   • Load Source Fields adds all source fields from the source data file.

   Note: If you have existing mappings, Load Source Fields allows you to replace those mappings with the source fields in the source data file. This option also allows you to add the source fields from the source data file that you do not already have in your mappings.

   1. If you clicked Load Source Fields, click the Edit Record icon next to a field.
2. Click the Select icon next to Source Field (if this field is empty), select a column from your data source, and click OK.

   If this field already contains a source field (because you loaded all source fields), you can skip this step.

   Note: The percent signs that appear before and after the column names identify the names as column headers in your source data file. You can also specify a hard-coded value in the Source Field that you want to apply to all records in your source data file. You can then map the hard-coded value to a Destination Field. The hard-coded values do not display with percent signs so that they can be distinguished from the source data file column names. For more information, see hard-coded values.

3. Click the Select icon next to Destination Field, select a Destination Field for the selected Source Field, and click OK.

   The destination fields that appear are based on your selected main destination object.

   Note: The destination fields display in hierarchical order. For example, the fields that are listed under Asset Type Hierarchy are Asset Family, Class, and Subclass. The order of the fields in the list represents the field hierarchy. Follow the field hierarchy when you specify mapping rules. For example, for Asset Type Hierarchy, specify a rule for Class before you specify Subclass.

4. Select the Primary Lookup and Secondary Lookup check boxes as required.
   1. Select a Primary Lookup check box for each destination field that you want to use to find the primary object. Use the following guidelines when selecting this check box:
      • Select at least one Primary Lookup check box in the column mapping for an import.
      • Do not select this check box if the Destination Field is Note Text (under the Note object). The database data type for the Note Text field does not allow it to function as a lookup field.
   2. Select a Secondary Lookup check box for each destination field that you want to use to find the secondary objects. Use the following guidelines when selecting this check box:
      • Do not select this check box if the destination field is not one of your lookup fields for the secondary object.
      • Do not select this check box if the Destination Field is Note Text (under the Note object). The database data type for the Note Text field does not allow it to function as a lookup field.
5. Click the Complete Record Edit icon.
6. Click New again, or click the Edit Record icon next to another source field, to specify more mapping rules.

   Note: To delete a specific mapping rule from the list of mapped columns, click the Deletion icon next to the mapping rule. The column mapping rule is removed from the list.

7. Click Save.

   Your column mapping is saved.

Example: Map Data File Columns to Data Fields

Sam performs the following steps to map the data file columns in the source data file to the CA APM data fields:

1. Clicks New in the Mapping area of the Import Details page.
2. Selects %Login ID% in the Source Field by clicking the Select icon next to Source Field and selecting this item from the dialog.

   The items that are listed in the dialog are the columns from the source data file.

3. Selects User ID in the Destination Field by clicking the Select icon next to Destination Field and selecting this object from the dialog.
4. Selects the Primary Lookup check box.
5. Continues to map the remaining columns in the source data file with CA APM data fields and clicks Save when finished.