Update Products from a File

Overview

You can efficiently update product information for multiple products by importing their new information from a file. There might not be that many scenarios where you would mass update product information because custom fields are most commonly used for sample identification purposes within test rather than product identification. However, if you ever need them, the necessary steps to update products from a file are outlined in this workflow.

You will not be able to update Product ID and Date created.
Product code (a field different from the Product ID) cannot be updated using the file import. If you absolutely need to update the Product code, you can do it by manually updating one product at a time, or contact Compusense Support Team if you require updating a large number of product codes.

Visit the Products library page for other topics that may be of interest to you.

The product information update involves the following steps:

1. Exporting current product information.
   
2. Updating product information in the exported file.
   
3. Importing updated product information.
   

Export Product Information

1. From the black ribbon at the top of the screen, select Libraries > Products.
   
   
2. Click on a product group where you wish to update your products, or use the Find products feature to list the products you wish to update.
   
   
3. If you wish to update all listed products, click in the checkbox in the header row.
   
   
   Alternatively, if you do not wish to update all the listed products, either refine your search, or manually click the individual products' checkboxes until you select those that you intend to update.
   
   
4. Select Import/export > Export products. The Import/export history page will open for you with the option to download the file you just exported.
   
   
5. Click on the down arrow or the file name and save the file to a location on your local or network drive. Open the file.
   

Update Product Information in the File

We will use an example scenario where new nomenclature needs to be followed for all products. Specifically, prefixes need to be inserted in the names of specific groups of products. In our example scenario, initially all the products were imported without these prefixes.

The file you exported by following previous steps will contain all the fields coming from the Products library, except for the Image. Some fields can be updated in the Products library, while others cannot. The fields that cannot be updated are:

1. Product ID - A system generated numeric code at the time the product record was originally created.
   
2. Date Created - The date when the product record was originally created.

If you try to import data for fields that cannot be updated, the data in your file for these fields will be ignored, but the rest of product information included in the file will be updated if the import is successful.

Going back to our example scenario, as a reminder, we are only interested in updating the product name field. For this reason, we will keep the Product name column and the Code column in the file.

When deleting unwanted columns:

1. To select and delete one column at a time, click on the column letter, right-click on the selected area and select Delete.
   
   
2. To select and delete multiple columns at a time, use the combination of Ctrl key and mouse click. Right-click on the selected area and select Delete.
   Our example image shows some custom sample fields that we do not need for our product updating purposes, therefore they need to be removed from the file.
   

The two columns that should remain in your file are:

1. Code - Required field that enables the software to know which product name belongs to which product. Although this field cannot be updated in the Products library, it will not give you errors when you include it in the import file because the software needs it for product identification purposes.
   
   
2. Product name - In our example required field because this is the information we want to update.
   

The importing information must start in the cell A1 and continue into the column B without any blank columns between. Please see the screenshot above. If your columns are separated by blank columns, please remove the blank columns (select entire blank column at a time, right-click and select Delete).

Update the product names for your products. When done and certain that each product name corresponds to the right product and follows the new nomenclature, save the file making sure that you maintain the .csv file format.

Import Updated Product Information

1.  In the Products library, select the product group where the products already reside.
   
   If you select a group that products currently don't belong to, your products will get updated and they will also be added to the product group you selected during the update. They will will also continue to be in the group they resided in before the update.
   
   
2. On the right, select Import/export > Import products .
   
   
   
   
   
3. In the Import products screen, click Browse and locate your product import file that you prepared earlier. Click Open .
   
   
4. Click Submit .
   

You will be provided with a message indicating whether your import was successful or not.

Message	Description
	All the records in your file imported successfully. No action is required for successful imports.
	Your file imported partially. The portion of your original file that did not successfully import is saved to a new file. Download the revised file to review what has caused the import to be unsuccessful, and update the file to eliminate the issue. If the newly updated file corresponds to existing products in the Products library, repeat the importing steps above. If the newly updated file contains information for products that do not currently exist in the Products library, follow the steps for importing new products.
	Your entire file did not import. Download the revised file to review what has caused the import to be unsuccessful, and update the file to eliminate the issue. If the newly updated file corresponds to existing products in the Products library, repeat the importing steps outlined above this table. If the newly updated file contains information for products that do not currently exist in the Products library, follow the steps for importing new products.

 

To review the import and export history in the Products library, select any product group, and on the right, select Import/export > Import/export history .

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