Importing from Excel

What is this?

Data > Import Excel File bulk-loads a spreadsheet into a SQL staging table in your Margin Master database, driven by a map (.xlmap file) that is defined once and reused. The map names the table, describes each column (name, data type, key/null rules), and can carry SQL scripts that run before and after the load — and it is those scripts, not the load itself, that apply the data to your Margin Master items.

This is an advanced, support-assisted feature. The map does not offer a list of Margin Master fields to feed, and the load on its own changes nothing you see in the grid. Margin Master's own warning says it plainly: "Importing Excel files is an advanced feature. Improper usage can corrupt your data. Contact customer support for assistance." Have Margin Master support build the map with you; re-using it afterwards is one click.

Walk through it in the app: lesson 1022 — Getting a spreadsheet into Margin Master. Margin Master can walk you through these steps live: turn on Training / Guide Mode from the Help menu, then type 1022 into the Lessons & Guides box — or ask Margin Master support to run it with you.

For the two common cases there are simpler dedicated routes:

• Competitor prices — Import Competitor Prices (Data menu), which matches on SKU automatically.
• Adding catalog items from a SKU list — Add Items from Catalog, whose window takes a pasted list or an Excel file of SKUs.

Running an import

Data > Import Excel File opens a file picker. Margin Master then matches the spreadsheet against your saved maps by its column layout — not by file name — and:

• with a matching map: runs the map's before-import scripts, rebuilds the staging table, bulk-loads the rows, and runs the post-import scripts that apply the data;
• with no matching map: offers to load the spreadsheet as-is into a table named after the file — columns and rows only, no scripts, nothing applied.

A summary reports the rows imported and the table they landed in.

The map designer

File > Utilities > Manage Excel Import Maps opens the Excel Custom Import Mapper. Its ribbon: Map File (Open Map File, Open Excel File, Save Map, Save As...), Map Options (Edit — matching-column-count requirement, valid file patterns such as *.xlsx, alternate file directories), and Import Testing (run the map against a spreadsheet).

For each spreadsheet column the map records a Sql Field Name, Sql Field Type, precision or length, and whether the field is a key, allows nulls, or is ignored. The SQL Scripts pane holds the Create Table script and the Post Import script — the latter is where the staged rows are matched to your items and applied. Maps are stored as .xlmap files (default folder C:\MarginMaster\CustomExcelImportMaps).

Tips

Keep one map per spreadsheet layout and name it for the source - HeadOffice fixed retails, Supplier X cost list.

The first run of a new map belongs in a support session, after a backup. Once the map is proven, the repeat import is safe and boring — exactly as it should be.

Common Questions

Q: The import ran but nothing changed in the grid. A: Expected for a map with no post-import script — the load only fills the staging table. The map's Post Import SQL is what applies the data; ask support to add or check it.

Q: Can I import new items this way? A: Adding items is better done with your point-of-sale import or Add Items from Catalog; the mapper is for applying values to a staging table that scripts then use.