Here are some tips for working out why CSV files won’t import into Saasu via the View > Import area. We recommend a quick read of wikipedia’s explanation of CSV data if you don’t have a basic understanding of CSV files.
Missing Data
One of the most common problems encountered when importing data is a single row (or group of rows) missing data. This is caused by one or more blank cells missing when you export data from another source or edit it in a spreadsheet. A CSV file represents a blank cell by two commas. For example, a row in a CSV file with three populated cells would look like this:
X,Y,Z
A row in a CSV file with three blank cells would look like this:
,,
An export format in Saasu will be expecting a certain number of commas in each row of data (one between each piece of data or blank data. Sometimes Saasu generates a message such as Expecting 20 columns but only seeing 19 on Row 5. This means Row 5 (including the header row) is missing a comma. In other words, a whole data field or a blank data field is missing. To fix this you would need to ensure the columns in that specific row are aligned correctly with the header row and that enough commas are present. You can do this in a spreadsheet program. You won’t see the commas in a spreadsheet program because they aren’t displayed. You need to save the CSV file and open it in a Text Editor program like Notepad (PC) or Textmate (Mac).
Commas
Ensure your data doesn’t include commas. In CSV files, Saasu uses commas to separate data into columns. If your data has some comm’s it needs to have double quotes around it. e.g. “Level 6, 1111 Elizabeth Street”
Amount column formatting
Check that amounts don’t include commas. For example, 1,000.00 won’t import correctly. It needs to be formatted as 1000.00 or 1000.
File Extensions
Ensure you have not accidentally added a double file extension – e.g. mydata.csv.csv. To fix this, right-click the file to rename it and remove the first .csv in the name.
Date Formats
Ensure you have set the date format to dd/mm/yyyy. Some spreadsheets might automatically attempt to use US date format which has months before days – i.e. mm/dd/yyyy. Check your file in Notepad or TextMate. It’s a good idea to see what your file looks like in one of these programs.
Ensure the date format is dd/mm/yyyy and that amounts don’t include commas.