Enterprise Group Upload

FlexNet Manager Suite 2020 R1 (On-Premises)

Obtaining the Template

FlexNet Manager Suite provides a template spreadsheet (.xlsx), or a template for a file of comma-separated values (.csv), where you can define the structure of your enterprise, and conveniently import many (or all) of your groups into the system. To locate the template:

  1. In the web interface of FlexNet Manager Suite, navigate to > Data Inputs.
  2. On the Business Data tab, click One off upload.
  3. Expand the Enterprise group upload accordion (click its title, or click Expand all).
  4. To obtain the template, next to Download enterprise data templates:, click the xlsx or csv link. The template is downloaded from the application server to your local computer.
  5. Select the type of groups you are importing. You can select any of the following options:
    • Locations
    • Cost Centers
    • Corporate Units.
  6. Populate the data and upload the template from this page.

Completing the Dataset

Please note the following:

  • You must use a separate spreadsheet (or CSV file) for each type of enterprise group (locations, cost centers, and corporate units), identifying the type of group as you upload each spreadsheet or file.
  • Group names must not include the forward slash character. In the Parent Path column, the forward slash is used to separate descendant groups.
  • If your spreadsheet software makes it difficult to enter a forward slash as the first character in a cell, you may start the cell entry with a single quote (this forces the cell to be treated as text). The single leading quote is ignored on import.
  • You may insert additional worksheets into the spreadsheet if it assists with processing your group hierarchy. Any additional worksheets are ignored during import. However, you must not change the name of, or remove, the EnterpriseGroups worksheet supplied in the template.
  • It is best practice to rename the spreadsheet file to reflect the group type (and perhaps the section of your enterprise, if the groups are spread across multiple spreadsheets).
  • If you identify (Name) a group that already exists in your records, the Description property is updated to the value in your imported spreadsheet.
  • If you creating a spreadsheet for locations, note that it is not possible to include in the spreadsheet a column for the IBM region to associate with a location. If you are using IBM PVU licenses, and have made FlexNet Manager Suite the source of truth for sub-capacity points calculations on those licenses, each consuming inventory device must be linked to a location that is associated with one of three mandatory IBM regions. After importing your spreadsheet of locations, navigate to Enterprise > Locations, and specify each IBM region associated with the highest possible level of your hierarchy of locations. The assignment is automatically inherited by locations lower down your hierarchy, unless you also specify a different regional assignment for one of the child locations.
  • There is no way to use the spreadsheet to delete an enterprise group already recorded in the system. A group may be deleted in the compliance console (the web interface) in the list of the appropriate group type: a Delete link appears on the end of each data row. Naturally, deleting a group also deletes all its descendents.
  • There is no support for moving a group from one parent to another. By modifying your spreadsheet to change its Parent Path (remembering to also modify any absolute paths mentioned for any of its descendents), your next import can attach a group to its new parent. You can delete the group from the incorrect parent in the compliance browser (web interface), but you may first want to consider whether to reassign any other items linked to the group and its descendents, as the links are lost during deletion.

Uploading the Data

Be careful to select the correct group type before you upload the completed spreadsheet.

Notice that once the Last import section's Status is changed to Commenced, the status value is not changed until you refresh this page (or navigate elsewhere and return here). FlexNet Manager Suite displays the upload status of the last five uploads. For more information on upload status, see Business Data Tab. You can view the status of other upload tasks on the System Tasks page.

Columns

The following notes on the columns in this template may assist you in completing the appropriate data. Each row in the spreadsheet represents a single group within your enterprise.
Important: The first row, containing the column headers, must be preserved for upload. Do not rename any of the columns.
Column Sample values Notes
Name Guangzhou

The name of the location, cost center, or corporate unit. Maximum 256 alphanumeric characters. Spaces and simple punctuation are also supported, but the forward slash character (/) must not be used in a group name.

After import, visible in the Name column of the appropriate list, once the tree of corporate structure has been sufficiently expanded.

Parent Path China/Guangdong Province Where the named group should be attached to the group hierarchy. A group identified in the Name column is created as a child of the last group in the Parent Path string.
  • You may use alphanumeric characters with optional spaces and simple punctuation.
  • The reserved character forward slash (/) separates a parent group from a child (but is not required at the end of the Parent Path).
  • The combined length of the Name and Parent Path values cannot exceed 499 characters.
  • You may use partial paths to remove ambiguity (including stating only the direct parent, where the parent's name is unique in the hierarchy).
  • Matching of group names in the path is case insensitive. Thus, if you already have a location of Victoria recorded, and you specify a name of Melbourne with a Parent Path of victoria (without the capital letter), the city is correctly recorded as a child of the existing record for Victoria.
  • An absolute path begins with the forward slash character, which (as the leading character) indicates the root or highest level of the hierarchy. As well, if the Parent Path is left blank, the group specified by Name is created at the top level of the hierarchy.
  • Any group appearing in a Parent Path that does not exist when the Parent Path is processed is automatically created. This reduces the need to take care about the ordering of entries.
  • After import, the path is reflected in the tree structure available in the Name column of the appropriate list. Expand each node to see its children:
    - APAC
      + Australia
      - China
        - Guangdong Province
            Guangzhou
Description Office opened July 2012 Free-form text about the group identified in the Name column.

FlexNet Manager Suite (On-Premises)

2020 R1