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→Overview
The Autoloader feature provides you with the ability to automatically update SmartSimple information with data from external text files. This feature is vital if you need to keep SmartSimple customer or project data in sync with an existing ERP or other legacy system.
An Autoloader can be triggered whenever a file is added to a designated [[SmartFolder]]/Configuration Folder. These files can be added manually or uploaded automatically using the picking up a file synchronization plug-in – [[SmartSync for Folder Synchronization|SmartSync]]from an sftp.
* Once a file is added to the [[SmartFolders Overview|SmartFolder]]/Configuration Folder, the autoloader process will recognize that a file has been added and start the upload process.
* Once the file has been processed, it will not be processed a second time unless a new file of the same name is added to the folder.
* Each record from the upload file will update the associated record in the database.
* A log file created indicates the success or failure of each record update and an email can be sent to a designated user indicating the success of the upload.
* If a new version of the file is added to the folder, then this flag is reset and the new file will be processed.
* You can create any number of Autoloaders within the system to provide for different upload processes.
* An Autoloader can upload [[organization|companies]], [[contact]]s and [[Universal Tracking Application]] {{l1}} or {{l2}} data.
Before you can deploy this feature it is necessary to:
* Define the [[SmartFolders Overview|SmartFolder]]/Configuration Folder, where the upload file will be stored.
* Define the format and layout of the data file – the number of columns in the upload file, the delimiter between each field and the field order.
* Specify a field in the upload file that the system will use to match an upload record to an existing customer record.
* Determine if you wish to use an automated process for files by using the SmartSync utility by adding a schedule to pick up files from an external source i.e. sftp or manually add the files to the folder. Each record in the uploaded file is used to update one set of fields in the entity to be updated.
The existing value in the SmartSimple field will be replaced by the value on the field in the upload file.