CSV Specifications

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CSV Specifications

The MIE can import industry standard Comma Separated Value (CSV) files.  A CSV file must conform to the following specifications:

1.  The first line in the file should be the header row.  The header row contains descriptions for each of the columns contained in the file.  Each description is separated by commas (or an alternately defined delimiter).  If the first line of the file does not contain the header information, then the header line must be defined when defining the job.

2.  All lines in the file are separated by Carriage Return / Line Feed (CR/LF) pairs.  A carriage return is a hexadecimal x0D character and a line feed is a hexadecimal x0A character.

3.  All non-numeric values are delimited by double quotes.  A comma (or the alternatively defined delimiter) and/or a CR/LF may be contained in a non-numeric value, but a double quote cannot.

4.  All data columns must be separated by a comma, or alternatively defined delimiter.

5.  The file name presented to the MIE must have a ".CSV" extension.  (Exception is XML files, which must have a ".XML" extension)

NOTE:  Microsoft Excel does not generally save .CSV in a format acceptable to the MIE.  Microsoft Access does (as do most other programs).  Excel will not write double quotes around non-numeric values unless the value contains a comma.  Excel also has a tendency to strip leading zeros from numeric data (such as asset numbers).  It is better to take an Excel spreadsheet into Access, and then save as a .CSV using Access.