Copy Data Between Companies Quickly Using The Data Import Export Framework

The Data Import Export Framework module is not just for getting data in and out of Dynamics AX through import and export files, it also has a nifty feature that allows you to copy data within your companies, so if you are configuring a new legal entity for testing or production purposes, and want to populate it with information from another existing company, you can replicate the data in a matter of minutes.

It’s like having your own personal Sketch-A-Graph, but not as much fun…

How To Do It…

Just to set the stage for this example, we have one company that has a number of vendors loaded into one company.

And in another company the cupboards are bare…

To copy the data between the companies, click on the Copy Entity Data Between Companies menu item within the Common group of the Data Import Export Framework area page.

When the Copy Processing Group list page is displayed, click on the New button in the menu bar to create a new transfer.

This will start off a Copy Entity Wizard. Click the Next button to start the process.

When the Name The Copy Entity Processing Group page is displayed, give your record a Name and Description and then click on the Next button.

On the Select Entities To Copy page, select the Entities that you want to copy over from the Available Entities list box and then click on the > button to move them to the Entities To Copy side of the form.

In this case we are just selecting the Vendors, but if you wanted to populate an entirely new company with data from the existing one, then you could select everything if you liked.

When you have selected the Entities To Copy, click on the Next button to continue on.

On the Set Source And Destination Companies page, select the company that you want to copy from on the left hand side with the Available Source Companies, and also select the Target Companies on the right hand side where you wont to copy the data to.

Then click on the Next button.

If this is going to be a large update then you can specify the Batch details on the next page, but in this case we just click the Next button.

Now we have finished the configuration of the Copy Processing Group, we can click the Finish button to kick off the process.

After a short while, you will get a notification that the records have been copied within the two entities…

And if you look in the company that was missing the data, you will see all of the new data that you have created.

Now that’s a heck of a lot easier than retyping in the data for sure.