insert or update parent id to reference child records on same table

Question

I have a PostgreSQL table in an application that holds both parent and child records. There is a column in the table to reference the the parent id where applicable for each child record. The problem is I am trying to import data from an external source where the child record is made up of a sub number of the parent. eg parent_reference_id = 123456000000 and a child_reference record for this could 123456000001, 123456000002 and so on. The application itself generates a unique id for each record when I import the data and so its possible to import the child and parent records simultaneously, however the difficulty I'm facing is linking the application generated id for the parent record to the parent_reference_id for the corresponding child records. The only hook I have is that the 1st six digits of the child_value_reference match the 1st six digits of the parent_value_reference and I've tried something like foo = bar(left(value,6)||'000000'; to create a match. However, I don't know how to use this to return the unique_id in a meaningful way and update the matching records. I've tried temporary tables and cte, however my knowledge of postgres is limited and I can't seem to find a solution that fits my problem. Another thing to mention is that these groups can change with updates within the external data so i'd also need a solution to make those updates too. Thanks in advance, Crispian