Answer:  A pre-formatted Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet has been provided to facilitate importing data into Catalyst from another data source. The spreadsheet can be opened and populated by selecting File > Get External Data > View Converted Data from the Catalyst main menu. The spreadsheet includes worksheets to enter items, customers, vendors, warehouses, locations, unit of measures, ship-via carriers, countries, and states. The existing records for units of measure, ship-via carriers, countries, and states are populated with the data already included in Catalyst.     

When viewing the spreadsheet, the first row (blue background) of each worksheet contains the labels for the equivalent table columns in Catalyst. The required fields are indicated with bold text. Each column has data validation rules to ensure that the data entered into each cell is the correct data type and length. For columns that depend on data from another source, you will need to populate the associated list before adding values using the drop-down combo box. For instance, before populating the Vendor column on the Items worksheet, you will need to add rows to the Vendors worksheet.

After loading the required data into the spreadsheet, you can import the records directly into Catalyst using the Import Converted Data option as described below.

1.      Save and close the CatalystImport.xls spreadsheet.

2.      From the Catalyst main menu, select File > Get External Data > Import Converted Data.

3.      Select the data you would like to import using the radio buttons on the Catalyst Data Import screen. The selection of some data groups will automatically require that you include data from related sources even if you have not populated those worksheets. For instance, to import item data, you must also import data for warehouses, locations, unit of measures, and vendors. In general, the data validation rules built into the spreadsheet ensures the integrity of the data imported into Catalyst.

4.      To import the data from the spreadsheet, click the Import button. After the data has been imported, you can view the imported records for each data group by clicking the adjacent edit button .

Since duplicate records are not added during the import process, the spreadsheet can be used to load additional records at any time.