Import a manifest
Clients often send their delivery as a receipt spreadsheet. Import turns that file into a manifest, so nobody has to type the lines.
Where to find it: Receiving > Manifests > Import Who can use it: anyone with “Create & edit manifests”. Adding a new product code from the file also needs permission to add products.
How it works
Section titled “How it works”- Click Import.
- Pick the client and the depot, then drop the
.xlsxor.csvfile (or click Choose file). The Reference is filled in from the file name; change it if you like. Expected arrival and Truck registration are optional. - Click Import. The file is checked first; then the button says how many rows it is importing while the lines are written. The manifest is created in Pending. If the client already has a live manifest with that reference, the import is refused.
You can close the sheet while it imports. A message tells you when the manifest is ready, or why it could not be imported.
Not sure how to fill the file? Click Template in the bottom left of the Import sheet to download manifest-import.csv. It has a sample row for each case: a known code, a new product, a product in three boxes with a barcode per box, and a known code listed again with another quantity. The codes of these rows all start with EXAMPLE-. Such rows are refused with “This is a sample row from the template. Delete the EXAMPLE- rows before you import.”, so delete them (or replace them with your own) before you import.
One file is one delivery. The file is kept, so you can download it again later.
What is read from the file
Section titled “What is read from the file”Only the first sheet is read. The header is the first row that is not blank, and columns are found by name (capitals, spaces and punctuation do not matter).
| Column | Used for |
|---|---|
| Stock Adjustment (or Expected Qty, Qty, Quantity) | How many units are expected. A whole number, 1 or more. |
| Code (or Product Code, SKU) | The client’s product code. |
| Description, Category, Parts, Weight, Cube, Dim (L), Dim (W), Dim (H), Barcode | Only used to create a new product (see below). |
| Part 2 Barcode, Part 3 Barcode … (optional, any order) | A barcode per box, when each box has its own (see below). Barcode is box 1. |
Every other column is ignored, including Locations.
A code listed twice becomes one line, with its quantities added up.
Reading stops at the first blank row. A file can hold up to 5000 rows and be up to 5 MB. A CSV saved by Excel as CSV UTF-8 or CSV (Comma delimited) works; one saved as Unicode text (UTF-16) is refused.
Products the client already has
Section titled “Products the client already has”If the code matches a product the client already has, the line is added to the manifest. The product itself is not changed, even if the row has different details.
A known code can still be given box barcodes. When the row’s Barcode is the product’s own barcode and the product has no box barcodes yet, the Part N Barcode values are added to it. When the product already has them, the file must say the same. The row’s Parts is ignored for a known code: the product’s own Parts decides how many barcodes are needed.
New products
Section titled “New products”If the code is not one of the client’s products, Tracovy creates it from the row, but only when every column is filled: Description, Category, Barcode, Parts (a whole number, 1 or more), and Weight, Cube, Dim (L), Dim (W) and Dim (H) (all above 0). Weight is read as kg, the dimensions as cm and Cube as m3.
If any of these is missing, the row is an error that names the missing columns.
A new code that only differs from one of the client’s products in upper and lower case or in spaces, or that has the same barcode as one, is an error too: “abc differs from existing product ABC only in case or spaces”, or “123 has the same barcode as existing product 00123”. The same goes for two new codes in one file: “abc differs from ABC on row 4 only in case or spaces”. Spaces include ones you cannot see, such as a non-breaking or zero-width space; at the start or end of a code they are ignored, so the code still matches its product. Only a real barcode of 8 or more digits counts; a placeholder such as 0 or N/A never does. Tracovy does not guess which product the client meant. Use the existing code in the file, or change that product first, then import again.
A product with several boxes can carry one barcode per box in Part 2 Barcode, Part 3 Barcode and so on (Barcode is box 1). Give a barcode for every box, or none. These rows are errors:
- “This is a sample row from the template. Delete the EXAMPLE- rows before you import.”: the Code starts with
EXAMPLE-. A code that only contains EXAMPLE later, such as ABC-EXAMPLE-1, is fine. - “Part 3 Barcode given but Parts is 2”: a Part column beyond the product’s Parts.
- “2 barcodes given, Parts is 3”: fewer barcodes than boxes.
- “Box 1 and box 2 have the same barcode 5060001000039”: one barcode on two boxes.
- “box barcode 5060001000046 is already box 2 of WARD-2D”: another product, or another code in the same file, already has that barcode. Two products may share a plain Barcode.
- “Part 2 Barcode 5.06E+12 was rounded by Excel. Format the Part 2 Barcode column as text and save the file again”: Excel has already cut the digits off.
- “Barcode 5060001000099 differs from 5060001000039 on WARD-2D” and “Box 2 barcode 5060001000099 differs from 5060001000046 on WARD-2D”: a known product whose stored barcodes disagree with the file, or with an earlier row of the same code.
- “WARD-2D has no box barcodes yet. You need permission to change products”: adding Part N Barcode values to an existing product changes the product, so it needs the permission to change products.
- “Some units of this product are still waiting for a box. Receive the boxes or adjust those units out first.”: an existing product cannot be given box barcodes while some of its units still wait for a box.
The four row icons
Section titled “The four row icons”Each manifest row has four icons, in this order.
| Icon | What it does |
|---|---|
| Download client’s file | Saves the client’s original file, unchanged. Greyed out for manifests made by hand or by API. |
| Receipt products | Shows the lines with expected, received, damaged and still to come. It is read-only; putaway stays on the Receive screen. |
| Print checksheet | Opens the receipt checksheet as a PDF for the floor. |
| Reverse import | Undoes the import. See below. |
Reverse an import
Section titled “Reverse an import”Use Reverse when the wrong file was imported. It asks you to confirm, naming the manifest, and the confirm button is red. Then:
- the manifest is cancelled, and nothing can be received against it;
- the products this import added are removed, unless something else already uses them;
- the client’s file can still be downloaded.
Reverse is greyed out, with the reason on hover, when:
- the manifest was not imported (made by hand or by API);
- any unit has already been received or damaged;
- the manifest is already cancelled and there are no new products left to remove.
You need “Create & edit manifests” to reverse. If you also cannot edit products, the manifest is still cancelled but the new products are kept.
If an imported manifest was cancelled some other way (for example from the list), Reverse stays available to someone who can edit products. It removes the products the import added, once.