Importing Client Information from a csv Format File

Required format of .csv (Comma Separated Values) file for use with ImportClientCSV:

2.	Each field must be Quoted (Surrounded by quotation characters) if the field contains a comma, a return, empty space or a quotation mark character

3.	Every line must contain 22 fields, any non used or empty fields must be present, i.e. "","",

4.	The Name field which is the first field is the only required field

5.	All the normal AyaNova rules for Client objects apply; duplicate clients will not be imported, records with no client name will not be imported, fields that exceed the length in AyaNova will be truncated.

6.	The csv file must not contain field names in the first row or any header or footer, data only.

7.	The csv file must contain the following fields in following order:

Name, MailAddress, MailCity, MailStateProvince, MailCountry, MailPostal, DeliveryAddress, DeliveryCity, DeliveryStateProvince, DeliveryCountry, DeliveryPostal, ContactFirstName, ContactLastName, PrimaryPhone, Fax, AltPhone, EmailAddress, AccountNumber, WebSite, GeneralNotes, TechNotes, PopupNotes

•	Check the AyaNova Support Forum’s Known Issues & Updates for known issues with any of the import utilities. Easiest is to do a search for the import utility name i.e. ImportClientCSV

•	Use the export feature to export your current clients in AyaNova to a comma separate values file which you can then refer to, to see the correct format.

•	Comma Separated Values files (.csv files) can be created and opened directly using Microsoft Access, this is handy if you wish to "massage" the data before importing or examine or work with an exported Clients.csv file

•	Backup your current AyaNova database before importing, there is no undo feature and it's easy to accidentally have a field in the wrong position as the import utility has no way of confirming if a phone number (for example) is in the email address column.

•	When you open the csv file before importing, carefully examine the grid of records displayed to ensure each field is in the correct column before importing.

•	For better performance when importing a large number of clients, do the import from the fastest connection to the database possible, i.e. don't import clients via a dataportal unless performance is not a concern.

•	Duplicate clients will not be imported, the client name is examined before each client is imported and if the client name is found to be in AyaNova already then that record is not imported. This means you can re-import the same data safely without getting duplicate records.

•	After importing open AyaNova and examine the imported records and ensure fields were imported to the correct area of the client record.

NOTE: Using Microsoft Excel to create or edit CSV files may cause errors and be unable to be imported.

A CSV file created or saved by Excel will 99% of the time cause an error to occur as it will not include quotes, sometimes will not make allowances for empty fields, may misinterpret returns or comma’s in the field as being a separate field.

If you presently have an Excel file that is in correctly formatted for the number of fields and placement of fields, and for data – once that is completed, than it is suggested and recommended to import it into a table in Microsoft Access. Right click on the table, select Export…, select CSV from the drop down list and the CSV file will be created correctly with quotes and commas.

1.	Create the csv file that contains the clients information that you wish to import into AyaNova v3

a.	It is recommended that you perform the import on the same computer where the database resides, and where the csv file is.

2.	Create a backup of the AyaNova v3 database file before continuing.

a.	Refer to the Backup & Recovery section of this manual for information on backing up the database for your configuration.

4.	Double-click on the ImportClientCSV.exe file to open the program

5.	Enter an AyaNova Administrator username and password

a.	(default is “manager” with password “letmein” if you have not yet changed it as recommended)

8.	Move to the location of the csv file, select the file, select Open

9.	The ImportCSVFile utility will read the file and display a message identifying the number if records it finds, and a reminder to confirm the fields and check data before continuing

10.	The data will now display with a header for each column so that you can confirm data is in the correct field

11.	Once you have confirmed the data, select the menu option Import Data

a.	The time it will take will depend on the number of records to import

b.	Duplicate clients will not be imported based on the client name.

13.	When the import is finished, a message will display identifying the number of client records imported. Select OK to close.

14.	Exit out of the ImportClientCSV utility by selecting the X in the upper right-hand corner

15.	After importing, log into AyaNova v3 and confirm client records imported and data imported to correct fields