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Tagged: 8.1.7, csv import, update
- This topic has 22 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 5 months ago by
PatriciaB.
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01/28/2015 at 8:16 am #317343
Dwight Bailey
ParticipantDear Steve, It would be great if Connections Import CSV had the option to edit existing data rather than always adding new rows of data. Our faculty and staff regularly change contact information, room numbers, etc., so each semester we would like to update everyone without creating duplicate rows. IT would have to match first, last, and middle name fields. You could do it one or both of two ways:
1. Have an option replace vs. add new for the entire import. If a duplicate was found, it would edit the information and replace changed data with the new data. If a duplicate was not found, it would add it as a new row.
2. You could allow an actual data column header called “replace?” (Y/N). This way, if you had any people with the same names, you could exclude these from the update (then you’d have to edit their information in Connections Manage. What do you think?01/28/2015 at 8:28 am #317346Steven Zahm
Keymaster@ Dwight
The latest version of CSV Import does support a pseudo update. If you add an Entry ID column to your CSV file and populate it with the Entry ID in Connections the data will be updated rather than duplicated.
I say pseudo update because data such as addresses, phone, email and such are deleted and re-imported. Info like the name, bio, notes and visibility are updated. Additionally the category associations and images retain their links to the entry.
So, from what you said, it does sound like the current updating support will meet your needs.
I do not mention it as a feature because it has only limited testing but those that are using it seem fine with it and not have reported any bugs.
I hope that helps!
06/17/2015 at 4:02 pm #337803Ryan
GuestIf I’m trying to accomplish this in the way that you mentioned, what do I map the Entry ID field to during import since there’s no corresponding field?
06/17/2015 at 4:42 pm #337809Keymaster@ Ryan
If the Entry ID is not a mappable field, then you must be using an older version. What version do you have installed?
09/14/2015 at 1:22 pm #346661ParticipantThe CSV import feature worked great!
One thing–currently, category hierarchy can’t be imported. It would be awesome if this could be done, e.g. have something like this in the data:
Faculty/Professors,Faculty/Assistant Professors,Staff/Scientific,Staff/supportSomething like that would be great at some point. Otherwise, editing existing data using CSV import would involve re-arranging categories before the import, then restoring them back after.
Just a thought.
Thanks for all you do, Steven!09/15/2015 at 10:50 am #346782Keymaster@ Dwight
re: One thing–currently, category hierarchy can’t be imported.
This is on my todo list.
re: editing existing data using CSV import
This is possible already. Add an Entry ID column to your CSV. Enter the entry ID found on the Connections : Manage page for each entry you wish to update. The CSV Import will now overwrite the existing data with the data in the CSV file. This will not effect the category associations.
re: re-arranging categories before the import, then restoring them back after.
This is not necessary either. Before a category is added, a check is done to see if it exists. If it does the existing category is used and not recreated. The hierarchy does not matter and will not be affected.
Hope that helps.
09/15/2015 at 11:16 am #346815ParticipantCool, I look forward to seeing that category hierarchy feature at some point. Yes, Entry ID column worked great! Thanks. Good to know I don’t have to re-arrange the categories!
I did notice 2 issues:
1. Duplicate categories. If an entry has one category, all works perfectly. But if an entry has multiple categories (separated by a comma), Import CSV does not check to see if those categories already exist; they are added each time, creating duplicates. I had over 1000 duplicates, which were easy to delete by clicking the first, shift-clicking the last, then bulk delete, no problem.
2. Missing Categories in the “Select Category” select box. Nested categories are only shown for the first and second levels. Categories 3 or more deep are not shown.
E.g. in this scenario, “Research” and “Teaching” are not shown in the “Select Category” select box:
A. Personnel
1. Faculty
a. Research
b. Teaching
2. Staff
3. Graduate StudentsThank you so much
09/15/2015 at 11:51 am #346819Keymaster@ Dwight
re: If an entry has one category, all works perfectly. But if an entry has multiple categories (separated by a comma), Import CSV does not check to see if those categories already exist; they are added each time, creating duplicates. I had over 1000 duplicates, which were easy to delete by clicking the first, shift-clicking the last, then bulk delete, no problem.
Can I get a copy of the CSV that you imported that made duplicates? The only time I’ve ever encountered this before is when the preexisting category, the one that was duplicated, had a weird nearly invisible UTF8 accent (or something). After I corrected the name, there were no more duplicates created on import. This was just once and seemed to be such an edge case I have not investigated it further.
re: Missing Categories in the “Select Category” select box. Nested categories are only shown for the first and second levels. Categories 3 or more deep are not shown.
The default is to display all categories regardless of the hierarchy depth. What is the exact shortcode you are using? Was the template altered in any way?
09/15/2015 at 12:22 pm #346827ParticipantOOPS, I was wrong: In #2 above, all the categories are showing up just fine! They weren’t showing before because they had no people assigned to them. Sorry about that.
09/15/2015 at 12:33 pm #346828ParticipantThis reply has been marked as private. -
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