RMD import

General information

The RMD import functionality allows you to load data for measures, dimensions, facts, dimension groups, fact tables, and relationships from Microsoft Excel and CSV files into the current project version. Import replaces the data of every imported tab in the selected project version with the data from the file; tabs that are not imported are left untouched.

Because the import also carries fact tables and their relationships with dimension groups, a project version can be filled in from a single file: you do not have to create the fact tables, assign their elements, and set up the relationships manually after the import. The options for fact tables and relationships are available in every project and every project version, regardless of the RMD tab the import was started from, and require the same access rights as importing the other RMD data.

Access to the import function

The import function is available on the RMD screen:

The "Import from file" item is available via the menu in each section of the RMD screen
Import requires the Developer role or above (Developer, Project manager in a project they own or with developer access to it, Administrator, Super administrator) and a valid company license without restrictions. The Analyst and Viewer roles cannot import data

Supported file formats

Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)
Microsoft Excel 97-2003 (.xls)
CSV (Comma-Separated Values) (.csv)

Limitations

Maximum size of one file: 10 MB
An Excel file contains the data of all RMD tabs on separate sheets, so only one Excel file is loaded
A CSV file contains the data of one RMD tab, so a separate file is uploaded for each imported tab (up to six files)
Hidden sheets in Excel files are not available for import
Merged cells in the import file are not processed (corresponding cells will remain empty)

Import process

The import process is organized as a step-by-step wizard. Each step displays its number and name. You can navigate forward and backward between steps until the import is executed.

File selection

Click the "Import from file" button on the RMD screen
Select a file using your browser's standard file selection dialog
Click "Next" to proceed to the next step

Worksheet selection for Excel files

On this step, you select which RMD tabs to import and from which Excel sheets to take their data.

Tabs available for import:

"Measures"
"Dimensions"
"Facts"
"Dimension groups"
"Fact tables"
"Relationships"

Each tab has its own checkbox and its own sheet selector, so any combination of tabs can be imported — from a single tab to all six. Fact tables and relationships are enabled and configured exactly like the other tabs.

Sheet selection:

The system shows a list of all visible sheets from the uploaded file
A sheet is preselected for the "Measures", "Dimensions", "Facts" and "Dimension groups" tabs if its name contains "Measures", "Dimensions", "Facts", "Dimension group" or "Directory". The "Fact tables" and "Relationships" tabs are matched only by the exact sheet name — "Fact tables" or "Relationships" — so that a sheet with a similar name is not picked by mistake. The check ignores letter case and also recognises the Russian names of the tabs
You can manually select another sheet for any tab
To proceed, at least one tab must be selected, and every selected tab must have a sheet chosen

CSV settings

On this step, you upload the CSV files and set the delimiter for each of them. Because one CSV file contains the data of a single RMD tab, a separate file is uploaded for every tab you want to import: "Measures", "Dimensions", "Facts", "Dimension groups", "Fact tables", "Relationships".

For each tab you can:

Enable or disable the tab with its checkbox
Upload a CSV file for it
Select the delimiter used in that file

Data delimiter selection (set separately for every file):

Tab
Comma - default value
Semicolon

Notes:

The file you selected when starting the import is added as the file with measures
The delimiter selector becomes available after a file has been uploaded for the tab
Only files with the .csv extension can be uploaded on this step

Column selection

The system creates a separate column selection step for each selected tab, in the order: measures, dimensions, facts, dimension groups, fact tables, relationships. On these steps, you map columns from the import file to RMD columns in the system. The step for relationships is the last one before the preview.

How the system determines columns for Excel files:

Column names are taken from the first non-empty row of the selected sheet
If a cell in the row with column names is empty, the corresponding column is skipped
If there are merged cells in the row with column names, all columns underneath them are skipped

How the system determines columns for CSV files:

Column names are taken from the first row of the file considering the selected delimiter

Column mapping capabilities (for all formats):

All columns from the file are available for mapping
All available RMD columns in the current project are available for mapping
You can map only necessary columns
The system automatically maps columns whose names in the file match existing names in the system

Column mapping for dimension groups:

The dimension groups step works differently from the other tabs: columns of the file are mapped not to RMD columns but to the system fields of a dimension group.

System field	Description
"Name"	Name of the dimension group. Dimension groups are imported only if this field is mapped
"Description"	Description of the dimension group
"Primary key"	Primary key of the dimension group

Each system field can be used only once
The system prefills the mapping from the column names in the file
If no column is mapped to "Name", the system offers either to continue the import without dimension groups or to return and select the column

Column mapping for fact tables:

The step for fact tables comes right after the step for dimension groups and is organised in the same way: columns of the file are mapped to the system fields of a fact table.

