Comma Separated Values

The data in a Sage Line 50 import file must be held in Comma Separated Value (CSV) format. CSV format means that every item of data is separated by a comma, and each line of the file represents one record. An example of CSV format is given below:

AOOO1, The Sage Group plc, Sage House, Benton Park Road, Newcastle upon Tyne

AOOO2, M Appleton & Son, Sage View, Benton Park Avn, Newcastle upon Tyne

The example illustrates two records of data to be imported into the records of Customers or Suppliers. Every unit of data, or value, is separated by a comma, indicating that it is the end of one unit of data and the start of another.

The Import procedure makes a number of assumptions about the incoming data, as follows:

$image\bullet.gif$ Each unit of data is separated by a comma.

$image\bullet.gif$ Each data record takes up a single line.

$image\bullet.gif$ Each data record is terminated by a carriage return. (To create a new record press ENTER.)

$image\bullet.gif$ Any spaces at the start or end of a data unit are ignored. Spaces within data units are included, so Ilford Road is imported as Ilford Road, however spaces in numeric data units are not allowed. Spaces in the account code data of customer or supplier records are treated differently, as discussed below.

$image\bullet.gif$ Account code data is always converted to upper-case lettering and any spaces removed. For example, Sage Software Limited is changed on import to SAGESOFT. The text has been cropped to the maximum eight characters, converted to upper-case and the spaces removed.

$image\bullet.gif$ Enclosing a unit of data in quotes causes any commas contained within the data unit to be read as part of the data, not as a separator of data, e.g. 10, Acacia Avenue is accepted as a single unit.

$image\bullet.gif$ The data for each unit in each record must be entered in strict order, otherwise data may be imported incorrectly.

$image\bullet.gif$ Two consecutive commas signify a blank, or zero length, unit of data. Importing a blank unit of data does not overwrite data, leaving existing information intact. This feature is used if you want to change selected data in a record, for example, to change just the telephone number in a customer record, the import data might read:
AOOO3,,,,,,0191 1234567

$image\bullet.gif$ A space between two commas causes the existing data to be erased.

$image\bullet.gif$ A unit of data in a record can be one of the following data types:

Text   ABcd234 etc.
Integer   1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc.
Decimal Number  23.58, 132.05, 0.23 etc.

The incoming data is validated during the import procedure and if a discrepancy is found then the import is aborted. For example, if the importing of a decimal number is attempted for an integer data unit then the process fails, and an error message is displayed.

$image\bullet.gif$ Each data unit has a maximum length. If data is entered that is longer than the defined maximum, for example, ten characters in an eight character field, then the data is simply shortened to the required length and no error is reported. In the example then, it is just the first eight characters that are imported. The maximum length of any data that the import procedure can handle is 255 characters, data exceeding this figure causes an error to be reported.