Hello,
Tim asks how to import a CSV file. For the benefit of the community I wanted to post this on our forums. Hopefully, these steps will clarify how exactly to correctly import your data into Method.
1) Go to Customize -> Tables / Fields and find the table you wish to import into (or create the table if it isn’t there by default).
2) Click “Edit Fields…” and take note of all fields that are checked as “required” and “unique”.
3) Make an export of this existing table by going to customize -> Integration Tools, select export a table to a file, pick a table, and choose which fields you want to export to excel (tab-delimited values), and be sure to export the fields noted in step 2.
4) Depending on your version of Excel, find the Data -> Get external data from Text option, and import from the export.
5) Clear out all rows except the first row which lists your headings (this will save you from manually typing up each column header and make typos!)
6) Congratulations! You now have a flawless template so go ahead and add your customer data to the appropriate columns.
7) *If you have or want to use custom columns to import columns containing other types of data, append them to the end of your spreadsheet, and note their exact name. *note: column headers cannot contain spaces.
8) In Method, there’s one more thing you need to do before you can import your excel file. You must add your custom fields to the Method table before you import your file into it, and ensure they have the exact same spelling.
9) Import your Excel file and follow the onscreen instructions under Customer -> Integration Tools -> Input into a table from a file.
10) Lastly, in order for a user to have access to those custom fields, you will need to create a new screen (i.e. customer screen) and add those fields in the screen editor.
And you’re done!
For more details about the import/export feature, kindly refer to our Webinar on the topic here.
Regards,
Denis