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The ability
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to upload product data in bulk via CSV
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or Excel documents has long been available
within MegaEdit.
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This function is used, for example,
to easily populate multiple
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different business cards
without having to manually type
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in the data
for each individual staff member.
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This functionality
has now been incorporated
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into our Invent plugin as well,
allowing you to set this capability
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prior to bringing your templates into MegaEdit. In this tutorial, we
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discuss how this is achieved.
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So what we've got on our screen at
the moment is a pre-configured product.
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We're assuming at this stage
that you do already have
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some knowledge on
how to configure your MegaEdit products.
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So this is things such as creating
resources, creating variables,
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setting up field properties,
all that kind of thing.
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This is just focusing
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on the additional steps
that you'll need to configure the batch
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functionality.
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So let's start off
by clicking on the setup tab
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within an Invent
and then going to the mode sub-tab
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on there.
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You'll see that we have a dropdown
which is the operation mode
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and by default that will be on single,
which is the default behavior
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of Invents in the classic behavior
that you've already seen.
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And then the other option
we have is batch.
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And this enables the batch capability
and reveals
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a range of additional settings.
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So just going down these settings
and what they do,
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first of all, we have batch sources.
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This allows us to select
whether you wish for the users to upload
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via a CSV, Excel document or both.
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If you wish to allow that
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next down we have mapping.
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So this
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specifies whether a field mapping
screen appears upon upload of a CSV
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or Excel data file within MegaEdit.
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This allows manual specification
of the relationship
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between CSV columns
and variable template fields.
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Disabling this feature will mean that
very specific data formats are required.
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So for example, variables, fields
and CSV columns
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with identical naming conventions.
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Next down, we have records
so we can specify the minimum
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and maximum
allowable number of records in a provided
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data file.
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Next is validation enabled.
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So what this means
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is that records up to a maximum of 1000
from your Excel or CSV document
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will be validated upon upload
and any invalid records based
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on the information in the configuration
that you provided will be rejected.
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We then have sample download,
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so enabling this option will mean
that an additional button is available
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within the MegaEdit editor
when viewing the actual product.
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So this will allow users to download
a sample version of the required CSV
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or Excel template with correct column
headers and rows of sample entries.
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This helps to ensure that only relevant
data is uploaded
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and reduces
potential problems with incorrect formats.
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Next we have the upload button,
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so it's
highly recommended to have this selected.
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It provides an upload button
within MegaEdit, allowing users
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to select the required data files
that they wish to
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provide information with.
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The alternative is to handle the upload
via scripts,
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which we do not recommend.
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Okay,
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so with those options covered, we're
now going to go over to our Variables tab.
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So we're going to look at any special
considerations
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when setting up the variables
for our batch mode.
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So you'll see in my case that I've got
a few variables already configured.
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We can create new variables.
Of course it doesn't matter.
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I'm just going to go in and press edit
next to one of my existing
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variables.
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And the option
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I want to draw your attention to here
is this controlled by batch source.
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So this confirms to the variable
that it will be controlled
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by the uploaded batch data
and will not appear
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within the MegaEdit form
as a customizable variable.
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And we'll see this in action
a little bit later on.
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Okay.
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So next,
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we need to do a little bit of work inside
InDesign itself and away from Invent.
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And this is by navigating
to the Layers tab.
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If you can't see it here,
you can activate it from the window
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section at the top.
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And what we need to do
is ensure that our relevant layers
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so the text and image fields
that we wish to make dynamic are named
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identically to the Invent variables
that we wish to link them to.
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So you'll see, for example,
I have three variables
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created here text, number and image.
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I need to make sure
that the relevant fields on here,
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which we want to be populated,
have the same names.
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If I go to my layers tab
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click on the relevant field.
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You'll see that
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it gives you a little indicator to show
which field that is within the layers tab.
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And then we can just sort of slow
double click on that to rename it
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and then make sure it has the relevant
name.
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Once you've completed that,
go back to the Invent tab
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and now we're going to go to Properties.
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We need to ensure that our text and image
fields are linked
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to the correct variables.
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So this is the same as we'd
see with any standard Invent product.
