Role/Sub Role

A Role and at least one sub role must be selected. These selections are used for:

• These roles are added to any new records. Existing records do not have their roles modified. Note: the Bulk Change Roles screen can be used to change roles of existing records.
• If the Import Custom Fields option is checked, then custom fields that apply to these roles can be imported.
• Selecting the person records that are included in the import file template that can be downloaded

Role currency

Role currency also only affects new person records:

• Import records with current roles: One or more sub roles are selected, and these are all added to the new person record as current roles. This option is used when adding current person records - eg players who are now playing with a club.
• Import records with no roles: One sub roles only is selected. No roles are all added to the new person record, however the person's 'last role' is set to the selection. This option is used when adding past person records - eg players who previously played with a club.

Standard field versus Custom Fields

By default, only standard fields are imported/updated. These relate to (some of the) information that can edited via the Personal Details tab of the Person Edit screen. If the Import Custom Fields option is checked then custom field data can also be imported/updated. These are fields defined under the People...Person Custom Fields menu item. Custom fields can be defined by and organisation or its parent organisations, and fields can be restricted to only apply to certain Person Roles and or sub roles. Custom field information can also edited via the Custom fields tab of the Person Edit screen.

Special notes about importing information

• Any records supplied without an ID are treated as new records. However validation checks are carried out when importing to make sure duplicate records are not created.
• Records supplied with IDs are treated as updates. Checks are carried out to make sure the record can be updated. Any changes to first and last names are ignored, as these can only be done by individually editing eeach person record.
• When importing/updating custom fields the CSV format cannot be used, and the file MUST have a header row.
• There are limits to the maximum number of records that can be imported in one batch - see below.

Step by step - suggested approach

Note - more detailed information is presented under following sub-headings below.

• Make a selection in the Role and Sub-Role sections
• Choose the applicable Role currency option
• Generate an import file by then clicking the Download Import file template link. Microsoft Excel is the recommended format due to ease of viewing and manipulating the data compared to text formats. Data will be extracted corresponding to the Roles and Sub-Roles selected. If the Import Custom Fields option is checked then custom field data will also be included which is applicable to the roles/sub roles selected.
• Save the file. Microsoft Excel format is recommended as it will be easier to manipulate the information.
• Open the file - recommend in Microsoft Excel. Each data field should be in a separate column. If using a text format such as CSV/TSV, and opening in Excel, care should be taken that Excel does not convert text columns that look like numbers (eg mobile phone numbers) to numbers which may result in loss of information. Consult the Excel help on how to import text documents and override the data types of certain fields.
• Remove records (rows) in the file that you dont wish to change by deleting the entire row. If you are importing only new records then delete all rows except for the headings.
• If importing/updating custom fields, then you can remove custom fields you don't want to import/update. For example, if the template you downloaded includes 4 custom fields, and you only want one, then delete the other 3 custom field headigs, and data relating to these for all rows of information. If importing custom fields the Import Custom Fields checkbox must be checked, otherwise any custom fields present in the import file will be ignored. NOTE: Do not remove any Standard Field information or headings from the import file.
• Change the appropriate information for existing records (if any). First and last names cannot be changed by this process, and changes to these fields will be ignored. Hint: You may be able to copy and paste from existing data files you may have.
• Add the appropriate information for new records (if any). For new records, first and last names must be specified and the ID field must be blank.
• Save the file in Excel (or text) format.
• Select the file you have just saved by clicking the Browse button next to the Select file to import box
• Select the import file type as appropriate
• Ensure the File has header row checkbox is checked
• Select the appropriate Import option
• Click Next . A summary of the import will be presented (no import has taken place yet).
• View and verify the data you are about to import is correct. It is critical that you ensure all data is shown under the correct headings, this is your final check before you import.
• Click Import Data to commit the changes

Import file formats

Click the Browse button and select the file you wish to import.

Files can be imported in any of the following formats:

• Microsoft Excel (97 onwards) Excel (97 onwards) file:
  • The data can be in any Worksheet within the imported workbook, however the name of the Worksheet containing the data must be specified exactly in the Worksheet Name text box (this is case-sensitive). Alternatively, leave this field blank to automatically use the first worksheet in the workbook.
  • The Worksheet must contain data for standard fields in columns A to S as per the Field order specified below. If custom fields are being imported, these are supplied in columns T onward. However, most data is optional, and does not need to be supplied in each column.
  • Header row - a row containing the field names. Field names in the header row for standard fields are ignored. If custom fields are being imported the field nameas obtained from the downloaded template must not be changed.
  • If data is not available for a particular field for a record, leave the appropriate cell empty.
  • Use one row per record - ID numbers must not be repeated. Use as many rows as required and leave all subsequent rows blank.

