Import Stock Quantities

Enterprise & Corporate Edition Only

To access this function start INSTALLATION Workshop and from the main menu select Transfer|Import External File|Stock Quantities.

This utility is provided to allow CAPITAL to import stock quantity adjustment information contained in an external file. The file may be ASCII text or DBF (dBase III) compatible.

One of the most convenient ways of generating this file is to use a device such as a portable hand-held bar code reader, and then via a suitable communications program, 'download' the stock information into an ASCII file that can be read by CAPITAL.

The most basic structure of this file is simply a list of product codes. For example:

Product1

Product2

Product3

Each time an entry in the above file is matched with a product item in CAPITAL, the 'stock in' inventory quantity is increased by 1.

You may also specify a quantity field. For example:

Product1 1

Product2 1

Product3 5

Where the second column indicates the quantity to adjust. Negative numbers are permitted and are specified by placing a '-' (dash) in front of the number.

The exact structure and formatting of the file can be flexible, except that at least a product code column is included inside the file. You can use the External File Import facility to specify which elements in the data file match those found in CAPITAL.

The most important fields include:

Field Name	Description
Name	This can be up to 25 characters long and refers to the product item code. If this field is specified, CAPITAL attempts to match the data element in the external file to the product item code in Stock Control.
Name2	This can be up to 25 characters long and this refers to the alternate product code. If the field Name is not specified, CAPITAL searches the Name2 (Alternate Name) field in Stock Control and attempts to match that code in Stock Control to the data element in the external file.
Location	The location code. This can be up to 8 characters long. If you are operating a multi-location stock system, it is important to specify the correct location code, otherwise stock may be adjusted at the wrong location.
Stock_In	The stock quantity to adjust. If this is not specified an adjustment quantity of 1 is assumed.

If you specify Name2 in place of Name, CAPITAL looks-up the alternate product code instead of the standard product code. (But not if you specify both.) This can be useful if your alternate product code contains the bar code number and this is what your scanned file contains.

Some caution should be applied when importing files that reference the alternate product code. Unlike the standard product code, alternate codes do not have to be unique. Typing mistakes may therefore make your stock take inaccurate if you are dependent on this reference--especially if you have created your own alternate product codes.

When importing a stock adjustments file it is normal to select Update as the import mode under Action if Record Exits. If you do not do this, any product code not found in Stock Control will be added to the system as a new record.

If this facility is used in conjunction with a direct adjustment stock on hand account, increases or decreases in stock value must be entered separately, via journals into the general ledger. If the recommended opening/closing stock method is used, additional journals do not need to be raised.

Hints & Tips

Importing of stock quantity files can be made relatively automatic by establishing a suitable DIM Script. For more information on this topic see: Run DIM Script.
On the Stock Movement Reports imported quantities are recorded as external adjustments.

If you have selected Update as the Action if Record Exists import mode, and one or more codes in the external file cannot be found in stock system, CAPITAL will automatically offer to print a 'codes not found' report at the end of the import process.
CAPITAL cannot adjust stock quantities if other users on your system are editing those stock records. CAPITAL will offer to print an error report if any items could not adjusted. If data is imported automatically, the results will be stored in the file 'IMPORTxx.TXT' where XX is the day of the month of the import. This file is placed in the CAPITAL company data directory.
If you wish to overwrite stock quantities with the stock quantity data contained in the file to import, rather than accumulate quantities, use Import External File|Stock Items instead of this facility.

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