Export/Import Time Periods

MarkTurkenburg_*56377
MarkTurkenburg_*56377
in Integrations and extensibility

Hi team,

 

I have a situation whereby users have the option to export the data from a module, adjust the relevant cells & then import the same CSV file to the module.

 

There is an issue with 2 line items that have Time Period as the format. When they are exported the format in the CSV is 'MMM-YY' rather than 'MMM YY' & if you upload the CSV without re-saving it then it will not remove the data in those fields. If you open the CSV, save the file (even without any changes) & then upload it will fail on those Time Period cells & delete the data that is currently in the module

 

I'm thinking with this current setup, Users would export the data, open it and then need to change the values in those cells to 'MMM YY' & also add the new data in the same format otherwise it will delete data as above

 

I know that I could create a date line item & map the data into this & reference the Time Period line item to this but that seems like a unreasonable workaround

 

Any ideas would be appreciated

 

Mark

 

 

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Answers

  • MarkWarren
    MarkWarren

    Do all the data manipulation/entry in Anaplan.
    Don't make users export from Anaplan, edit csv's and import back in, this can be done better in Anaplan.
    It's not best practice and will not scale well as a process.

  • MarkTurkenburg_*56377
    MarkTurkenburg_*56377

    Entering data fields manually 1 by 1 will scale better than an a upload? 

  • MarkWarren
    MarkWarren

    What is it the users are doing, I think we're missing that context?
    I assumed from reading they were editing data, which could be done as effectively in Anaplan; especially if the data has come from Anaplan and needs to go back in to Anaplan.
    Maybe the Excel Add-In can meet requirements, as a bridge between having data in Anaplan and editing it externally?

    Expand on your use case and we, as a Community, can try to offer some practical advice.

  • aerodriguezv
    aerodriguezv

    Hi Mark, actually i'm having this same issue, did you came up with any alternative workaround for this issue?

     

    Thanks!

  • MarkWarren
    MarkWarren

    The date format, if exported as Months from Anaplan will have the "MMM YY" format, in Excel it may look like the MMM-YY format. If the CSV is saved with the format MMM-YY it will not import to Anaplan as the import 'match name' feature expects "MMM YY". So if this is the case ensure it has that custom format in the source file.
    Or stick to full dates...

  • nathan.fowler
    nathan.fowler

    You can create an export/import process within Anaplan. Ideally we always want to plan within Anaplan but I have created export/import process.

     

    • Export
      • File Type: CSV
      • Layout: Grid
      • Omit Summary
      • Include Empty
      • Action Name: Export [What you want to export] template
      • Process Name: EXPORT: [What you want to export] template
    • Import
      • Action Name: Import [What you want to import]
      • Process Name: IMPORT: [What you want to import] 
      • Time: Periods Y-M

    FYI, you'll probably get a date error when you set up the action. However, once you run the process end to end the data loads with no errors. This is pretty finicky and you may experience some errors. 

  • mhemphill
    mhemphill

    I believe the question relates to the classic problem of Anaplan month 'Jan 23' appearing in excel/csv as 'Jan-23'. Which will not then import into 'Jan 23'

    There a million requests to do something about this dating back many years yet no Anaplan fix.

    There is a workaround. Use Fake Time in the export job, load data back into fake time staging module. Then map this fake time to real module using Anaplan Time.

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