Open Data Import Centre - Advanced Features

This topic contains information on some advanced uses of the Open Data Import Centre. The sections in this topic are:

• Importing Links from Point Data: importing point data as links with connecting nodes.
• Importing Disconnected Links: importing disconnected links as links with connecting nodes
• Generating Asset Name Group Data: generating asset name group data when importing nodes and pipes

Importing Links from Point Data

You may have a file containing point data that is represented as links in InfoAsset Manager. It is possible to import this point data as links via the Open Data Import Centre.

To import point data as links

1. Open the network to be updated
2. Select ImportOpen Data Import Centre from the Network menu. This displays the Open Data Import Centre dialog.
3. On the Open Data Import Centre dialog:
   • select the links table into which the data is to be imported
   • select the data source containing point data to be imported
4. Map the Import Fields to the Object Fields as required:
   • map the us_node_id field of the links table to a suitable key field in the import file
   • leave the ds_node_id field blank
   • map the Geometry Object field (when importing from Oracle spatial data)
5. Select other options as required and Import.

Links of zero length connected to two nodes will be created from the imported point data. The link will be named from the value in the field of the imported file that was mapped to the us_node_id.

The connecting nodes will be named as the link, but with an X and a Y appended to the name.

Node Generation when Importing Disconnected Links

When importing a file containing link data via the Open Data Import Centre, the connecting nodes can also be generated on import.

To generate connecting nodes when importing links

1. Open the network to be updated
2. Select ImportOpen Data Import Centre from the Network menu. This displays the Open Data Import Centre dialog.
3. On the Open Data Import Centre dialog:
   • select the links table into which the data is to be imported
   • select the data source containing the link data to be imported
4. When mapping Import Fields to Object Fields, do NOT map the us_node_id or ds_node_id fields.
5. Select other options as required and Import.

On import, InfoAsset Manager will generate nodes at the ends of the imported links, or if there are existing nodes, connect the links to the existing nodes. If a link already exists between connecting nodes, the link suffix of the imported object is incremented to create a unique link ID. A warning message will be displayed in the log that multiple link objects have been imported.

By default, generated nodes will be named XXXX0001, XXXX002, etc.

Check the Use auto-name option for generated nodes box to use the Automatic Node Name Generation functionality for naming nodes that are generated when importing disconnected links. Generated node names will be created using the option selected in the Node Name Generation Page of the Name Generation Dialog.

Generating Asset Name Group Data

When importing a file containing node or pipe data via the Open Data Import Centre, corresponding Asset Name Group data can also be generated on import.

Tip: Asset Name Groups are not supported in Asset Networks.

To generate Asset Name Group data

1. Open the network to be updated
2. Select ImportOpen Data Import Centre from the Network menu. This displays the Open Data Import Centre dialog.
3. On the Open Data Import Centre dialog:
   • select the table into which the data is to be imported
   • select the data source containing the data to be imported
   • click on the browse button for the Asset name group field (when importing nodes or distribution network pipes the browse button will only be enabled if automatic naming has been set up). This will display the Asset name group dialog. Select or enter a Group type and Group name to be assigned to generated name group objects and click OK.
4. At the top of the Field mapping grid, an ID within group field will appear. Map the field in the external data that contains the asset ID values.
5. Select other options as required and Import.

On import of nodes, InfoAsset Manager will generate nodes using automatic node naming. Node name group objects will also be generated populated with the automatically generated node names, the Group type and Group name selected in the Asset name group field and the ID within group imported from the external data source.

On import of distribution network pipes, InfoAsset Manager will generate pipes using automatic pipe naming. Pipe name group objects will also be generated in a similar way to Node name groups.

On import of collection network pipes, InfoAsset Manager will attempt to look up the upstream and downstream node IDs of the pipes in the Node name group table. The importer searches for Node name group objects with corresponding Group type and Group name and with ID within group that matches the US node ID and DS node ID of the imported pipe. If a match is found, the pipe will be imported connected to the existing nodes. If a match is not found, the pipe will be imported with US node ID and DS node ID set to the value in the field as specified in the mappings grid of the Open Data Import Centre dialog.

Connection pipe name groups (Collection networks) cannot currently be generated in this way as there is no automatic name generation functionality for connection pipes at present.