Importing and exporting data
You can import data from a file or from Analytics into a specific type of table called a Data Analytic. Likewise, you can export the data from any table so that you can perform further analysis outside the Results app.
Data sources and formats
| Source | Available actions | More help |
|---|---|---|
| File (CSV or XLS) |
Import Export |
|
| Analytics |
Import Export |
|
| Add-In for Excel | Import | Publish data to Diligent One Results |
Column display names
When you import data from Analytics or Add-In for Excel, any underscores in the column names are replaced with spaces in the corresponding display names in Results.
Any data imported from file retains the column display names in the source file.
Column naming requirements
- Uniqueness column names must be case-insensitive unique ("a" and "A" are considered the same)
- Leading and trailing blanks any leading or trailing blank characters, tab characters, or line returns are removed from the column name
- Duplicate data or information columns any duplicate data or information columns that are detected are appended with a counter in the order of upload processing ("column", "column1", "column2", "columnn")
- Duplicate questionnaire columns when columns are detected with a format that is the same as questionnaire questions ("qn"):
- If the questionnaire column already exists in the table, the data is uploaded to the existing column.
- If the questionnaire column does not exist in the table, the column's field name is appended with an underscore and counter in the order of upload processing ("q123_1", "q123_2", "q123_n") to avoid potential naming conflicts with questionnaires that could be attached to the table in future.
- Duplicate supporting files columns when columns are detected with a format that is the same as questionnaire supporting files ("supporting_files_n"):
- If the supporting files column already exists in the table, the data is uploaded to the existing column.
- If the supporting files column does not exist in the table, the column's field name is appended with an underscore and counter in the order of upload processing ("supporting_files_123_1", "supporting_files_123_2", "supporting_files_123_n") to avoid potential naming conflicts with supporting files that could be attached to the table in future.
Field name considerations when round-tripping Results data
If you are round-tripping data between Results and Analytics, you need to ensure that all field names in the Results table meet the more stringent Analytics field name requirements. If you do not, you risk misaligning your Analytics and Results data.
For example, any special characters in Results field names are automatically converted to underscores when they are imported into Analytics, which means the field names no longer match the original names in Results. If you then export the Analytics data back to the original table in Results, fields are no longer correctly matched.
To avoid this problem with data that you intend to round-trip, make sure that before you upload the data to Results from CSV or Excel files it meets these Analytics field name requirements:
- no special characters or spaces
- does not start with a number
- contains only alphanumeric characters, or the underscore character ( _ )
