In order to create the pre-planning, you can import lists with pre-planning data that were created in external applications. Possible data sources are MS Excel files and text files.

Preconditions:

• You have opened a project.
• You have prepared the data source for importing. In order to prepare an Excel table for the data import, it is necessary to define an area containing the data to be imported. In order to import a text file specify the separator and column headers.

Importing is described below using the "Excel" data source type as an example.

1. Select the menu items Project data > Pre-planning > Import.
2. Select the entry "Excel" in the Type of data source field of the Import pre-planning data - <Project name> dialog.
3. Click [...] next to the Data source field.
4. In the Select data source dialog select the desired Excel file for the import.
   
   All the worksheets and named areas that are located in the Excel file are listed in the Table field.
5. Select the name of an area that you specified for the import when preparing the Excel file in the Table field.
6. If the Excel file contains column headers, activate the Column names in the header row check box.
7. Click [OK].
8. Specify the scheme for the assignment of the external fields to the EPLAN properties in the Field assignment field. If you have already created a scheme for the field assignment, you can select it from the drop-down list. Click [...] in order to create a new scheme or edit an existing one.
   
   The column names from the Excel file are displayed in the External field column in the Field assignment dialog. If the file does not contain column names, the fields are numbered sequentially.
9. Specify the assignment of the external fields to the EPLAN properties in the table of the Field assignment dialog and save this assignment as a scheme.
10. Click [OK].
11. Use the check boxes in the lower section of the Import pre-planning data - <Project name> dialog to specify whether the data of existing planning objects are to be overwritten and whether new segments are to be generated during importing. Depending on these settings the value in the Action column is preassigned in the Synchronize pre-planning data dialog.
12. Click [OK].
    
    The data to be imported from the Excel file are displayed in the Synchronize pre-planning data dialog.
13. Specify whether the respective segments are to be imported, modified, or not imported in the Action column.
14. Click [OK].
    
    The data are imported in accordance with the settings.
    
    The Automatically generated property with the value "Import" is assigned to the automatically generated segments in the pre-planning navigator.

See also

Pre-planning

Preparing an Excel Table for Import (Pre-planning)