Changes

Import records into SugarCRM without using existing functionalityimport utilities, but rather by writing some a tool in [[wp:PHP tool ]] to do the work. Records should go into Accounts and Contacts, which obviously implies while creating a relationshipbetween the two. == Resources Used ==* http://www.sugarcrm.com/wiki/index.php?title=SOAP_Intro_and_Practical_Examples* http://freephile.com/crm/index.php?module=Home&action=TrainingPortal* http://freephile.com/crm/soap.php* http://www.sugarcrm.com/wiki/index.php?title=SOAP_in_PHP* http://dietrich.ganx4.com/nusoap/* http://www.beanizer.org/site/index.php/en/Articles/Sugar-CRM-integration-with-custom-PHP-applications-I.html

SugarCRM provides easy stack installers which make trying the system as close to a one-click operation as possible. However, in the many scenarios the developer or system administrator will want to install into an existing infrastructure so we'll assume that approach.# I went to Visit the [http://sugarcrm.com SugarCRM homepage], and clicked click the top navbar link to "Sugar Open Source"# I skipped Skip the "Wizard" and went go right to the "Download Page" because I you know what Iyou'm re doing and also have a pre-existing setup of Linux, Apache MySQL and PHP - so I only want the application# I downloaded Download SugarCE-5.0.0e.zip (production release)or the later available production release (getting only the application).# I visited Visit the recommended "Installation" instructions page at http://www.sugarforge.org/content/installation/# Then I installed it Install SugarCRM according to the instructions, however . Note: I immediately ran into trouble because the instructions did say to chmod 766 all files that needed to be writable by the web_user. # This command renders the directories non-executable which manifests in include errors because the web user (www-data) can not see into those directories (to find includes). The following snippet is a fix:

The instructions also fail to mention There is one more 'gotcha' that I ran into with the installation. The application wants to create a .htaccess file (which doesn't exist in the distribution and would not necessarily be writable to the web user. ) As a failsafe, the information .htaccess content is printed to the screen in the installer. However it doesn't properly display (lacking newline characters) so the content is not suitable for copy and paste into the file. I resorted to the source which generates the .htaccess content, and used that. An alternative is to simply touch and chmod 777 a .htaccess file '''prior''' to running the installer; and then chmod'ing it go=r after install.

== Ideas on How to do the import Requirements ==My self-imposed requirement was to capture all of the data provided -- in my sample assuming the owner of the data collected it for a reason and that they wouldn't be too happy with a loss of data in a migration to a new application. I looked briefly at the import functionality exposed by the applicationdid not define new fields, but noticed I did 'draw' a map of my data source and how it corresponds to the lead capture did not reflect data definition of the Accounts and Contacts tables. Because I had parsed the same data profile as the source for column headings, I simply exported that variable and then used it as a comment right in my code workup as I hadwent.

<source lang="php">print '<pre>'; var_export ($arrFields); print '</pre>';// copy and paste that output; then add comments about which fields go into which table// comment the whole block so that it remains as a reference in the toolarray ( 0 => 'Company Name',// a:name 1 => 'Industry', // a:industry 2 => 'First Name', // c:first_name 3 => 'Last Name', // c:last_name 4 => 'Fax', // a:phone_fax c:phone_fax 5 => 'Address', // a:billing_address_street c:primary_address_street 6 = Existing > 'City', // a:billing_address_city c:primary_address_city 7 => 'State', // a:billing_address_state c:primary_address_state 8 => 'Zip Code', // a:billing_address_postalcode c:primary_address_postalcode 9 => 'Country', // a:billing_address_country c:primary_address_country 10 => 'Notes', // a:description 11 => 'Work Phone', // a:phone_office c:phone_work 12 => 'Other Phone',// a:phone_alternate c:phone_other 13 => 'Email', // a:email c:email1 14 => 'website', // a:website My first instinct is always to find info about somebody doing this before (e.g. APIs 15 => 'employees', Documentation // a:employees 16 => 'ticker_symbol// a:ticker_symbol ', forum questions, Wikis) </source> === Using a Form ===I searched the The [http://www.sugarcrm.com/wiki for importing or APIs and quickly found the /index.php?title=SOAP_Intro_and_Practical_Examples SOAP Intro and Practical Examples], so I figured I was onto shows a fast tracksimple form-based processing script for leads.However, the soap example worked with a frontend The form (which wasn't explained much) leading me to investigate more into what was required by the soap service. When I can be found in the form in "examples", it directory in the source. Note: the example did not work as an application entry point (because even though it defined ('sugarEntry', true); there was also an IF that pre-empted that definition) -- because other code was being loaded before requests inside the SugarCRM install directory will automatically bootstrap the formSugarCRM system). I did not immediately see To work around this cause for the example failure, so I either put the example form outside the application directory and successfully used or define sugarEntry as true ''without'' the 'if' conditional. Using the lead capture form to insert a single lead This is illustrated at http://www.sugarcrm.com/wiki/index.php?title=Creating_a_lead_capture_form_for_your_websiteSeeing that If your needs are more complex than the simple example worked, but did not capture all the details provided in the data exercise, I knew I should look you can learn more by looking at the existing functionality of modules dealing with Import (dataMaps), the database abstraction layer (SugarBeans and VarDefs) or the database directly to get a clearer picture of what I needed to label everythinggoing on in the SugarCRM system.

My second instinct was to look at the source. Answers are always found in the source, with the caveat that it can be confusing and/or time-consuming to find those answers. Looking at the full application import routines and the four-step forms for importing leads, it was obvious that there was a lot of machinery that I didn't necessarily need or want to get involved with to simply import records. For instance, I would not want to (re-)write the form and UI handling when I simply needed to insert records into a database. This made me reconsider using the SOAP example to do the job. In essence, it would only need to read the exercise data and create full records for the 50 provided leads.

<!--From looking Looking at the source code of the full application import routinesand the four-step forms for importing leads, I noticed there is a lot of example machinery that the modules/Import/configyou could use to create a sophisticated web front-end using SugarCRM internals.php file defined various types of data profiles For this exercise, and that the "Salesforce" profile was close I want to the data assume that we'll be operating between two websites, and so I hadwill simply insert records into the database communicating with SugarCRM's SOAP server.

Note: Soap SOAP examples seem to have changed can obviously change slightly over time with the addition of a version numberSugarCRM, so you must be careful about what example you use, and generally rely on the source to be the definitive source ;-)

See [[Importing_contacts/Accounts See the SOAP profile for Accounts]]

See [[Importing_contacts/Contacts See the SOAP profile for Contacts]]

// make the soap call

} // print "\n <br />Entry results:<br />\n<pre>\n"; var_export ($result); print "\n</pre>\n"; // insert Contactsthe return value will give us the unique identifier for the Account record, which we // then use to create a relationship entry when creating the Contactforeach ( $arrData as accountId = $record) {result['id'];  // Contacts

/** // alternately, if you have both ids, you can set the relationship for these two records using set_relationship $set_relationship_params = array( 'session' => $session_id, 'set_relationship_value' => array( 'module1' => 'Contacts', 'module1_id' => $contactId, 'module2' => 'Accounts', 'module2_id' => $accountId ) ); $result = $soapclient->call('set_entryset_relationship',$set_entry_paramsset_relationship_params); print "\n <br />Relationship results:<br />\n<pre>\n"; var_export ($result); print "\n</pre>\n";  */

== Some Issues discovered Improvements for SugarCRM ==