Tips

• The whole system breaks down if there is a missing or extraneous comma in a row. Every value after that missing or extra data field will be entered into the wrong column. In worst case scenario, the database may be corrupted so seriously that it's necessary to revert to a backup version, resulting in a loss of the most recent data changes and a colossal headache for the admin, so it's very important to maintain file structure.

• The columns in your CSV file can appear in any order as long as the sequence is maintained. In other words, the order in which column headings appear in the first row must be repeated in the subsequent data rows, so that the data in each field can be matched up with the correct column.

• You may omit any columns where you don't want to add or edit data unless that column is required by the Upload Data tool, database or site configuration rules. It's actually a good practice to omit unnecessary columns in order to simplify data file structure and reduce the likelihood of introducing errors in the unnecessary column. You cannot omit fields required by the Upload Data tool, but you may omit fields required by the database providing the default is appropriate for all the records you are adding or editing. If the default value isn't appropriate for any of the records in your data file, you should include that column and specify appropriate values for those records.

• Purpose fields in the database store different versions of the values that are presented through webpages. For example, the User Purpose 'Company Representative' is stored in the database as 'company_rep'. The values are mapped to each other and converted as data is uploaded and downloaded from the database. You may find it easier to use the database value, which you can see if you download a CSV data file through the links at the top of the Upload Data file.

Check for these and similar common errors:

• To eliminate the most common cause of errors, be careful to preserve the proper structure in the comma/separated file.

• Be sure the 'upload_action' column is present and correct values have been assigned as required by the Upload Data tool. It is included as the first column in the templates and data files, but if you have acquired the data through reporting tools or other sources, you need to add an 'upload_action' column.

  The 'upload_action' column must have a value specifying the action that you want have performed on that row: 'add', 'edit' or 'delete'. Records where no data is to be changed can be designated by 'none', but it is better to omit these rows entirely. Upload action values must be in all lowercase letters.

• When adding records, always check for and remove any duplicates. The Members database won't allow the same exact name to be entered twice (unless the purposes are different), but duplicates can occur when a company or user who already exists in the database is entered again under a slightly different name (e.g., 'Example Company' and 'Example Co.', 'John Q Public' and 'Jon Quincy Public').

• Check the format of all fields containing dates. The correct date format is YYYY/MM/DD for all date-related fields. The 'membership_start_dates' and 'membership_end_dates' are the exception to this rule. These fields may contain dates for multiple memberships as a comma-delimited string. Dates in other formats will not be rejected outright during validation, but the Upload Data tool will attempt to force the data into the YYYY/MM/DD format, which would result in data corruption in the improperly formatted date fields.