System field	Description
"Name"	Name of the fact table. Fact tables are imported only if this field is mapped
"Description"	Description of the fact table. Values longer than 255 characters are truncated
"Measures"	Measures assigned to the fact table
"Dimensions"	Dimensions assigned to the fact table
"Facts"	Facts assigned to the fact table
"Related dimension groups"	Dimension groups linked to the fact table

The system prefills the mapping when the columns in the file are named "Name", "Description", "Measures", "Dimensions", "Facts", and "Related dimension groups". The Russian names of these columns are recognised as well
These fields are not configurable, so the system does not offer to set up the matched columns
Several measures, dimensions, facts, or dimension groups are written into a single cell of the file, one name per line — the same way the RMD export writes them
If no column is mapped to "Name", the system offers either to continue the import without fact tables or to return and select the column

Column mapping for relationships:

The step for relationships comes after the step for fact tables and is organised the same way.

System field	Description
"Fact table"	The fact table side of the relationship
"Dimension group"	The dimension group side of the relationship
"Key in fact table"	The key of the fact table used in the relationship. It is imported the same way as the primary key of a dimension group
"Relationship type"	Not used: every relationship is imported with the only supported relationship type ("Many-to-one"), so the column may be left unmapped

The system prefills the mapping when the columns in the file are named "Fact table", "Dimension group", "Key in fact table", and "Relationship type". The Russian names of these columns are recognised as well
The key in the dimension group is not mapped on this step: it belongs to the dimension group itself
"Fact table" and "Dimension group" have to be mapped. If either of them is missing, the system offers to continue the import without relationships or to return and select the columns

Option mapping

This capability is available on the column selection steps for measures, dimensions, and facts, for RMD columns with the "Select" field type (dropdown list).

When mapping options, you can:

Load the list of existing option values from the file
Map option values from the import file to available options in the system
Add new options for dropdown lists directly from the import screen
Leave some options unmatched (corresponding cells will remain empty)

Notes:

If for a "Select" type column the existing option values from the file were not loaded for mapping, then values from this column will not be imported
Added options are saved in the system even if the import is cancelled
The system automatically maps options from the file with matching option names in the system
For "Select from DB" columns, option mapping is not available
Option mapping is not available on the dimension groups, fact tables, and relationships steps
If a sheet with dimension groups is selected, the "Dimension group" column of the dimensions tab is loaded as text and does not require option mapping: the dimension groups themselves are taken from the sheet with dimension groups

Data verification and import confirmation

On this step, you can preview how the data will look after import. The preview contains one tab per imported RMD tab: "Measures", "Dimensions", "Facts", "Dimension groups", "Fact tables", "Relationships".

Preview capabilities:

Switch between the full view of RMD tables and the view of only mapped columns
Sorting, searching, and filtering data (does not affect the import)
Scrolling through full tables of imported data
For dimension groups, the preview shows the columns "Name", "Description", "Dimensions", and "Primary key" with sorting and search
The tabs for fact tables and relationships repeat the structure of the corresponding tabs on the RMD screen, and sorting and search there work the same way as on those tabs

Dimension groups with invalid names:

Dimension groups whose names cannot be used are not imported. The preview shows the message that some dimension groups were not loaded, and the details list every such name with the reason:

Reason	Description
Contains invalid characters	The name may contain only letters, digits, spaces, dots, hyphens, and underscores
Begins with a special character	The name must start with a letter or a digit
Name cannot be empty	No name in the file
Duplicate name in the file	The same name is used for several dimension groups
Length exceeds 64 characters	The name is too long

Fact tables that were not loaded:

The preview shows only fact tables whose names satisfy the same requirements as when a fact table is added or renamed: 1 to 64 characters, starting with a letter or a digit, containing only letters, digits, spaces, dots, hyphens, and underscores. If the file contains several fact tables with the same name, none of them is loaded.

Fact tables that do not satisfy these requirements are neither shown in the preview nor imported. In this case the tab displays a message that not all fact tables were loaded, next to a warning icon:

The icon has the tooltip "View details" and the cursor changes when you point at it
Click the icon to open a dialog with the list of the fact tables that were not loaded and the reason for each of them

How the fact tables preview is filled:

Column	How it is filled
"Name"	The value of the column mapped to "Name"
"Description"	The value of the column mapped to "Description", truncated if it is longer than the allowed length
"Measures"	Names from the mapped column, one per line. A name is kept only when it matches a unique measure: from the imported measures if the sheet with measures is imported together with the fact tables, otherwise from the measures that already exist in the version. Names that are not unique are not added
"Dimensions"	Names from the mapped column, one per line. Only unique dimensions that are not assigned to a dimension group are kept — from the imported dimensions if the sheet with dimensions is imported together with the fact tables, otherwise from the dimensions that already exist in the version
"Facts"	Names from the mapped column, one per line, matched to unique facts the same way: from the imported facts if the sheet with facts is imported together with the fact tables, otherwise from the facts that already exist in the version
"Related dimension groups"	Names from the mapped column, one per line, matched to the imported dimension groups or, if the sheet with dimension groups is not imported, to the dimension groups that already exist in the version

Relationships that were not loaded:

