• Add new vehicles to the Vehicle Inventory file from data entered on a spreadsheet saved in csv format.
• Update data on existing vehicles from data entered on a spreadsheet saved in csv format.

Note: This program has undergone extensive changes in the recent months (including changes to the spreadsheet layout). The following material describes the current functionality of this program in the latest release of CARS+. What is presented below will not be true of earlier releases. To use this program you must be on a current release of CARS+.

I. CREATING THE SPREADSHEET

A. Create the spreadsheet on a PC or computer that is also used to access CARS+.

Click here to download a template file with the header row already completed.

B. Entering data in the spreadsheet

Although the link above provides a template, the columns for the spreadsheet do not need to be in any particular order, and all columns need not be present. For your own purposes, the spreadsheet can contain additional columns unknown to CARS+. What is required is that the columns that contain data to be merged MUST have the column header specified in the chart shown at the end of this chapter.

• Create a row for each Vehicle record that should be imported or updated.
• Enter the data to be added or changed in the appropriate column(s). (See the "User Tip" below regarding the date format.)
• Use the special character "*" (asterisk) in a cell to inform the program to "blank out" the current value of a field in a vehicle record. (Required fields for the vehicle cannot be cleared.)
• No updates to fields in the Vehicle record are done from blank cells on the spreadsheet. That is, a “blank” cell on the spreadsheet does not override existing data in the vehicle record.

WARNING: Date format can be either:

YYYYMMDD (Example: 20150927 for September 27, 2015)

The local date format of either: MM-DD-YY or DD-MM-YY (This is specified in Edit Misc Control Record.)

NOTE: When using the local date format, only use 2 digits for the year. A 4-digit year does not work with this format. Both hyphens ("-") and and slashes ("/") are acceptable as separators. Any other date format will be misread by the import program.

C. Naming the spreadsheet file.

When saving the spreadsheet, the name assigned to it should follow Unix file name conventions which are:

• Maximum of 30 characters
• No spaces or slashes in the name

D. Saving the spreadsheet.

First save it in your spreadsheet program's native format (for example if using Microsoft's Excel program, save it as .xls).

Re-save a copy in .csv format.

If an error in the data is discovered by the merge program, go back to the file in the native format and easily make any corrections. Then re-save it again as a comma delimited file (.csv format).

It is the copy saved in .csv format that will be used for the import. The first row of column headers must be included.

WARNING: USE THIS PROGRAM WITH EXTREME CAUTION.

The vehicle file is a critical file within CARS+. Many fields within a vehicle record maintain current transaction data. For example, the vehicle's current location is carried in the Vehicle Record. Through the miss-use of this program it is possible to change the current location of a vehicle which is at Location A to that of Location B without any movement record being recorded. Such a change could throw various processes out-of-balance, such as the planning for future availability.

It is suggested that you do NOT use this program to update any transaction oriented fields with the Vehicle File. Fields such as:

• Current Location
• Current Status
• Current Odometer
• Current RA

To be safe, these type of fields SHOULD NOT BE INCLUDED in your input spreadsheet when updating existing vehicles. They should only be included when using the import to infleet new units..

Vehicle Class Code is another critical/sensitive field within CARS+. For that reason, once a unit has gone into active service, that unit's Vehicle Class Code CANNOT be manually edited via the Vehicle Inventory Control program. To change that field on a working fleet will cause reports to "go out of balance" and misreport the state of the fleet. This program does allow the user to change the Vehicle Class Code on working units. THIS SHOULD NOT BE DONE without consulting with Thermeon Customer Support. A special program (accessible only by Thermeon Support) has been developed for changing Class Codes see the chapter Change Class Codes for a description of that feature.

DO NOT USE THIS PROGRAM TO CHANGE THE OWNING LOCATION ON EXISTING VEHICLES. Although this program can be used to make global updates to existing vehicles, it CANNOT be used to change the value in the Owning Location field. The primary key to the Vehicle file is Vehicle Number and Owning Location. Therefore, it is possible to have two vehicles with the same unit number but with different Owning Locations (unit 000001 owned by LAX and a second unit 000001 owned by JFK). If you try to use this program to change the Owning location on an existing vehicle, you will end up creating a duplicate record.

FINALLY: Users who have used this program prior to the release date of August 31, 2012, there have been major changes to the way this program works. Any spreadsheet set up and used before August 31, 2012 is no longer compatible with this program. Please down load the current template mentioned later in this chapter and set up your spreadsheet again from scratch.

II. UPLOADING THE FILE FROM THE PC TO CARS+

• With the cursor at the "OPTION" field, press F4 to upload the file.
• A browser window will appear. Select the csv file from your PC and click "Send".

III. RUNNING THE IMPORT PROGRAM

The screen will then display:

Enter data as follows:

OPTION: __ IMPORT VEHICLE FILE RECORDS 1 Import Vehicle File Name 2 Write PM History Records? Y 3 Use Model Data N Error Log Printer PDF NOTE: DATE FORMATS HAVE CHANGED. ACCEPTABLE FORMATS ARE: MM-DD-YY YYYYMMDD Option: _ UPLOAD FILE SEARCH F2=NEXT 8 F4=PREV 8 File Name Create Date 1 import-vehicles.csv Sep 27 12:00 ** No More Records **

• Error Log file
• Number of Records Read
• Number of invalid Writes

Please note:

1. Every record in the file is first tested to make sure it can be merged (a "record" is a row of the spreadsheet). An example of a reason why a record would fail the test is that it is missing one of the required fields as noted in the table below. A report of the records which failed the test, along with the reason why, will be sent to the "Error Log Printer" shown on the screen. Records which fail the test are not considered "Invalid Writes" in the record counter displayed on the screen. These records are not listed in the error log that is written to the disk.
   
2. Records which pass the test, but which for some reason cannot be physically written to the file, will be listed as an Invalid Write in the on-screen record counter. These errors will be written to the Error Log file as displayed on the screen. This file will be located in the CARS+ base installation directory. Please contact Thermeon Customer Support if an import results in any Invalid Writes. They will be able to read the error log file and provide guidance as to how to correct the problem.

A table listing the required headers of the data in the spreadsheet is shown below.

User Tip: The optional report writer (Cyberquery) is a convenient way to produce a listing of vehicle numbers which can be imported into the spreadsheet for populating column A. With the report writer, you can generate a complete list of vehicles or, using search criteria, generate a list of only those vehicles needed for the task at hand. It does not hurt to have a vehicle listed in column A as long as no other columns on that row are populated. In this case, no action will be taken on that vehicle. When generating this report, be sure to save your file in CSV (comma separated value) format. Note that the report writer is an optional, separately priced add-on module. If you do not currently have the report writer and are interested in its capabilities, please contact the Customer Support department.

Hertz Canada Corporate mode:

When importing DTAG vehicles, the entries made in Edit DTG Import Control Record are used to supply data to the following fields in the vehicle record:

Owning location - the owning location code sent in the csv file is converted using a Conversion Code record.

Depreciation status code

Vehicle Status Code

Brand ID

Vehicle number (If the VIN number is not on already on file, a vehicle number is assigned. If the next vehicle number is not available, the vehicle is not merged. If the VIN is already on file, the vehicle is not merged). The vehicle number supplied in the csv file is written to the Alt ID field of the vehicle record.

If the GVT record DTGFLT1 is in place and the imported vehicle is already on file and the owning location on the csv record does not match the owning location in the existing inventory record, the existing vehicle record will be deleted and a new record will be written with the new owning location. (If the GVT record DTGFLT1 is not in place, the vehicle will not be updated under these circumstances.)

If the purchase date falls within a range that is up to 90 days earlier than the current date and through tomorrow, the vehicle will be in-fleeted (and not rejected.)

If the "ccsdd" date falls within a range that is up to 180 days earlier than the current date or up to 90 days after than the current date or earlier than the purchase date, the vehicle will be in-fleeted (and not rejected.)

The Model Codes and descriptions come from Conversion Code (type "A") records. If not found, the vehicle is not merged.

Color code is validated against the records in Edit Color Codes. If not found, the vehicle is not merged.

Any records not merged are reported in a printed report that is generated after the import program is run.

Notes:

Required Fields: The "X" = Required on all vehicle records

NOTE: Beginning with release 12.9-170119, both the vehicle unit number AND the owning city are always required whether adding new vehicles or updating existing vehicle records.

When selling vehicles using the spreadsheet:

• Vehicles sold using this tool cannot be “unsold”.
• A Vehicle History record will not be written for the sale.
• An Open RA can be closed as long as the return date is before the sale date and the current date on the vehicle record.

Changing Vehicle Status:

When attempting to change a vehicle's status, be aware that there is a setting in the Vehicle Status record that controls which users may place a vehicle into that status. Users who have been assigned a lower access level than the one required will be unable to place a vehicle in that status. When this restriction is in place, the vehicle's status will NOT be changed by this program.