A configuration is the entire set of mapping of columns in the tabular importer to specific Ardoq fields, types, and references.
Any time you perform an import in Ardoq through an integration — whether through an Excel import or any other integration — you will be creating a configuration.
Configurations are the basis for creating scheduled imports. Once you've created and saved a configuration, a scheduled import will apply that configuration to any new data pulled from an integration. In other words, once a certain column is configured with a given Ardoq data type, all new data appearing in that column will be treated as that same data type based on the configuration.
During the Import
When performing an import in Ardoq, you are encouraged to save your configuration as you map your table in case you want to save your progress and return to the work later. This can be done at any time using the Save configuration button in the top-right corner:
In the importer, tabs with mappings are represented by a pencil icon:
Clicking on the ↻ icon will reset all the mappings for that tab. Clicking Restart in the top-right corner will reset all the mappings in the import.
Each individual column will turn blue once given a mapping:
Finally, as the last step of the import process, you'll be prompted to create a configuration of your entire mapping if you haven't made one already. Though you can discard your configuration, especially if you've made a one-off import, they are useful to have in case you want to save yourself the effort of re-creating mappings.
Post-Import Configurations
You can find your integration-specific configuration in the Configurations tab for that integration. The View details button provides a summary of which tables are mapped to which workspaces, as well as tools to edit and copy the configuration.
Technical Details
Under the hood, each configuration is represented by a JSON file that specified the connection between Ardoq data types and the columns in the tabular importer.
Each integrations stores its own set of configurations and they cannot be applied across integrations. That is, a configuration for Excel cannot be re-used for a ServiceNow integration.
Additionally, when exporting a workspace to Excel from the Asset Manager, Ardoq will automatically add a new worksheet containing the configuration for the workspace's components and references. When importing the Excel file back into Ardoq, the importer will ask you if you want to automatically apply the embedded configuration:
Configurations embedded in exported Excel files are also capable of creating new workspaces and should be manually adjusted before