Bulk import

The problem

A file with hundreds of rows — customers from a trade show, products from a supplier catalogue — to load into a table, without typing them one by one.

The pattern

Need	Tool
A user loads a file now and then, through a screen.	The screen's Import dialog.
A file arrives regularly and must be loaded without anyone.	A Nomaflow job with a file_load step.

Import through a screen

1. Enable the import

In the screen editor, General tab, tick uploadable. The screen must have an insert query (and an update query to update existing rows). Users who may insert see an Import button above the grid.

2. Prepare the file

An .xlsx (first sheet) or .csv file with a header row. Each header is matched to a column of the screen, ignoring case:

• by the column name (NAME, PRICE) or its label (Name, Price);
• for a column with a list of values (LOOKUP or ENUM), by the code: the header <label> (ID) or the column name — the same layout as the screen's Excel export, so an exported file can be re-imported.

Columns not matched are ignored.

3. Check, then save

The Import from Excel dialog asks for the file and for what to do with existing rows: Update or insert, Insert only or Update only. Check runs two passes:

1. Screen rules — every value against its column: a lookup code must exist, an enum value must be allowed, a Boolean must be one of the two values.
2. Database — the rows that passed run the real insert or update inside a transaction that is rolled back: constraint violations, missing values and existing keys show up as in a real save.

The report lists the valid and invalid rows with the error of each. Save N valid rows writes only the valid rows, in batches.

The insert and update queries apply as for a dialog save: tokens, dictionary rules (LOGIN, SYSDATE, SEQUENCE), the screen's audit_table and its row hooks.

Paste from Excel

In edit mode, rows copied from Excel can also be pasted into the grid: they are added as new rows, saved with the grid's Save.

Recurring loads — file_load

For a file that comes back regularly, a Nomaflow job with a file_load step loads it into a table: a file chosen at run time, a server path or a watched folder; header-to-column mapping and constants; append or replace_partition (replace one period, in one transaction); a refusal query and a control total; rejected rows downloadable as CSV. See Steps → File load.

Variations

Need	How
A key other than the table's to decide insert or update	Mark that column as key on the screen.
Values to compute during the import	Put them in the queries ({{LOGIN}}, {{SYSDATE}}) or the dictionary rules.
Fill related columns from a lookup	The column's return_binds: on import, they fill the target column when the file leaves it empty.

What's next

• CRUD over an existing table — the screen to import into.
• Excel export — the file layout the import reads back.
• Steps → File load — loads by job.