Importing Data

Introduction

Feature(s)

For a designed form, you can add or update data by importing Excel files.

Application Scenario(s)

This feature is used when you need to import or update data in batches. The followings are the import modes available:

Who Imports	Where to Import	Import Mode
Admin	Manage Data	Add data only Update date only Update and add data
Member	Permission sets	Add data only Update date only

Preview

For example, you can select Add Data Only in Import Mode to import the prepared customer information as follows.

Setting Procedure

Where to Import

1. Import Excel files as an admin.

Select the form to be edited, and click Edit > Manage Data > Import.

2. Import Excel files as a member.

Access a form, switch to the permission set, in which you are granted the importing permission, and click Import.

Validating Data

1. Where to validate

a. For an admin, go to Manage Data > Import, and tick Trigger Validation upon Import. Then format and required field validations will be performed upon imported data.

b. For a member, click Import from the corresponding permission set, and Trigger Validation upon Import is ticked by default. In that case, format and required field validations will be performed upon imported data.

2. Validation rules

a. Untick Trigger Validation upon Import.

When importing data, if you do not tick Trigger Validation upon Import, only basic validation will be performed upon certain fields. Detailed validation rules are as follows:

Field Type	Validation Type	Validation Rules
Number	Format Validation	The content can be converted to a valid number.
Date&Time	Format Validation	The content can be converted to a valid date.
SubForm	Subform Data Validation	The validation is performed upon each sub-record.
Member	Matching Validation	The content can be matched to a unique member.
Members	Matching Validation	Each value in the array can be matched to a unique member.
Department	Matching Validation	The content can be matched to a unique department.
Departments	Matching Validation	Each value in the array can be matched to a unique department.

b. Tick Trigger Validation upon Import.

When importing data, if you tick Trigger Validation upon Import, the validation will be performed upon certain fields. Detailed validation rules are as follows:

Field Type	Validation Type	Validation Rules
Single Line	Format Validation	After being converted to a string, the content is consistent with a phone number, a postal code, an ID card number, or an Email address.
Number	Format Validation	The content can be converted to a valid number.
Number	Value Range Validation	The converted value is within the value range.
Date&Time	Format Validation	The content can be converted to a valid date.
Radio	Option Validation	After being converted to a string, the content can be matched in the options.
Checkbox	Option Validation	After being converted to a string and separated by commas, the separated content can all be matched in the options.
Single Select	Option Validation	After being converted to a string, the content can be matched in the options.
Multi Select	Option Validation	After being converted to a string and separated by commas, the separated content can all be matched in the options.
SubForm	Subform Data Validation	The validation is performed upon sub-record.
Member	Matching Validation	The content can be matched to a unique member.
Members	Matching Validation	Each value in the array can be matched to a unique member.
Department	Matching Validation	The content can be matched to a unique department.
Departments	Matching Validation	Each value in the array can be matched to a unique department.

3. Validation upon duplicates

When you choose the modes (including Adding data only, Updating date only, and Updating and adding data) to import data, the system will validate duplicates for the fields for which you ticked No duplicates.

The system will validate:

For one field, whether the data to be imported are the same with the existing data in the form.
For one field, whether the data to be imported are the same with other to-be-imported.

Handling Data Importing Failure

1. Modify failed records.

If you fail to import some records because of failed validation, modify those failed records manually. Then you can re-import the modified records.

Note:
1. You can manually modify the failed records only when the number of failed records is less than 30.
2. In the case of importing data in the format of Number and Date&Time, if the format validation fails, the system will not prompt you to modify the failed data. However, in such cases, the fields that failed the validation will be left empty after the import process.

2. Download the error report.

You can also check the reason for importing failure by downloading the error report to modify the records accordingly.

Note:
If the number of failed records is greater than 30, you can only re-import the modified data after downloading the error report.

3. Handle the importing failure caused by duplicate member/department names.

You cannot import records that contain member/department fields with the same name. For solutions, see Solutions for Importing Same Named Members/Dept.

Notes

1. Records in the imported file cannot exceed 50,000 rows and 200 columns.

2. Suppose you tick No duplicates under Validation in a form. No matter whether you tick Trigger Validation upon Import when importing data under permission sets, the system will validate for duplicates. However, if you do not tick Trigger Validation upon Import when importing data on the Manage Data page, the system will not validate for duplicates, field formats, and so on.

3. In a workflow form, if the node after the start node of the workflow is a child workflow, and you enable Initiate Workflow upon Import when importing an Excel file, the child workflow will not be triggered after the data is imported, which means the data will stay at the start node.

4. Data of the following field types cannot be imported currently: Divider, Select Data, Query Data, and Signature.

5. For details about importing the data of special fields, see Importing the Data of Special Fields.

6. Here are the importing rules for the Serial No. field:

Import Mode	Import Rule
Adding data only	Cannot import the serial number existed in the imported Excel file. The value of the Serial No. field will be generated automatically based on the rules you set.
Updating date only	Allowed to import the serial number existed in the imported Excel file.
Updating and adding data	Only allowed to import the serial number existed in the imported Excel file for the data to be updated. For the data to be created, you cannot do so.