Updating your database items is useful to make bulk changes to items in Rentman, such as increasing the price of all equipment items or updating the phone numbers of all contacts.

Updating your database can also be used to make your database more complete by adding measurements for all equipment items or adding serial numbers to your equipment items for example.

Note: If your database is empty (or you are importing for the first time), read our articles about importing equipment, contacts, crew members or vehicles.

After uploading your updated .XLSX file, Rentman will update the existing items in your database with new values.

Rentman also needs columns to match when updating your items. The matched columns that you choose are unique and determine which items should be updated if duplicate values are found in your file.

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Step 1: Export your current database

Exporting your current database as an .XLSX file (Excel, Google Sheets) makes it a lot easier to update the information of your items. It also ensures that you can choose the correct columns to match, later on.

• Make sure that you know beforehand which details of your items you are going to update. If you are updating the price, make sure to include the price column in your export file.
• Think about the match columns that Rentman will need later on. Make sure to include these columns in your export file too.

When exporting your equipment database, it is necessary to export both the column of ID and ID (Serialized). When you reimport your items with your updated excel, Rentman will use these ID column to automatically match the rows for you. No more issues with matching the rows!  

Step 2: Update the information of your items

1. Open the exported file using a spreadsheet editor, such as Excel or Google Sheets.
2. Make your changes.
3. Save your file as .XLSX.

Step 3: Import your updated file 

1. In the relevant module of Rentman, click in the top right on the More actions more_vert button and choose "Import".
2. Choose the import type "Update existing items with new data".
3. Click "Next step".
4. Upload your updated file and click "Next step".
5. Match the titles of your columns to the titles in Rentman. This is necessary because your own columns might have a (slightly) different name.
6. Click "Next step".
7. Choose your Match columns (see next paragraph).
8. Choose "Next step".
9. Check your data, and click  Import

Choose your match columns

To identify which items are already in your database and need an update, we use the field Match column. When Rentman finds an item in your database and a row in your .XLSX file with the same values in the selected matched columns, the item is identified as a duplicate. The values that differ, and are not in the matched columns, are then updated. We recommend using the ID column as the matching column, since it is inherently unique. 

Possible issues and solutions

If you experience issues with updating your database, there might be something wrong in the way you set up your file or your database. The most common mistake, in this case, is having double elements in the unique matched columns: if the columns you select as Match column contain double elements (for example, two items with the same name or the same code) this might create an error result in a duplicate item.

To check whether you have double elements in your database, you can group the columns that you will use as a match column. Then look for which items are grouped in (2), and correct it. If they are unique, the number for each group should always be (1).

If this is not the cause of the error, check this list of possible mistakes.