Mass Entry of Categories and Subcategories

[LarryJoy]

Body of the issue

I have a list of categories and subcategories to go with the categories. Is there a means of mass entering this information? If so, how?

[wolflu05]

You can use the import tool in the admin center of platform ui for that. Then simply select the csv,excel,... table where you have all your categories and map the columns accordingly.

[LarryJoy]

I don't know if that will work. I go to the Admin Center and find IMPORTER, select Data import rows, and it comes up with "Select data import row to change". This opens a box supposedly where you enter whatever data, but how does the program know where the data is supposed to go? I have a separate user name that I have for using InvenTree and I can't pull up my Libre Office Calc spreadsheet I have saved to a USB drive from my main user name. The USB drive won't download the file I have. Any suggestions along those lines?

[wolflu05]

You can create a file like:

name,description
Electronics,Electronic parts
Mechanics,Mechanical parts

And upload it here (https://your-server/platform/settings/admin/import), and select "Part Category" as model type.

---

I actually thought that something like this works, but after trying, I found out that this does not work. This is maybe a missing feature, e.g. see #7574 .

pk,name,parent
0,Electronic Parts,
1,Passives,0
2,Resistors,1
3,Capacitors,1
4,IC,0
5,Mechanic Parts,

@SchrodingersGat any thoughts, is this supposed to work already, or can't I reference currently importing rows by their index or a separate pk column?

[LarryJoy]

Here is my list. Of course it can always be added to or changed:

<title></title>
<meta name="generator" content="LibreOffice 7.3.7.2 (Linux)"/>
<style type="text/css">
	body,div,table,thead,tbody,tfoot,tr,th,td,p { font-family:"Liberation Sans"; font-size:x-small }
	a.comment-indicator:hover + comment { background:#ffd; position:absolute; display:block; border:1px solid black; padding:0.5em;  } 
	a.comment-indicator { background:red; display:inline-block; border:1px solid black; width:0.5em; height:0.5em;  } 
	comment { display:none;  } 
</style>

Categories	Definition	Subcategories	Definition
ASSY	Assy or Subassy
CABLEC	Coaxial Cable
CABLEW	Cable Multiwire
CABLWC	Cable w/Connectors
CAP	Capacitor	AXL	Capacitor Axial
CAP	Capacitor	RAD	Capacitor Radial
CAP	Capacitor	SMT	Capacitor SMT
CHEM	Chemical
CONN	Connector	CONNJ	Connector Jack
CONN	Connector	CONNP	Connector Plug
DIO	Diode	SMT	Diode SMT
DIO	Diode	THT	Diode THT
HDWE	Hardware	FLTWSH	Flat Washer
HDWE	Hardware	LOKWSH	Lock Washer
HDWE	Hardware	NUT	Machine Nut
HDWE	Hardware	SCREW	Machine Screw
IC	Integrated Circuit	AUDIOAMPSMT	Audio Amp SMT
IC	Integrated Circuit	AUDIOAMPTHT	Audio Amp THT
IC	Integrated Circuit	DIGSMT	Digital SMT
IC	Integrated Circuit	DIGTHT	Digital THT
IC	Integrated Circuit	FNSMT	Function SMT
IC	Integrated Circuit	FNTHT	Function THT
IC	Integrated Circuit	OP-AMPSMT	Op-Amp SMT
IC	Integrated Circuit	OP-AMPTHT	Op-Amp THT
IC	Integrated Circuit	PROCSMT	µP or µC SMT
IC	Integrated Circuit	PROCTHT	µP or µC THT
IC	Integrated Circuit	VRSMT	Volt Reg SMT
IC	Integrated Circuit	VRTHT	Volt Reg THT
IND	Inductor	INDSMT	Inductor SMT
IND	Inductor	INDTHT	Inductor THT
LCD	Liquid Crystal Display
LED	Light Emitting Diode	LEDPNL	LED Panel Mnt
LED	Light Emitting Diode	LEDSMT	LED SMT
LED	Light Emitting Diode	LEDTHT	LED THT
LEDD	LED Display
MISC	Miscellaneous
MIXER	Freq Conv	MIXRSM	Freq Conv SMT
MIXER	Freq Conv	MIXRTH	Freq Conv THT
MP	Mechanical Part
PCB	Printed Circuit Bd
PCBA	PCB Assy
REF	Reference
RES	Resistor	RESSMT	Resistor SMT
RES	Resistor	RESTHT	Resistor THT
SCH	Schematic Diagram
TOOLS	Tools	TOOL	Tool
WIRE	Wire
XFMR	Transformer	XFMRSM	Transformer SMT
XFMR	Transformer	XFMRTH	Transformer THT
XSTR	Transistor	XSTRSM	Transistor SMT
XSTR	Transistor	XSTRTH	Transistor THT
XTAL	Crystal	XTALSM	Crystal SMT
XTAL	Crystal	XTALTH	Crystal THT
XTALOSC	Crystal Oscillator	OSCSMT	XTAL Osc SMT
XTALOSC	Crystal Oscillator	OSCTHT	XTAL Osc THT

According to the previous postings I guess that mass entry is not ready for prime time. And as far as the path given by https://your-server/platform/settings/admin/import I don't know what that means for my OS. I guess that means hand entry for now?

[SchrodingersGat]

@wolflu05 using the exact same data as you pasted above, here are my results:

Obviously 0 is not a valid database ID, but there was a matching category for ID 1.

Note that further work will allow "natural key" import - i.e. lookup based on other fields such as "name" (etc): #7574

[LarryJoy]

That doesn't look anything like my data, and so I don't know what you are trying to show. That looks like a previous posting and doesn't make any sense to me. Thanks for replying.

[wolflu05]

@LarryJoy To clarify, the post from SchrodingersGat was a reply to my comment from above.

I was thinking you could use the importer to import a tree of categories in mass, but was not sure why my testing was not working with some simple sample data like I expected it.

He now confirmed (he as a better understanding of the importer as he has developed it) that referencing importing rows (to build the tree - all levels at once) is not possible and will not be solved by #7574. So this is not really the solution to your problem currently as this is the essential part of your request.

The only thing which is currently possible is to import the categories "level by level" or by just creating them manually.

[LarryJoy]

Okay, thank you. That answers that.