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Just make sure that any of the fields
that you want to be linked to a variable
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have got that required mapping.
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And this includes images as well.
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So on the topic of images, image
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images can also be controlled
by the batch mode tool.
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So if you select an image field
that you wish to control,
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we'll take a look
at how to configure this functionality.
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So first off, we'll go to set up
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click on the image sub tab.
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What we're going to do first of all,
is to make sure that we've got the show
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image upload area set to automatically
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in contrast to the false option.
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So this option means a tab will be visible
within the MegaEdit editor window,
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allowing users to upload their own imagery
into galleries.
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This does not have to be done here.
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It's equally possible to enable this later
within MegaEdits itself
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to utilize images via
the batch mode, users will need to upload
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or have access to images they wish to use
within the tab that this creates.
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And again,
we'll see this a little bit later.
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Okay.
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So at this point,
we're ready to export our templates.
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That's the same process
as you would normally see.
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So just go to the export tab,
start your validations, fix
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any problems,
and then continue to the export.
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We then going to load that
into a MegaEdit product
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and then launch that product.
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So our product has now been loaded in
as a MegaEdit product.
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And what we can see over on the left hand
side is our images tab.
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Now this tab is what is shown
when you enable that automatically option.
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This allows users
to actually upload their own images
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or artwork
to use on the actual product itself.
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So what we've done in
this case is we've uploaded
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a few simple images into a album
within our images.
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Tab users can do this themselves.
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They can create multiple albums.
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And again,
this kind of functionalities, general
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MegaEdit functionality
that is covered in different tutorials,
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your users will utilize the names
of these images
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to draw them into the product via
the batch mode.
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So you do want to make sure
that you understand the naming convention
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of those particular images,
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and then we'll move on
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the next change
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from a standard MegaEdit
set up that you'll see
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is this download sample button
at the top of the screen clicking this.
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This will provide you
with a simple template document
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ensuring that your users provide data
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in the correct format.
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You see there
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We've got a few columns available
from the three different variables
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that we specified,
and also with a sample row data.
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Now what we want to do now is complete
the sample document or modify
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your existing data to be
in this required format.
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So to do this,
I'm just going to switch to one
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that I've created a little bit earlier on.
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So there's a few sample entries in here,
so ensure the data you enter
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is in the correct format
for utilizing an image uploaded
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into your image galleries
ensure you utilize the full image
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name for the file type extension
so you can see this one.
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For example, I have Ben.png
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I want to make sure
that that is in the relevant column
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in my data file.
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If your image is contained
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within the default image gallery
such as these are here, we can see that
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we can simply put the name such
as the image on the extension.
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So Ben.png. And
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if your image is contained
within alternate image galleries,
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which is possible when you start adding
additional files in here,
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you will need to enter that location
as part of this field.
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So for example, it might be a gallery
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if that's the name of the alternate
gallery we've made,
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/Ben.png
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Okay, so when this data is ready
and we've saved it, then all we need to do
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is go back to our MegaEdit product
and we're going to say import spreadsheet.
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And of course our customers
are going to be able to do this as well.
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Select the relevant file
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and then we'll see this placeholder mapping screen pop up.
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So if you selected to enable mapping
during the batch mode setup inside
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Invent itself, you will be presented
with a screen to specify
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how the fields
relate to the different CSV columns.
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So entries with matching
names will be paired up automatically.
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So we can see that it has been done
in many of these cases.
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So all of these cases,
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however, you can alter them further
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if they are incorrect.
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If you didn't enable mapping an Invent,
you won't see this screen.
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Once you're happy, click on okay.
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And that will map the data.
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We can see that we have a message
box on the top right hand side in our case
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showing that it's successfully mapped
seven records.
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If there was a problem with the upload,
it might show you some additional prompts
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here, some additional information
and possible ways to fix it
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as well.
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Now you won't see anything of the imported
data inside the main MegaEdit viewer.
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However, if you go to the preview section
up on the top right,
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you will see those populated documents.
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So I can see a few sample records.
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I won't be able to see all of them.
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So if I go to next record
and start working my way
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through the alternate
versions of that product.
