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18. FilaManDB – Community Database

URL (Admin Import): http(s)://url/admin/system/filamentdb-import

The FilaManDB is a public community database at db.filaman.app that contains filament data from numerous manufacturers – including materials, colors, spool profiles, and logos.

FilaMan offers two ways to use this database:

  1. Bulk Import (Admin area) – Import many manufacturers and filaments at once
  2. Inline Lookup (in forms) – Load individual entries directly from the FilaManDB when creating or editing

Prerequisite: The built-in plugin "FilamentDB Import" must be enabled under Admin → System. It is a built-in plugin that cannot be uninstalled.

18.1 Bulk Import (Admin Area)

The bulk import is a 3-step wizard in the admin area that allows you to import large amounts of manufacturer, filament, and color data from the FilaManDB.

Step 1: Select Manufacturers

  1. Click "Load Preview" – FilaMan loads the available data from the FilaManDB (manufacturers, materials, colors, filaments, spool profiles)
  2. A summary shows the amount of available data
  3. Optional: Use the material filter to narrow the manufacturer list to specific material types (e.g. only manufacturers offering PLA)
  4. Select the desired manufacturers via checkboxes
    • Manufacturers already present in FilaMan are marked with "Already exists"
    • Buttons: "Select all", "Select all new" (only new ones), "Deselect all"

Step 2: Select Filaments

  1. After selecting manufacturers, the associated filaments are loaded
  2. For each selected manufacturer, the list of available filaments is displayed
  3. Select the desired filaments via checkboxes

Step 3: Import Settings & Execution

Spool profile target: Choose where spool profile information (empty weight, diameter, width, material) should be stored:

Option Description
On Filament Spool data is stored on each filament
On Manufacturer Spool data is stored once on the manufacturer
Both Spool data is stored on both the filament and the manufacturer

Click "Start Import" to execute the import. After completion, a result summary is displayed:

Category Display
Manufacturers Created / Skipped / Failed
Logos Downloaded / Failed
Colors Created / Skipped
Filaments Created / Skipped / Failed

Any warnings or errors that occurred are also displayed.

18.2 Updating Existing Filaments

If filaments have already been imported and data has changed in the FilaManDB, they can be updated:

  1. Enable the "Update existing" toggle in the import wizard
  2. FilaMan automatically calculates a diff (comparison) between the local and current FilaManDB data
  3. Changes are displayed as a table: Field Name, Current Value, New Value
  4. Only actually changed filaments will be updated

18.3 Fuzzy Matching

During import, FilaMan recognizes existing filaments even when the name differs slightly (e.g. due to typos, different spellings, or missing special characters).

How it works:

  • Names are normalized (lowercase, special characters removed) and split into individual words (tokens)
  • Two names are considered matching if at least 75% of the tokens overlap
  • Fuzzy matches are visually highlighted in the import

Example: "Prusament PLA Galaxy Black" and "Prusament PLA Galaxy-Black 1.75mm" are recognized as matching.

18.4 Inline Lookup in Forms

In addition to the bulk import, FilaMan also allows you to load individual entries directly in forms from the FilaManDB. This feature is available on the following pages:

Creating / Editing Manufacturers

When creating a new manufacturer, you can choose between two modes:

  • "Create from FilaManDB" – Search the community database and import name, website, and logo
  • "Manual entry" – Enter the data manually as before

When editing an existing manufacturer, the "Load from FilaManDB" button is also available to update the data.

→ See Chapter 5: Manufacturers

Creating / Editing Filaments

After selecting a manufacturer, the "Load from FilaManDB" button appears. With it you can:

  • Search for a filament in the community database
  • All fields are automatically pre-filled (designation, material, diameter, colors, price, etc.)
  • If the manufacturer or colors do not yet exist locally, they are automatically created

→ See Chapter 6: Filaments

Creating / Editing Spools

When creating or editing a spool, the "Load from FilaManDB" button is available for spool profile data:

  • Search for a spool profile (e.g. by manufacturer or material)
  • Empty weight, diameter, and width are automatically applied
  • If available, an image of the spool profile is displayed

→ See Chapter 7: Spools

Note: All FilaManDB buttons and features are only displayed when the FilamentDB plugin is enabled under Admin → System.

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