ECLASS Advanced Unit Importer

The primary objective of the ECLASS Advanced Unit Importer is to offer a convenient out-of-the-box solution for importing Unit data in a supported XML format.

Purpose and Considerations of Unit File Import

The ECLASS Advanced Dictionary file can include Units that may not have been generated during a prior ECLASS Basic import process in STEP. As a result, it is essential to perform a full import of the ECLASS Unit file before proceeding with the import of the ECLASS ADVANCED Dictionary file.

Following are key considerations:

  • The ECLASS Basic and ECLASS Advanced Unit files are identical.

  • Typically, the Unit file is a part of the ECLASS-provided .zip archive, which must be manually extracted to access the Unit XML file. The Unit Importer exclusively accepts XML file formats.

  • The Unit file may contain Unit Groups without allocated Units. These Unit Groups will be imported into STEP, irrespective of whether Units are present.

  • Units within the Unit file may exist without a designated Unit group. Such Units will be listed under a generated Unit group named 'eClass ungrouped units (ID = eClass_UngroupedUnits).'

  • STEP does not support structuring Units beyond the Unit Group level. Therefore, all Unit Groups are created on the same level as children of the 'Unit' node.

  • The creation of Unit Group and Unit STEP IDs and Names follows the ECLASS Basic structure logic.

  • Version dependencies for Unit Groups and Units are not taken into account. The Unit metadata attribute 'EclassImportVersion' will contain the latest version number.

  • Unit conversions are not considered, and consequently, no data related to Unit conversions is imported.

  • The ECLASS Unit file does not contain any Units related to Currencies. However, Currency Units are managed within the ECLASS Advanced Dictionary file. Therefore, the ECLASS Advanced Dictionary Importer will create the Unit Group called 'eClass Currency (ID = eClass_Currency),' which will include the relevant currency Units found in the Dictionary file, such as EUR.

  • Despite the presence of both English and German languages in the Unit file, Unit Groups and Units are exclusively created in English. Consequently, it is recommended to import Units into the Global context. Alternatively, if you intend to import the units in the German language, users should switch the tag as follows:

  • From:

    <content_description language_code="ENG">ECLASS12.0</content_description>
  • To:

    <content_description language_code="DEU">ECLASS12.0</content_description>

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