NEMO Bulk Upload

Plugin for NEMO (and NEMO-CE) that lets billing staff and facility managers bulk-create records from Excel or CSV using friendly names (not IDs). Staff pick a record type, drop a spreadsheet, click Check for errors, fix anything red, then click Create records.

Requires NEMO or NEMO-CE ≥ 7.3.0 and Python ≥ 3.10.

Features (v1.1)

• Tool usage (UsageEvent) uploads: username, tool name, project / PTA, start, end, note.
• Billing rates (NEMO_billing.rates.Rate) uploads when NEMO-billing is installed: rate type, item, category, amount, effective date (for annual FY changes). Creates new dated rates; does not overwrite older ones.
• Header aliases (User → Username, Tool → Tool name / Item, Project / PTA → Project / PTA).
• First sheet of an .xlsx is used (no need to rename it to "Data").
• Extra columns are warned and ignored (e.g. display Name, Charge check).
• Missing or blank Project / PTA defaults to the user's first active project, with a warning that names the PTA.
• Datetimes accept ISO text (2026-08-10 15:30:00), Excel serials, and site DATETIME_INPUT_FORMATS.
• Create stays locked until the current file passes Check with zero errors (warnings are OK).
• Create-only: an id column is rejected.
• Optional Excel / CSV template download and Download errors spreadsheet.

Install

pip install NEMO-bulk-upload
# or in Docker: NEMO_EXTRA_PIP_PACKAGES="NEMO-bulk-upload"

In site settings.py, list the plugin before NEMO so the navbar override wins:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    "NEMO_bulk_upload.apps.BulkUploadConfig",  # before NEMO
    "NEMO",
    ...
]

Then:

python manage.py migrate bulk_upload

Optional: billing rates

To enable Billing rates on the picker, install NEMO-billing and add its apps before NEMO:

pip install NEMO-billing

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    "NEMO_bulk_upload.apps.BulkUploadConfig",
    "NEMO_billing",
    "NEMO_billing.rates",
    # "NEMO_billing.invoices",  # optional
    "NEMO",
    ...
]

Without billing installed, only Tool usage appears (same as v1.0).

Permissions

Grant on the user or group (Detailed Admin → Users / Groups):

• bulk_upload | Can use bulk upload — open the page and run Check / Create
• NEMO | Can add usage event — required to Create tool usage rows
• rates | Can add rate — required to Create billing rate rows (when NEMO-billing is installed)

Landing page icon

Detailed Admin → Landing page choices → add an entry with URL /bulk_upload/ and a 128×128 image.

Navbar

When the plugin is installed before NEMO, Bulk upload appears under Administration for users with use_bulk_upload.

Usage

Tool usage

1. Open Bulk upload (/bulk_upload/).
2. Choose Tool usage.
3. Optionally download the Excel template (or keep using your existing workbook).
4. Drop .xlsx or .csv and click Check for errors.
5. Review warnings (extra columns, defaulted PTAs) and fix any red cells in Excel, then drop again.
6. When Check passes, click Create records and confirm.

Billing rates (annual FY change)

One spreadsheet row creates one new Rate with an Effective date. Older rates for earlier dates stay in place for historical invoices.

Example:

Rate type,Item,Category,Amount,Effective date,Flat
Tool usage,AIX200,Local,55.00,2026-09-01,No
Tool usage,AIX200,Industry,150.00,2026-09-01,No
Consumable/Supply,Acetone,,33.00,2026-09-01,Yes

Staff charge rates leave Item blank. Consumable rates must be Flat = Yes.

Development

./scripts/dev_reinstall.sh -n /path/to/nemo-ce
python run_tests.py

Rate tests are skipped automatically if NEMO_billing.rates is not in INSTALLED_APPS.

License

NIST public-domain statement (see LICENSE).