Transfer Data from Excel to Act CRM

The CData Excel Add-In for Act CRM enables you to edit and save Act CRM data directly from Excel. This article explains how to transfer data from Excel to Act CRM. This technique is useful if you want to work on Act CRM data in Excel and update changes, or if you have a whole spreadsheet you want to import into Act CRM. In this example, you will use the Activities table; however, the same process will work for any table that can be retrieved by the CData Excel Add-In.

Establish a Connection

If you have not already done so, create a new Act CRM connection by clicking From Act CRM on the ribbon.

The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid Act! user credentials. In addition to the authentication values, see the following:

• Connecting to Act! Premium

  In addition to the authentication values, the URL to Act! is also required; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/.

  Additionally, you must specify the ActDatabase you will connect to. This is found by going to the About Act! Premium menu of your account, at the top right of the page, in the ? menu. Use the Database Name in the window that appears.

• Connecting to Act! Premium Cloud

  To connect to your Act! Premium Cloud account, you also need to specify the ActCloudName property. This property is found in the URL address of the Cloud account; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/ActCloudName/.

Note that retrieving ActCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you set the CacheMetadata property to store the metadata locally.

Retrieve Data from Act CRM

To insert data into Act CRM, you will first need to retrieve data from the Act CRM table you want to add to. This links the Excel spreadsheet to the Act CRM table selected: After you retrieve data, any changes you make to the data are highlighted in red.

1. Click the From Act CRM button on the CData ribbon. The Data Selection wizard is displayed.
2. In the Table or View menu, select the Activities table.
3. In the Maximum Rows menu, select the number of rows you want to retrieve. If you want to insert rows, you need to retrieve only one row. The Query box will then display the SQL query that corresponds to your request.
4. In the Sheet Name box, enter the name for the sheet that will be populated. By default the add-in will create a new sheet with the name of the table.

Insert Rows to Act CRM

After retrieving data, you can add data from an existing spreadsheet in Excel.

1. In a cell after the last row, enter a formula referencing the corresponding cell from the other spreadsheet; for example, =MyActivitiesSheetInExcel!A1.
2. After using a formula to reference the cells you want to add to Act CRM, select the cells that you are inserting data into and drag the formula down as far as needed. The referenced values you want to add will be displayed on the Activities sheet.
3. Highlight the rows you want to insert and click the Update Rows button.

As each row is inserted, the Id value will appear in the Id column and the row's text will change to black, indicating that the record has been inserted.