Create Parts

As the most "connected" entities in Aligni, parts are fundamental to the consistency and reliability of your data. Therefore, it is important that you populate your parts with as much reliable information as possible. Starting with an empty parts database may be a little discouraging, but you can quickly populate your database in a few ways.

Manual Entry

Manual entry is the method most often employed when you’re starting a fresh database or you think there may be inconsistencies in an existing spreadsheet and would like to start from scratch.

Importing Parts From CSV (Excel or OpenOffice)

If you already have parts listed in a spreadsheet, you can export that spreadsheet to CSV and import the parts directly into Aligni.  Our Part Import Tool guides you through the process step by step.  Aligni will create new database entities based on your CSV contents and alert you of any errors along the way.

Creating Parts with the API

Aligni’s API is the favored method for transferring a large number of parts from another part management tool when the data cannot easily be exported to (or represented by) an intermediate CSV file.  The API can be used to create the initial part, add quotes, part alternate relationships, vendor part numbers, and so on.  The API is a simple web-based RESTful interface that accepts XML input to define the parameters of new parts (and other entities).  As a web-based API, it can be applied from just about any language including C, C++, C#, Ruby, Python, PHP, etc.

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Create Part Lists