Creating the Address Book Data File

To import data into a FootPrints Address Book, the data must be contained in a flat text file.  CSV files can wrap on multiple lines, with double-quotes, and with commas as the separator. The fields must be in the correct order and data (or a placeholder for optional fields) must be present for each field as outlined below.To create the text file:

1.  The system new line separator (i.e., the result of pressing “Enter”, “Return”, “^M”, etc.) should appear at the end of each contact.
2. The fields for each contact must be separated by a comma “,” .
3. The actual field names are not specified in the file (i.e., Last Name, First Name, etc.)  Instead, the data must be in the order specified in the Address Book Schema.  The Schema can be viewed by clicking the Review Schema link on the Load Address Book page. The pop-up window shows you the order of the fields that you must use for your file.
4. As an example, suppose the Address Book contains six Address Book fields, “Last Name,” “First Name,” “Email address”, “Company”, “Phone” and “Fax”.  The Schema would look like this:

Sample Address Book schema

Therefore, one line in the text file using the CSV format might look like this:

Smith,Bob,bsmith@widget.com,Widget,212-555-1234,212-555-3232

where Smith is the Last Name, Bob is the First Name,  bsmith@widget.com is the Email address, the Company name is Widget, the phone number is 212-555-1234, and the fax number is 212-555-3232.

NOTE

The CHECKBOX data type can be loaded. The value for CHECKED is ‘on’; for unchecked use either a null field or ‘off’.

Related Topics:

• Load External Data into the Address Book
• Optional Features for Address Book Imports