Data import

Importing files and folders

To import one or several assets, right-click a group or the root node of the Network tree and click Import / Import files, then select the data files for import. This will place the specified assets into the group that you initially right-clicked.

To import the contents of a folder including subfolders, do the same, but click Import / Import folder instead. After you specify the source folder, you’ll be prompted to choose whether to import the folder structure. If you choose to do so, groups will be created in your storage to match the contents of the source folder. Otherwise, all the assets found in the source folder and its subfolders will be placed in the group you initially right-clicked.

These commands are also available from the main menu Storage / Import when the Storage is opened.

Automatic import

You can set up TNI to automatically refresh asset files from a certain folder on program at regular intervals. This can be done on the Scheduler tab.

When importing an asset that is already present in the Storage, configuration snapshots from the new file will be moved to the existing one. If the new file was placed into the Storage manually, it will be deleted. This ensures that a single asset in TNI always has one file corresponding to it. This is true for imports of any kind.

Importing by moving data files

Alternatively, you can import files by dragging them from the Explorer window to your TNI window (to the network tree on the left). Note that this method will not work if TNI and Explorer have different privileges (e.g. TNI was started with elevated privileges).

To find the storage folder, right-click the root storage group in the network tree and select Show in Explorer.

It is not recommended to import INV files to the shared storage when two or more copies of TNI are running at the same time. This can cause data corruption, device merging issues, errors in the network map, and errors in the Software and License Accounting module. It is also not recommended to manually replace .inv files in the vault. This will cause overwriting of actual data and loss of information.

If you need to import directly into the storage, it is recommended to create a separate import group and copy files to the specified directory (manually or automatically). After opening TNI, the new files will be correctly merged with the existing ones, and the remaining new files in the folder can be manually moved to their groups.

An additional feature for importing files is the Drag and Drop function. It allows using Windows Explorer to import device files directly into the TNI storage. Please note that this function will not work if TNI and Explorer have different privileges (for example, if TNI was started with elevated privileges).

Converting the Storage from TNI 1.x

To convert the whole Storage from the old format, use the Storage / Open option from the main menu and select the root folder of the target Storage. The Storage contents will be wrapped into a ZIP archive first and then converted to the new format. This process also preserves your group structure.

Converting an asset file from TNI 1.x to the new format reduces its size from ~1,5 MB to ~35 KB. Thus, complete conversion of the old Storage shrinks it about 40 times without losing any useful data.

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