Skip to content

Step 5 – Sage 200 Customer Import

In this step you import the customers into Sage 200. The step has two parts:

  1. A System Connector, which holds the credentials and company IMan uses to talk to a Sage 200 installation.
  2. A Sage 200 connector on the design surface, which takes the transformed orders and writes a customer for each one.

The connector is the first transform in this training that changes anything outside IMan. Everything up to here has been a preview.

Setup > System Connector

You define a System Connector once, then choose it by name in any Sage 200 connector. This works like the database connection in Step 4.

  1. Save the integration, then press Setup at the top of the main screen.

  2. Press System Connector in the left-hand menu, then press Add. To open an existing connector, select it and press Edit.

    The system connector editor holding the Sage 200 training details, with an empty System Connector Results panel beside it

    1. ID
      • Must be populated.
      • For training, enter: S200DMO
    2. Description
      • Always enter a recognisable description. The connector transform lists System Connectors by description, not by id, and a vague one is hard to find later.
      • For training, enter: Sage200 Demo Data
    3. System Type
      • Must be selected.
      • For training, choose: Sage 200 Extra
    4. Version
      • The Sage 200 release the connector talks to. Unlike the Sage 300 connector, the Sage 200 connector supports more than one release. Choose the one that matches the installation.
      • For training, choose: 2017
    5. Connection String
      • What goes here depends on the connector. See System Connectors.
      • For Sage 200, leave blank.
    6. Username
      • The Sage 200 user IMan signs in as.
      • For training, leave blank.
    7. Password
      • The user's password. The field hides it as you type.
      • For training, leave blank.
    8. Company ID
      • The Sage 200 company name — not the database id — as it appears when you sign in to Sage 200.
      • For training, enter: DemoData

  3. Press TEST.

    • A tick on the button, and a second one in the System Connector Results panel, confirms that IMan reached Sage 200 with those details. If the ticks do not appear, fix the details before you go any further.

    The same editor after pressing TEST, with a green tick on the TEST button and in the System Connector Results panel

  4. Press the green tick at the bottom right to save the record.

Design > Transform Setup

  1. Return to Design, load the integration, and press the Transform Setup tab.
  2. Open the Connectors group in the palette and drag a Sage 200 connector onto the design surface.

  3. Drag a Connector from the Transforms group and join the Map transform to it.

    The design surface with the Excel Reader, Hierarchise, Map and Sage 200 transforms connected in a chain

  4. Save the integration. The server does not know about a transform dropped from the palette until you save. If you configure the transform before you save, you lose the work.

Connector > Setup

  1. Double click the Sage 200 connector to open it.

    The connector's Setup tab, showing Transform Id, Sage 200 Extra Connector, Sage 200 Extra Import Type and Update Operation

    1. Transform Id
      • Identifies the transform in the audit report. A new connector is already named Connector. For training, leave it as it is.
    2. Description
      • A collapsed section for free text about the transform. Leave it empty for training.
    3. Sage 200 Extra Connector
      • The System Connector defined above, listed by its description.
      • For training, choose: Sage200 Demo Data
      • The refresh button beside the list re-reads it. Use it if you have just added a connector in another tab.
    4. Sage 200 Extra Import Type
      • The type of record to import. Sage 200 offers 33 import types, covering the ledgers, stock, SOP, POP, BOM and projects.
      • For training, choose: S/L Customer
    5. Update Operation
      • Whether to Insert new records, Update existing ones, or Insert/Update either as required.
      • For training, leave as: Insert

Connector > Field Mapping

  1. Press the Field Mapping tab.
  2. Make sure Orders is selected in Current Transaction Id.

  3. Choose Customer from Sage 200 Extra Transaction Type.

    • Transaction Level Mapping then shows which incoming transaction feeds which Sage 200 record. Orders maps to Customer; OrderDetails stays unmapped, because this step imports customers, not orders.

    The Field Mapping tab with Orders selected, the transaction type set to Customer, and the Transaction Level Mapping panel showing Orders mapped to Customer and OrderDetails not mapped

  4. Press Edit above the grid, then set the Sage 200 Extra Field on each of these rows:

    Incoming Field Sage 200 Extra Field
    AddressLine1 Address Line1
    AddressLine2 Address Line2
    City City
    County County
    Postcode Post Code
    Email Def Ctc Email
    CustomerActualName Name
    CustomerContact Def Ctc Last Name
    Ph1TelNo Def Ctc Phone Number
    Ph1Area Def Ctc Phone Area Code
    Ph1Country Def Ctc Phone Ctry Code
    CustomerNo Reference
    • Address Line1 and Address Line2 have no space before the digit, but Post Code has one. The list has 89 fields and is not in alphabetical order. Read each entry; do not assume its spelling.
    • Sage 200 stores the country code, the area code and the subscriber number separately, in the three Def Ctc Phone … fields. That is why the Map transform splits the telephone number into three parts.
    • You do not need to tick Import. Choosing a Sage 200 field ticks the row for you.
    • The grid is a single scrolling list with no pages. It holds every incoming field, including the seven the Map transform created.

    The top of the field grid after saving, with Import ticked and a Sage 200 field set on the address rows and (not mapped) on the rest

    The end of the field grid, showing the Map transform's own fields mapped to Name, Def Ctc Last Name, the three phone fields and Reference

  5. Press Save above the grid.

Running the import

  1. Press Refresh at the bottom of the pane.

    • This run writes to Sage 200, so it takes longer than the previews. When the status reads Progress - Completed, the customers are in Sage 200.
    • The preview now shows the values as Sage 200 received them, under Sage 200's field names (Name, DefCtcLastName, Reference) instead of the names the Map gave them.

    The connector preview reading Progress - Completed, with the imported Name, DefCtcLastName, phone and Reference values for the three orders

Drag a column edge to read a long header

Preview columns are 150px wide and cut a longer header short with an ellipsis. Drag a column edge to read one in full.

Proving the customers were created

  1. Re-open the Map transform and press Refresh twice.

    • CustomerNo no longer changes between refreshes. Before the import, the lookup found nothing for two of the three orders, and the counter allocated a new number on every refresh. Now the lookup finds the customer the import created and returns its account number, and IMan does not call the counter.

  2. To check this directly, go to Setup > Lookups, select S200CUST and press Edit. Enter one of the imported email addresses as the parameter and press TEST.

    • The lookup returns the customer account number the import allocated. The record exists in Sage 200.

    The S200CUST lookup editor with an imported email address as the parameter, and a Lookup Result panel returning the customer account number

Your generated numbers will not match the screenshots

The generated numbers will not match the ones in these screenshots. The CUSTNO counter advances on every preview refresh, not only on the runs that reach Sage 200. By the time you get here, the sequence has moved on.

Step 6: Create Shipment charges >