Import Data

The Import Wizard allows you to import data into a module. You can import just about any spreadsheet when formatted properly. You can find it here on the Module Details window.

• Preparing Your Data: To format your spreadsheet, first, remove any comments, headers, or titles that are unrelated to the actual data. All that should remain are the column headers and the data itself.
• When your data is properly formatted, you need to save your data in .CSV file format (“Comma Separated File”) in order to import it. You can do this easily in an Excel Spreadsheet.

Note: If you are using a Mac, you need to choose the "Windows Comma Separated (.csv)" file type when saving your spreadsheet.

Once you complete those two steps, you’re ready to use the Import Wizard.

• File Size: The max size an upload file can be is 100 MB. If you have more than 50,000 or so records to upload, it’s probably a good idea to send the file to Ivinex (via sftp or other file sharing system). Contact us for assistance.
• Choose your CSV file: The Import Wizard takes you through a four step process, beginning with Step 1 of 4 by choosing your CSV file to upload and clicking the Next button.
  

• Data Column Matching:  This is Step 2 of 4.  Depending on how many fields you have in your module (data set), you will see quite a few drop-downs and check boxes. If all your drop-downs are blank, or if they contain garbage characters, you should check the file you were importing to make sure that everything is formatted correctly.

In this step you’re going to match the columns from your CSV file to the fields in your data module.

Notes: 
- Importing into the following system fields: Record ID, Created By, Created Date, Modified By, and Modified Date, will be ignored by the import tool.
- You cannot update existing records with BLANK data on import. You must use the Mass Update tool to update records with blanks.

• Record Linking: Under “Linking” under the import fields -- you’ll see 3 drop-down boxes. The first one will be a list of the columns you’re importing, the second will be a list of modules (data sets) from your site, and the third will be a list of fields from the module (data set) that you picked in the second drop-down.

This is meant to create links when you import data. It will look in the module you pick in the second drop-down and try to find records where the field you pick in the third drop-down matches the column you pick in the first drop-down. If you’re not sure what to do here, the best thing to do is to select “No Linking” in the first drop-down and not create any links.

• Deduplication: The “Deduplication” section will help you make sure that there are NO duplicate records in your database.

Once you’ve told Ivinex how to tell if records are duplicates, it’s time to tell it what to do with them. This is accomplished at the “Action for Duplicate Records” drop-down at the bottom of the page. There are seven different options you can choose, depending on what you want. Most people use Merge Records–Add if not Found (preference to New Record) but your situation may be different:

Keep Existing and New Records: The default option. This reads your spreadsheet and puts every record found in the spreadsheet into the database regardless of whether that record already exists or not. If you have a record ‘A’ in the database and a record ‘A’ in the spreadsheet, you will have 2 ‘A’ records in the database after the import.

Warning: This option will IGNORE any fields that you have selected for deduplication.

• Merge Records – Add if not found (preference to the New Record): This will read the spreadsheet and add all records where there is no match. If there is a match, all fields where there were previously NO DATA will be replaced with fields that DO HAVE DATA. If both fields contain data, then the spreadsheet data will be used for this field.
  
  

• Merge Records – Add if not found (preference to the Existing Record): This will read the spreadsheet and add all records where there is no match. If there is a match, all fields where there were previously NO DATA will be replaced with fields that DO HAVE DATA. If both fields contain data, then the existing records data will be maintained for this field.

• Replace with New Record: All records where there is no match will be added. All records that do have a match will be DELETED and then RECREATED as a new record from the imported spreadsheet data.
  
  

Warning: This will DELETE the original record and then will CREATE a new record from the spreadsheet data.

• Keep Existing Record: All records where there is no match will be added. All records that do have a match will not be modified at all.
  
  

• Update only if exists (preference to the New Record):  If there is a match, all fields where there were previously NO DATA will be replaced with fields that DO HAVE DATA. If both fields contain data, then the spreadsheet data will be used for this field.
• Update only if exists (preference to the Existing Record):  If there is a match, all fields where there were previously NO DATA will be replaced with fields that DO HAVE DATA. If both fields contain data, then the existing records data will be maintained for this field.
  • The “Ignore Whitespace” checkbox will make the deduplication operation ignore any leading or preceding spaces in values it compares.
  • The next option, “Trim Whitespace For All Fields” checkbox, will cause the Import Wizard to remove any leading or preceding spaces in the data that you’re importing.
  • The last option is a drop-down labeled “Validate Records”. It has two options, “Yes” or “No”. By default “Yes” is selected. This is recommended and will cause the Import Wizard to go through and make sure everything will work with the import before it actually does anything. If you select “No” the Wizard will skip the third step.

• Finishing Up: Once you set everything the way you want, click Next button to go to Step 3 of 4. If you selected “Yes” under “Validate Records” then you will see a screen similar to this:

When the page first loads it will show you how many records it’s validated, but depending on how many records you’re importing it will only show that for a second or two. If you’re importing hundreds of records you will actually see it counting how many records its validated thus far until it finishes.

The last step will look very similar to the third, but it will actually import the records instead of just validating them all. When you click on the Finish button you will see Step 4 or 4, with Finished Importing:  "Total" records imported.  The total will be the amount of records that you just imported.

When you see this last screen you can go ahead and exit the Import Wizard window. If you go and look in the module imported, you will see all the records you have now imported.