We have acquired another company and need to import their data into our Macola ES applications. Need to bring in Inventory, Customers, Vendors, Chart of Accounts and Open A/R. What would you recommend ? XML ?, CSV ?, use Stylus Studio ? SQL Insert ? Appreciate any help - Thanks
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Data Conversion into Macola ES - Best Method ?
- Thread starter jbphmd
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JayTheGeek
MIS
Is this data going into a NEW (i.e. empty) company? Or are you looking to MERGE this data into an existing company database?
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- #3
JayTheGeek
MIS
‘Merge’ That makes a complex task even more complex.
Even without that issue, I would make a case for manual data entry. It might be a necessity for you. Of course, I have no idea the magnitude of this task.
There are XML tools that appear to address the financial side of this issue. I don’t have any experience with these; they were not available when we implemented Macola. But you need to specifically address the issue of using this import function to ‘merge’ data. In my 372 version the documentation for the XML tools is misleading and incomplete. So, ‘proceed with caution’ is an understatement. You will need to get additional information from Exact Software.
I strongly recommend reviewing this with your Reseller or Macola Support. You need someone who has used this XML tool; that is not me. I do know that there are additional tools in the reseller channel, the other folks on this board can point you in the right direction, or check the ‘solution finder’ page on Exact’s web site.
I will share with you some of our experiences.
FYI, we are just starting a project to bring a sister company onto Macola. This is a fresh, empty database. I will be managing conversion as a manual data entry task based on the following points:
1. the volume of data is manageable
2. some ‘grooming’ of data is desirable
3. many customer/vendor records can be dropped
4. past experience with data import tools indicate they will only do part of the job.
5. Data entry will serve as part of the training task (repetition works!)
We went live with Macola ES on version 340 in the summer of 2006. At that time there were minimal tools within the application to import data. We did successfully use IM/Bar Code to import our first inventory. If you have the distribution module, that is a viable option for Inventory Quantities.
Our VAR (Harvest Ventures) was able to develop utilities for importing ITEM Codes and Descriptions, AR Customers and AP Vendors records. For AR and AP history we imported account balances only, not transaction history. These values showed up as ‘opening balances’ in our fiscal year.
Although this approach was successful, it left us with a significant housekeeping chore. Maintenance to Vendor & Customer cards, and ongoing work to fix up the Item records put us at a break even point with respect to cost and time. If I were to do it all over again, I would try to make use of the XML tool. But I would also consider the manual data entry as a viable option.
Even without that issue, I would make a case for manual data entry. It might be a necessity for you. Of course, I have no idea the magnitude of this task.
There are XML tools that appear to address the financial side of this issue. I don’t have any experience with these; they were not available when we implemented Macola. But you need to specifically address the issue of using this import function to ‘merge’ data. In my 372 version the documentation for the XML tools is misleading and incomplete. So, ‘proceed with caution’ is an understatement. You will need to get additional information from Exact Software.
I strongly recommend reviewing this with your Reseller or Macola Support. You need someone who has used this XML tool; that is not me. I do know that there are additional tools in the reseller channel, the other folks on this board can point you in the right direction, or check the ‘solution finder’ page on Exact’s web site.
I will share with you some of our experiences.
FYI, we are just starting a project to bring a sister company onto Macola. This is a fresh, empty database. I will be managing conversion as a manual data entry task based on the following points:
1. the volume of data is manageable
2. some ‘grooming’ of data is desirable
3. many customer/vendor records can be dropped
4. past experience with data import tools indicate they will only do part of the job.
5. Data entry will serve as part of the training task (repetition works!)
We went live with Macola ES on version 340 in the summer of 2006. At that time there were minimal tools within the application to import data. We did successfully use IM/Bar Code to import our first inventory. If you have the distribution module, that is a viable option for Inventory Quantities.
Our VAR (Harvest Ventures) was able to develop utilities for importing ITEM Codes and Descriptions, AR Customers and AP Vendors records. For AR and AP history we imported account balances only, not transaction history. These values showed up as ‘opening balances’ in our fiscal year.
Although this approach was successful, it left us with a significant housekeeping chore. Maintenance to Vendor & Customer cards, and ongoing work to fix up the Item records put us at a break even point with respect to cost and time. If I were to do it all over again, I would try to make use of the XML tool. But I would also consider the manual data entry as a viable option.
XML import of all of the table you mentioned is supported in standard Macola ES. I am away from an ES install at the moment so I cannot give you an exact road map of how to get there but look under system, utilities, XML server.
You can import as either XML or CSV, so I usually dump the data into excel, save as .csv and import.
Exact or your BP can provide you with the templates you need to use to successfully import this data.
Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports
"What version of URGENT!!! are you using?
You can import as either XML or CSV, so I usually dump the data into excel, save as .csv and import.
Exact or your BP can provide you with the templates you need to use to successfully import this data.
Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports
"What version of URGENT!!! are you using?
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JayTheGeek
MIS
Excellent, those guys are a good business partner. Please let us know how it all turns out.
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