We checked the behaviour on our test system, on the MAS 9.2 series.
How many records, before you export#
The Export page counts the records of your selection while you choose it. The count follows the application, the saved query, the read path and the where clause. On our test system the page says “1,260 records in this selection” for the assets of one application. A selection that Manage cannot count shows Manage’s message in place of the number, before any job exists.
Records to export limits the export. Leave it empty for every record. A number exports the first
records, in the order of their unique id. The file name then ends in _first3 for three records, so
nobody takes the file for the whole selection.
No data sets the number to 0 and locks it. The file holds the three header rows and no record. It
is a template for new records, and its name ends in _nodata.
A number above the records your licence allows makes the field warn, because the export stops at the
licence’s limit. The command line does the same with fde count, --max-records and --no-data.
The where clause of a saved query#
A saved query is a where clause that Manage keeps under a name. Below the list of saved queries, the page shows the clause of the one you chose. A click copies it.
That helps when Manage refuses a query. On our test system, IBM’s demo query “Aging Assets” fails on SQL Server with BMXAA4210E: its clause uses date arithmetic of another database. The page then shows Manage’s message in place of the count. With the copied clause you can test and correct the query in your own SQL tool.
A note on every attribute#
Row 2 of every sheet holds the attribute names, and each name carries a note. The note starts with the
attribute’s type and length, such as SERIALNUM: UPPER(64). Below it come the facts that apply, one
per line:
| Line | Shown when |
|---|---|
key, unique id, required | The attribute is one of them |
non-persistent, multi-language | Manage does not store it, or keeps it per language |
autokey, domain, default | Manage fills it, checks it against a list, or sets a value |
class | The attribute has a Java class of its own |
same as | Manage defines it as the same as another object’s attribute |
Every export carries these notes, the template and a full file alike. The colour of row 2 tells the same at a glance: orange for a key, light green for the unique id, blue for a required attribute without a default.
Text stays text#
A text column can hold digits, such as a serial number 19998 or an asset number 00123. Excel takes such a cell for a number stored as text and marks it with a green triangle. Typed again, 00123 becomes the number 123.
So every text column has Excel’s text format. The triangles are gone, and a value you type later keeps its leading zeros. The import reads the cell as the text it shows.
The cells Manage could not deliver#
Now and then Manage cannot deliver a value. An attribute’s getter fails, or a relationship’s SQL does not run on the database. On our test system, two relationships of the asset fail on SQL Server, each with a database error. The export keeps going in such a case: the cell stays empty, and the record keeps every other value.
After the run, the job log has one warning per column or relationship. Each warning names the column,
how many cells it lost, Maximo’s message and the first record it hit. fde summary lists the same
lines, and the job ends with exit code 1, so a script notices. An export of five assets with those
two relationships wrote all five records, with ten cells left empty.
A failing relationship is usually a configuration problem in Manage, so the warning is the starting point. Show it to the person who owns the relationship.
What comes next#
Layouts explains which columns a generated layout holds, and the boxes that add long descriptions, non-persistent attributes and the audit columns. The Fiedler Data Export page lists the whole series.
Do you want to see what your own data looks like in a workbook? Get in touch.
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