Loading from Excel
Add or change many assets at once, with a preview before anything is written.
On this page
To add or change many assets at once, such as five hundred business terms or a new domain's entities, fill in a workbook and upload it. KRISID shows you exactly what would change before it writes anything.
Before you start
- Anybody can upload a workbook and read what it would change. Applying it needs Bulk load assets (ASSET_BULK_LOAD), which the starter model gives to Metadata Manager and Sysadmin. Without it, Apply to the repository stays greyed out and the page says why. The changes are recorded under your own name.
- Only kinds of thing that people create can be loaded this way: business terms, entities, data products and so on. Tables, columns and other harvested assets aren't in the workbook, because a connector brings them from the source.
- Loading only adds and updates. An asset that isn't in your workbook is left alone. Loading fifty new terms doesn't touch the other four hundred.
Download a workbook
- Open Load from Excel in the sidebar. From a list such as Business Terms, you can instead press Load from Excel beside the search box, and that type is chosen for you.
- Next to For, choose the kind of asset you're loading, or All asset types.
- Press the download button. For one type it reads, for example, Download business terms; for everything it reads Download all types.
The workbook contains what is already in the repository, so you can correct existing assets and add new ones in the same file. Always download a fresh copy before you start. Editing an old copy is how one person undoes another's work without noticing.
To start with an empty sheet, use Download a blank business term sheet (or Download a blank workbook) under Empty template. It has the same sheets and dropdowns, with no rows.
When you choose one type, the screen lists that sheet's columns, what each holds, which are required, and the allowed values for choice columns. You can check it before you open Excel.
Fill it in
Each kind of asset has its own sheet, with one row per asset and one column per attribute.
- Key is what KRISID matches on. A row whose key already exists updates that asset, and a new key creates one. If you leave Key blank, the name is used. Loading the same workbook twice therefore updates rather than duplicates.
- Name is required. Other columns marked
*are required on a new asset. When you update an existing asset, you only need the columns you're changing. - Choice columns have dropdowns with the allowed values. Write dates like 2027-03-31, and use Yes or No for yes/no columns. Put several values in one cell separated by commas.
- To clear a value, leave its cell blank. A column you delete from the sheet is ignored, and a column that is present but blank clears the value. If you don't care about a column, deleting it is safer than blanking it.
- To remove an asset, put an X in its Delete column. Nothing is removed any other way.
- Anything to the right of an empty column is treated as a note and ignored.
Links
Use the Relations sheet for links of every kind, including putting an asset in a data domain. Name each end by its type and key, and the link by its wording (owned by) or its code. The links your repository allows are listed to the right of the sheet. Put an X in Delete to remove a link.
Upload and check
- Under step 3, Upload and check, press Choose workbook… and pick your file.
- Read the review that appears under Before applying. Nothing has been written yet.
The review lists every line that would be applied:
| Tag | Means |
|---|---|
| add | a new asset or link |
| change | a field that would change, with its old and new value |
| remove | an asset or link you marked with an X |
| blocked | a removal that can't go ahead because other things depend on it |
Worth reading first. lists warnings that don't stop the load. If the workbook matches the repository exactly, you'll see Identical to what is already loaded. Nothing to do.
When rows have errors
If any row has a problem, the review starts with This will not be applied. and Apply to the repository stays greyed out. Nothing is written. Not even the rows that are fine. Each problem names the sheet, the row and the column, for example:
- a required column that is blank on a new asset
- a value that isn't one of a choice column's allowed values
- text where a date or number belongs
- a column the metamodel doesn't have
- two rows with the same key
- a link to an asset that doesn't exist, or a link the metamodel doesn't allow
- a deletion that would leave other assets with nothing above them
Fix the workbook and choose it again. The review runs again from the start.
Apply
When the review is clean, press Apply to the repository. You'll see a summary such as Applied. 12 added, 3 changed, 0 removed. Each change is recorded in the asset's History and in the activity log, and so is a refused upload.
What a load does to assets a workflow governs is set under Workflow controls on People and Persona. The review above says which applies to you before you press Apply:
- writes, as before (the default): everything is written.
- holds governed changes as change requests: changes to a governed asset become one request for that asset, new assets of a governed type become proposed assets, and links to a governed asset are proposed. The summary lists what was held.
- leaves governed rows out: those rows aren't written, and the summary names them.
Anybody holding Load past workflows (WORKFLOW_BYPASS_LOAD) loads directly whatever the setting says. In the starter model only the Sysadmin has it.
Good to know
- To rename an asset, change its Name and leave its Key alone. KRISID uses the key to recognise the asset, so a changed key creates a new one.
- Two assets of one type can share a name only if their keys differ. If two teams each have a Revenue, give each its own key.
- To change one or two values, the asset page is quicker. See Editing an asset.