Need to back fill an Entity's existing records

(0) Share

Report

Posted on by rmcanally65

Hi all:

I need to back fill an Entity's existing records to coincide with auto-numbering for an ID we are planning on implementing going forward. Basically, we have no ID number for Contacts and we will be needing this in the near future; however, this (if I understand auto-gen correctly) not back-fill the existing Contacts, and many of those Contacts that are active will need an ID.

My thought is to "back-fill" the existing Contacts based on Created On (ascending), but I was wondering if someone else has encountered such a situation and how you solved it.

*This post is locked for comments

I have the same question (0)

All responses (21)

Answers (0)

Suggested answer

Wayne Walton 13,730 on at

Like (1)

Report

The easiest way to do this is to export the Contacts to Excel with the re-import button enabled. Then do your auto-number in Excel (which has numerous functions for various auto-increment), and re-import.

Then make sure whatever auto-number tool you use in CRM starts where the3 Excel document left off.

And yes, sorting by Created On makes the most sense.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
rmcanally65 on at

Like (0)

Report

Wayne:

The export and adding the auto-number in Excel worked fine (I honestly didn't think it could be that easy...); however, I keep getting an error when uploading the improved .xml file:

I have published all customizations, double- and triple-checked for the field being present on the form, etc., but keep getting the error. Any advise?

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Royal King 27,686 on at

Like (0)

Report

When you exported the contact records to excel did you add ContactNo field as Column in the view?

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
rmcanally65 on at

Like (0)

Report

I did; obviously there are no values in that field yet, but the xml file does show the field present.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Royal King 27,686 on at

Like (0)

Report

When you imported the data did crm auto map ContactNo field ?

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
rmcanally65 on at

Like (0)

Report

Chitra:

I'm not getting that far; this error is as I try to import the file so I am not getting to the auto-map yet.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Royal King 27,686 on at

Like (0)

Report

I would suggest exporting all the contacts again with only two fileds like fullname and ContactNo fields , add Autonumber value then try to import. It looks like something corrupted in updated file.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
rmcanally65 on at

Like (0)

Report

I modified the view to only include Full Name, Created On and Contact Number (all of which did map), but it also included FN, MN and LN; is that to be expected?

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Royal King 27,686 on at

Like (0)

Report

That should be fine.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
rmcanally65 on at

Like (0)

Report

Chitra:

I'm still getting the same error.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No