16.10. Importing regions

Regions are geographic boundaries, currently used in mSupply to help in displaying data on maps. At the moment they are only used in certain customisations but more use of them will follow as development progresses.

The first row of the spreadsheet is for the column headers and is not imported.

There must be 3 columns in the spreadsheet in the order shown in the following table:

Here is an example spreadsheet you can use: region_import_blank_template.xlsx

Go to the File > Import > Import assets menu and you will be asked to select the import file from a file window. After you have selected the file (if it is valid) you will be shown this window:

mSupply uses the code field to determine whether the asset being imported is a duplicate; an asset with the same code as one already in the database is determined to be a duplicate. Any assets with no code are ignored during duplicate checking i.e. an asset with no code can never be a duplicate and will always be imported as a new asset. In the If duplicate codes are detected section you tell mSupply what to do if it encounters a duplicate asset during the import:

• Import as new asset: this option will import the duplicate as a new asset
• Skip the duplicate without asking: the duplicate will not be imported and that row of the spreadsheet will be ignored
• Stop the import: as soon as a duplicate is encountered, the import will stop and all assets imported so far will be removed so that nothing is imported.
• Update the existing asset: the asset that already exists with the code in the database will be updated with the information contained in the spreadsheet row. A new asset will not be created. BE CAREFUL WITH THIS OPTION: if a cell is blank in the spreadsheet then the corresponding value is removed from the asset (if it had a value set for it), not left as it is.

The Field column of the table shows you all the columns that mSupply has detected in your import file, the Value column shows the values it has found in the cells for that row of the spreadsheet. You can move through the rows of the spreadsheet using the Previous and Next buttons. If you try to go beyond the first or last row of the spreadsheet mSupply will let you know.

You can carry out the import by clicking on the Import now button or cancel it by clicking on the Cancel button.

When the import has finished you will be shown a message telling you how many assets were imported and how many rows of the spreadsheet were skipped, ignored or failed.