A relationship is shown in the preview only when all of the following conditions are met:

"Fact table" and "Dimension group" are not empty
the fact table matches a valid fact table from the imported fact tables or, if the sheet with fact tables is not imported, from the fact tables that already exist in the version
the dimension group matches a valid dimension group from the imported dimension groups or, if the sheet with dimension groups is not imported, from the dimension groups that already exist in the version
the pair of fact table and dimension group occurs only once in the file. If the file contains several relationships with the same pair, none of them is loaded
the fact table name and the dimension group name are no longer than 64 characters

Relationships that do not meet these conditions are neither shown nor imported. As on the fact tables tab, a message that not all relationships were loaded is displayed next to a warning icon with the tooltip "View details", and clicking the icon opens the list of the relationships that were not loaded and the reason for each of them.

How the relationships preview is filled:

Column	How it is filled
"Key in fact table"	The value of the mapped column, processed the same way as the primary key of a dimension group
"Key in dimension group"	Taken from the imported dimension groups or, if the sheet with dimension groups is not imported, from the dimension groups that already exist in the version
"Relationship type"	Always "Many-to-one" — the only relationship type; the mapped column is not used

Limitations:

You cannot edit data in the preview table
Data is displayed exactly as it will appear after import

To start the import, click "Finish import".

Executing the import

After confirming the import:

All existing data in the selected for import RMD sections in the current project version is deleted
Data from the file is loaded into the RMD
Links to deleted data in other parts of the product are removed
You are returned to the RMD screen

If the import includes fact tables or relationships, the system:

When the fact tables sheet is imported, deletes the existing fact tables together with their relationships; when only the relationships sheet is imported, keeps the fact tables and clears all their existing relationships with dimension groups, so that only the relationships from the file remain
Creates the fact tables exactly as they are shown on the verification step
Assigns the measures, dimensions, and facts to them as shown on the verification step
Adds the dimension groups to them as shown on the verification step
Sets up the relationships on the "Relationships" tab as shown on the verification step

Important notes:

Data is imported into the project version that was open when the import process was started
Data in other project versions is not changed
If a sheet with dimension groups was imported, the dimension groups of the version are fully synchronized with the file: dimension groups that are absent from the file are deleted, and the RMD column values that referred to them are cleared
If an error occurs during import (for example, too much data), the system will display an appropriate message

Cancelling the import

You can cancel the import at any step:

Click the cancel button or close the import wizard
Confirm the cancellation in the dialog that appears
When cancelled, no data is loaded into the system

Note: Refreshing the browser page or navigating to another page during import is equivalent to cancelling the import.

After import

After successful import:

The RMD screen displays the version into which data was imported
The tab that was selected in the preview on the last step of the wizard is opened. By default, this is the first imported tab in the order: measures, dimensions, facts, dimension groups, fact tables, relationships
The imported fact tables are available for further work at once: they are listed on the "Fact tables" tab with their measures, dimensions, facts, and dimension groups already assigned, and their relationships are listed on the "Relationships" tab

Recommendations for preparing files for import

For Excel files:

File structure:
Use separate sheets for measures, dimensions, facts, dimension groups, fact tables, and relationships
Name the sheets "Measures", "Dimensions", "Facts", "Dimension groups", "Fact tables", and "Relationships" for automatic detection
Column headers:
Place column names in the first row of the sheet
Avoid empty cells in the header row
Do not use merged cells in the header row

For CSV files:

File structure:
Prepare a separate file for each tab you are going to import: measures, dimensions, facts, dimension groups, fact tables, relationships
Use a single delimiter throughout the entire file (the delimiter is set separately for every file)
Column headers:
Place column names in the first row of the file
Use correct column names for automatic mapping
Encoding and format:
Use UTF-8 encoding to support Russian characters
Ensure numeric data does not contain extra characters (spaces, quotes)

General recommendations for all formats:

Data:
Ensure the data format matches the field types in the RMD
For "Select" type fields, use values that exist in the system (or plan to add them during import)
Do not use merged cells in data tables
Dimension groups:
Make sure dimension group names are unique within the file, no longer than 64 characters, start with a letter or a digit, and contain only letters, digits, spaces, dots, hyphens, and underscores
For primary keys, use the format produced by the RMD export: a file exported from the RMD can be uploaded back without changes
Fact tables and relationships:
Apply the same name rules to fact tables as to dimension groups, and make sure the names are unique within the file
List the measures, dimensions, facts, and dimension groups of a fact table in one cell, one name per line, and use exactly the names they have in the RMD or in the imported sheets
Import the sheets with measures, dimensions, and facts together with the sheet with fact tables when those elements do not exist in the version yet
Make sure each pair of fact table and dimension group appears only once on the sheet with relationships
For the key in a fact table, use the format produced by the RMD export
File size:
Optimize the file if it approaches the 10 MB limit
For Excel: remove unnecessary sheets and embedded images
For CSV: remove empty rows and unnecessary columns