Types of records in Advanced CSV files

WorldServer Advanced CSV import files have two types of records: header records and data records.

The header record

There is only one such record, and it must appear as the first record in the file. The inclusion of this record is mandatory. The values of this record provide field names for the records that follow. WorldServer uses these field names to identify the meaning of the field data. The ordering of the field names is not specified, but the ordering must be consistent with the field values in subsequent records.

There are some well-known field names. These correspond to attributes defined in WorldServer. Some are mandatory, while others are optional with default values provided:
Field nameDescriptionRequiredDefault
LanguageThe locale associated with the term.YesN/A
TermThe text of the term.YesN/A
Created OnThe creation time of the term.NoCurrent timestamp
Created ByThe user who created the term.NoCurrent user
Modified OnThe time when the term was last modified.NoCurrent timestamp
Modified ByThe user who modified the term.NoCurrent user
Created On-EntryThe creation time of the term entry.NoCurrent timestamp
Created By-EntryThe user who created the term entry.NoCurrent user
Modified On-EntryThe time when the term entry was last modified.NoCurrent timestamp
Modified By-EntryThe user who modified the term entry.NoCurrent user
All other field names are assumed to be user-defined within WorldServer. Because user-defined attributes on term and term entries can have the same name, by convention, all field names for term entry attributes must append a suffix of -Entry. For example, if there is a user-defined term entry attribute named MyAttribute, the corresponding field name in the header record must be MyAttribute-Entry. This is true regardless of whether or not there is a term attribute defined with the same name.

The data record

Data records provide the field values that correspond to field names as defined in the header record. The important aspects of data records are:
  • Values for entry attributes are only collected on the first record for each term entry.
  • A new term entry is recognized when one or more blank lines are encountered. A blank line is a line with only white space followed by an end of line. All records that follow are assumed to belong to the same term entry until another blank line is encountered or end of file is reached.
  • Timestamp values for all WorldServer-defined term and term entry attribute values must use the following format: mm/dd/yy hh:mm am/pm (or the equivalent format for the regional settings you have selected).
Although the ordering of the fields is not important for importing term data, you should order fields as follows, to make viewing and editing of data in a spreadsheet easier:
Field numberField nameDescription
1LanguageThe locale associated with the term.
2TermThe text of the term.
3-NUser definedAll user-defined term attributes.
N+1Created OnThe creation time of the term.
N+2Created By The user who created the term.
N+3Modified OnThe time when the term was last modified.
N+4Modified ByThe user who modified the term.
(N+4)+IUser definedAll user-defined term entry attributes.
(N+4)+I+1Created On-Entry The creation time of the term entry.
(N+4)+I+2Created By-EntryThe user who created the term entry.
(N+4)+I+3Modified On-EntryThe time when the term entry was last modified.
(N+4)+I+4Modified By-EntryThe user who modified the term entry.
Also, .csv files exported by WorldServer include two special system-defined attributes as the last two field values of the record - namely Entry Id and Term Id. These values are specific to .csv files exported from WorldServer. Do not modify the values of these fields. .csv term import files that were not exported from WorldServer must not include these fields.