• Comma separated values (CSV) separated values (CSV) file:
  • Note: CSV format cannot be used if importing Custom fields.
  • This is a file with each row on a new line, and values within each row separated by commas.
  • Header row - a row containing the field names. Field names in the header row for standard fields are ignored.
  • If data is not available for a particular field for a player, a comma 'placeholder' must be used. For example - the following is a placeholder between A and B: A,,B,C......
  • Use one row per record - ID numbers must not be repeated. IDs must not be repeated. Use as many rows as required. Each row must have a total of 16 commas, corresponding to 17 fields.

• Tab separated values (TSV) separated values (TSV) file:
  • This is a file with each row on a new line, and values within each row separated by tabs.
  • Header row - a row containing the field names. Field names in the header row for standard fields are ignored. If custom fields are being imported the field nameas obtained from the downloaded template must not be changed.
  • If data is not available for a particular field for a player, a tab 'placeholder' must be used. For example - the following is a placeholder between A and B: A<tab><tab>B<tab>C...... where <tab> refers to a tab character.
  • Use one row per record - ID numbers must not be repeated. IDs must not be repeated. Use as many rows as required. Each row must have a total of 16 tabs, corresponding to 17 fields.

Import Field order and validation rules:

Further information about whether a field is mandatory, and the allowable values can be found within the_Required file format and validation rules_ table which displays during the import process. The same validation rules apply irrespective of whether records and added/modified using the bulk import process, or manually editing records one by one using the person edit screen.

Maximum number of records

The number of records (i.e. rows within the file) that can be imported in one 'batch' is limited to 100 if not importing custom fields, and to 50 if custom fields are being imported. If you have more than this to import, after the first import, simply remove the imported rows from your import file, then reimport the file again. Repeat this until all rows are imported.

Import Template:

Use the Download import file template function to generate a file in the correct format - which may optionally include current data to update.

• Make a selection in the Role and Sub-Role sections. Data will be extracted corresponding to the Roles and Sub-Roles selected.
• Click the Download import file template link, and save the file to your hard disc. The file will be in tab delimited format with a header row.

Role and Role currency

The Role/Sub-Role and Role Currency selections affect how new records are imported. These options are ignored for existing records.

When the Import records with current roles option is selected, the selected Roles/Sub-Roles are added to the record (in effect making them 'active' within the organisation). This option is used to import current participants (e.g. players who are still playing with a club).

If the Import records with no roles option is selected, then the following applies:

• only one Sub-Role can be selected
• the Sub-Role is used to set the 'Last Sub Role' of the person
• current roles are not added to the record

This option is used to import participants who are no longer active in the organisation (e.g. past players being imported to update data from previous seasons).

About Person Roles

Import options

These options determine the behavior when updating existing records from the import file. It is not relevant for importing new records.

• Replace data for existing records only where new data is provided - only fields that have been provided in the import file AND are different from existing data will be written. This option means that you can leave fields blank in the import file without overwriting existing data. Example:

  	Home phone	Work phone	Mobile phone
  Value for Player X in database	9399 9999	9488 8888	0411 111111
  Value for Player X in import file	9877 7777	(blank)	0411 111111
  Value for Player X in database after file is imported	9877 7777	9488 8888	0411 111111

• Replace ALL data for existing records - any blanks in the import file will be written, which could lead to loss of data. Use with care! Example:

  	Home phone	Work phone	Mobile phone
  Value for Player X in database	9399 9999	9488 8888	0411 111111
  Value for Player X in import file	9877 7777	(blank)	0411 111111
  Value for Player X in database after file is imported	9877 7777	(blank)	0411 111111

Importing the data

Once all options have been selected, including the file to import, click the Next button. The system will validate your choices, and if import is possible, a preview screen will display. This screen lists data for the records present in your import file, and gives an indication of what the values of each field will be after the import. Note: No import has occurred at this time. Each row is colour coded to give an indication of the actions that will take place:

At the Preview screen you can click the Prev button to return to the first screen to change import options. Or, you can make changes to the import file, and click the Reload data from file button to reload into the Preview screen.

Once you have reviewed the data in the Preview screen, click the Import Data button to save your changes to the database. Any records that have been marked as in error (in red) will be skipped. Once imported, changes cannot be undone, although data can be re-imported, and/or individual records can be edited in the usual way. A final confirmation screen displays after import which indicates the import status of each row with colour coding the same as in the Preview screen.