I wrote some code that uses the CRM 4.0 Data Import functionality to
process files that create and update data for custom entities I have
created. It was confusing to figure out because of the sparse
documentation but it seemed to be working nicely until I noticed that
when ImportModeCode is Update the entity attributes that are Lookups
don't seem to be getting updated.

For example, I created a custom entity named new_lease that has a
new_territoryid lookup attribute that looks up it's data from the
territory entity. The code populates the new_territoryid value when
importing leases and ImportModeCode is CREATED; however, it does not
change the territory when importing leases when ImportModeCode is
UPDATE. It's not just territory-related lookups that are failing -
others such as those to Contacts and Accounts don't work either. No
error is thrown and the rows show as "Leases Updated" under the System
Job. Other non-lookup-type columns on the entities are being updated
with values in the files.

Is there some reason that Lookup Attributes cannot be UPDATED using
Data Import functionality as is documented in the SDK?

Any advice is greatly appreciated....

Thanks,
Todd Langdon

I am assuming that you have written code using Import SDK to import lease
entity. The territory that you want to a look up to, is present in CRM
system already. Can you elaborate little more on the map you are using and
how did you create the map. In order to import lookup values properly, you
need to have the lookup mappings defined properly.

Specifically I would like to know...

1. The map.
2. Is it a single file import for update?
3. During import for update, how did you get the csv file? did you export
from crm with the guids? Can you provide sample data that you are using for
create and update?

It may be possible that, even if you defined lookup mappings, it may work
for create and not update. If I see the map and sample csv file, I can tell
better.

Thanks,
Koushik

"Todd Langdon" <todd.langdon@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:55c68bc9-9807-493b-bf47-48725f2fbdea@d1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...

Hi Koushik,

Thanks for your reply. I'm very curious - why do you say it may work
for create but not update even if I define the lookups? Is there
something in the docs I missed that says that is the case?

The import file is a comma-separated, double-quote delimited data file
that did not come from CRM. I am using SSIS to create the file based
on the results of a query of leases from a lease record-keeping system
this client has. I am importing one file per run of my code and, yes,
I am specifying it is for import by setting the import.modecode = 1
(for Update). Here's what it looks like with one lease (I've cut it
down to simplify this example):

"ID","LeaseID","LesseeAccountID","LeaseEndDate","T erritoryName"
"{1C0544A7-791C-DD11-
A4B1-000C29DD6BE7}","123456789","JDOE123","2012-11-12
00:00:00","Northeast"

ID=Primary Key GUID for CRM new_lease record to update
LeaseID=Lease Contract Number as new_lease attribute
LesseeAccountID=Lookup to the Lessee's CRM account record using
accountnumber
LeaseEndDate=End Date as new_lease attribute
TerritoryName=Lookup to CRM territory record using name

I am creating new import, importfile and importmap objects and running
the import programmatically on each run. The importmap code that
creates the columnmappings and lookupmappings is based on the
datamigration complexmapping.cs sample code in the SDK. So, for
example, here is how I'm doing the TerritoryName column mapping:

columnmapping colmap = new columnmapping();

// Set source properties
colmap.sourceattributename = "TerritoryName";
colmap.sourceentityname = "new_lease";
// Set target properties
colmap.targetattributename = "new_territoryid";
colmap.targetentityname = "new_lease";
// Relate this column mapping with the data map
colmap.importmapid = new Lookup();
colmap.importmapid.type = EntityName.importmap.ToString();
colmap.importmapid.Value = importMapId;
// Force this column to be processed
colmap.processcode = new Picklist();
colmap.processcode.Value = ImportProcessCode;

// Create the mapping
Guid colMappingId;
try
{
colMappingId = service.Create(colmap);
}
catch (SoapException ex)
{
throw new ApplicationException(
String.Format("Unable to Create Import Data Map
Column Mapping for '{0}.{1}' Target due to error: {2}",
targetEntityName, targetAttributeName,
ex.Detail.InnerText));
}
colmap.columnmappingid = new Key();
colmap.columnmappingid.Value = colMappingId;

Here's the code that then does the Lookup Mapping for the
TerritoryName column:

// Create a lookup mapping.
lookupmapping lookupMap = new lookupmapping();

// Relate this mapping with its parent column mapping
lookupMap.columnmappingid = new Lookup();
lookupMap.columnmappingid.type =
EntityName.columnmapping.ToString();
lookupMap.columnmappingid.Value =
colmap.columnmappingid.Value;

// Force this column to be processed
lookupMap.processcode = new Picklist();
lookupMap.processcode.Value = 1; //1=Process

// Set lookup for an account entity by its name attribute
lookupMap.lookupentityname = "territory";
lookupMap.lookupattributename = "name";
lookupMap.lookupsourcecode = new Picklist();
lookupMap.lookupsourcecode.Value = 1; //1=System

// Create the lookup mapping
Guid lookupMappingId;
try
{
lookupMappingId = service.Create(lookupMap);
}
catch (SoapException ex)
{
throw new ApplicationException(
String.Format("Unable to Create Import Data Map
Lookup Mapping for Column Mapping '{0}' to '{1}.{2}' Target due to
error: {3}",
columnMappingId, lookupEntityName,
lookupAttributeName, ex.Detail.InnerText));
}
lookupMap.lookupmappingid = new Key();
lookupMap.lookupmappingid.Value = lookupMappingId;



On May 9, 1:52 am, "Koushik" <kobha...@hotmail.com> wrote:

I should also point out that I have also tried using a TerritoryID
column in the .csv file in lieu of TerritoryName, which I thought
would allow me to put the GUID value of the correct territory in file
and no longer need to configure the lookupmapping in the importmap.
With this approach I tried both types of formatting shown below but
both do nothing when modecode is set for UPDATE:

"ID","LeaseID","LesseeAccountID","LeaseEndDate","T erritoryID"
"{1C0544A7-791C-DD11-
A4B1-000C29DD6BE7}","123456789","JDOE123","2012-11-12
00:00:00","{C84942D2-3BF0-DC11-907F-000C29DD6BE7}"

"ID","LeaseID","LesseeAccountID","LeaseEndDate","T erritoryID"
"{1C0544A7-791C-DD11-
A4B1-000C29DD6BE7}","123456789","JDOE123","2012-11-12
00:00:00","territory,{C84942D2-3BF0-DC11-907F-000C29DD6BE7}"

Again, other attributes like LeaseEndDate seem to update just fine -
my problem appears isolated to all Lookup columns when in UPDATE mode.

Thanks,
Todd


On May 9, 8:22 am, Todd Langdon <todd.lang...@gmail.com> wrote: