Downloading the Import File, Exception Report & Validation Report

When a Timesheet Import batch has been processed successfully the original import file is saved with the batch and can be downloaded for viewing or saving to an external location.

In addition to the original import file, an exception report and a validation report is generated and saved with a batch depending on the final status of the batch. These reports are described in detail below.

Exception Reports

An exception report is generated and saved with a Timesheet Import batch whenever a batch completes processing successfully and one or more timesheet exceptions were encountered during the processing of the batch. That is, an exception report is generated for a batch if the final status of the batch is Completed with Exceptions. An exception report is also generated for a Timesheet Import batch if there are no exception errors in the import file, and therefore the status of the batch is Completed, but there are one or more leave request warnings.

A timesheet exception occurs when Timesheet Import is unable to create a timesheet or timesheet item based on the data contained in a row of the import file. For example, if a row in the import file references a job order number that does not exist then it will not be possible to create the corresponding timesheet or timesheet item. In such cases, the corresponding timesheet is not created and the offending row, and all other rows in the import file that correspond to the same timesheet, are written to the exception report.

 The import exception report is structured as follows:

• the first row of the report lists the column header names from the original import file

• subsequent rows in the report list each row from the original import file that failed to be imported (failed rows)

• to the right of each row an Error Message column displays the exception/error message that applies to the preceding failed row.

An example of the format of the exception report file is shown below.

Open

Exceptions can apply to individual rows (timesheet items) or an entire timesheet. Where the latter is the case, the relevant exception error appears next to each row that corresponds to the timesheet. For example, if a timesheet corresponds to a standard rates job order but none of the items in the import file that correspond to the timesheet represent additional items, each row for that timesheet will be written to the exception file and will be flagged with an exception error.

You can refer to the exception/error message for each row in the report to determine why the corresponding row failed to be imported. You can then correct each offending row, delete the corresponding exception message and then save the corrected exception report as a new import file. This allows you to create a new import file for the timesheets that failed to be imported and created successfully.

For more information about exception errors that may be logged to the exception report, see Data Validation.

Leave Request Warnings

If an attendance or additional item in a timesheet import file clashes with an approved leave request that already exists in the FastTrack system, a warning message such as the following will be written to the exception report:

Warning: an attendance item for <date> overlaps an existing leave request item and will overwrite the existing leave request.

Such warnings are known as leave request warnings. Leave request warnings do not prevent a timesheet from being created in Time and Attendance. However, such warnings draw attention to the clash between the attendance item/additional item and the approved leave item.

Validation Reports

A validation report lists each row from the original import file that was imported successfully. If a batch is imported without any exceptions, the validation report for the batch will effectively be identical to the original import file. However, if any exceptions are encountered during the processing of a batch, the validation report will list the rows that were processed without exceptions only.

A validation report can be downloaded and used to cross-check against the corresponding timesheets that have been created in Time and Attendance if necessary.