BEST PRACTICES ON HOW TO

IMPORT DATA INTO OPENERP

Why  you  should  love  CSV  Import    

Cyril  MORISSE  (  @cmorisse  )  

  
Introduc*on  
 
¨  With  Test  Driven  Development  and  Data  
Migra*on,  we  need  to  gather  and  enter  real  data  
owned  by  users  
¨  We  need  a  data  format  within  user’s  reach  
(compared  to  XML)  
¨  As  of  version  7.0  OpenERP  has  redesigned  the  
import  system  (“base_import”  module):  
¤  It  has  nearly  everything  right  out  of  the  box  
¤  Only  missing  feature  is  user  oriented  documenta*on  

¨  This  talk  is  an  overview  of  the  module  

Installa*on  
¨  Export  func*onality  is  available  right  out  of  the  box  
¨  BUT  import  func*onality  must  be  installed:  

¤  Import  is  covered  by  “base_import”  module  

¤  Import  must  be  installed  via  SeTngs  /  Configura*on  /  

General  SeTngs  
¨  Then  “Import”  link  is  available  in  all  list/tree  views  
CSV  import  issues  
¨  When  impor*ng  data  using  CSV,  you  will  
face  3  main  issues:  
¤ Iden*fy  the  fields  required  for  an  import  
¤ Understand  “OpenERP  External  IDs”    
¤ Understand  how  to  import  the  different  type  
of  fields  
n Simple  fields  (  date,  text,  numbers,  boolean,…)  
n Rela*onal  fields:  
n  Many2many  
n  Many2One  
n  One2many  
Iden*fy  fields  to  import  
¨  To  iden*fy  the  columns  required  to  import  an  
object:  
1.  Ac*vate  “Developer  Mode”  
2.  Write  down  all  the  fields  you  must  enter  manually  
3.  Export  a  file  with  all  these  fields    
4.  Delete  values  in  the  id  column  then  re-­‐import  the  
file  to  check  everything  is  ok  
5.  If  a  column  is  missing  ;  do  it  again  from  step  3  and  
add  the  column    
Understand  IDs  
¨  Example  Product  categories  
 

¨  CSV  Import  allows  User  Defined  External  IDs  

¤  External  IDs  are  symbolic  names  for  records  
¤  Format  is  module_name.id_name  

 
Understand  IDs  (con*nued)  
¨  User  defined  IDs  are  saved  in  the  database  and  can  be  
retrieved  via:  
¤  SeTngs  /  Technical  /  Sequences  &  Iden*fiers  /  External  Iden*fiers    
Understand  IDs  (end)  
¨  User  defined  IDs  allow  to  manage  Import  /  Update  of  data  
¨  During  import:  
¤  If  a  record  exists  with  this  ID,  OpenERP  will  update  the  record  
¤  If  no  record  exists  with  this  ID,  OpenERP  will  create  a  new  record    

¨  Export  IDs  

¤  During  Export,  OpenERP  creates  an  export  ID  for  all  records  without  
IDs  (manually  created  records)  

 
¨  In  the  database  all  External  IDs  are  stored  in  table  ir_model_data  
Import  simple  Fields  
Field type Cell content Example
char, text Content surrounded by “ “This is a text ""value”"."
float Number with . as decimal 3.15
separator
boolean True or False “0” or 0 or “False” or False
or “1” or 1 or “True” or True
date YYYY-MM-DD 2013-06-10
datetime YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS 2013-06-10 07:07
selection Value as given by
“developer mode” inspector

reference Value in database is

“object,id”
Import  rela*ons:  Many2One  
¨  Many2one    
product_category
id
parent_id

...

¨  This  is  the  simplest  rela*on  to  import  in  CSV  
¤  Just  use  id  of  referenced  object  
Import  rela*ons:  Many2Many  
¨  Eg.  Customer  Tags  

¨  Many2many  involves  3  tables    

  id
res_partner res_partner_res_partner_category_rel
partner_id category_id id
res_partner_category

 
... ...

¨  Really  simple  in  CSV  ;  enter  all  values  separated  by  
comma  with  no  space  
 
Import  rela*ons:  One2Many  
¨  Eg.  Quota*ons/  Quota*ons  Lines  
sale_order sale_order_line
id id

... order_id

  ...

 
¨  In  CSV:  Enter  lines  while  you  don’t  repeat  header  object  fields  
¤  Child  objects  column  format  is    
“one2many_fieldname/child_object_field”  
 
 
 
 
 
Integrate  CSV  in  your  development  
workflow  
¨  Create  a  set  of  shared  Google  Spreadsheet  that  your  
users  will  complete  with  project  data    
¨  Organize  your  OpenERP  project  in  3  modules:  
¤  project_core  with  code  and  technical  parameters  
¤  project_data  :  will  contains  only  data  in  CSV  files  
¤  project_test  :  contains  your  test  code  and  test  specific  data  
¨  Use  a  tool  to  automate  export  and  download  of  the  
Google  Spreadsheet  into  the  project_data  module  
¤  hkp://bitbucket.org/cmorisse/edgdd    
¨  Your  users  will  be  able  to  “coopera*vely”  enter  their  
data  and  you  will  be  able  to  seamlessly  integrate  and  
use  this  data  in  your  project    
 More  informa*on?  
14

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