Importing Information

Owned by Sandra Rambo (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Nov 27, 2023 by Gabrielle Fuchs
4 min read

There are multiple ways you can import data into OneGov. These jobs can be set up as one-time imports or scheduled to run on a regular basis. This guide provides step-by-step instructions for various common types of imports available.

Import a CSV file from an ftp, http, https site:

  1. Click "Customizer" under the "User" Tab

  2. Click "Data Import" in the "Jobs" Section

  3. Click "Add"

  4. Fill out the Data Import setup

    1. Step 1: "Basic"

      1. Name of Job

        1. Enter a descriptive name for the job

      2. Source

        1. Choose CSV or other delimited format

    2. Step 2: "File Retrieval"

      1. File Retrieval Method

        1. Choose "Pull from ftp, http, or https site"

    3. Step 3: "File Location"

      1. File Location

        1. specify the ftp, http, or https location of file, directory, or zipped file

      2. File Location Name

        1. If location specified is a directory or zipped file, enter the name of the file inside

        2. Only required if:

          1. The file does not end in expected extension (csv)

          2. There are multiple files with that extension

          3. The file is in a subdirectory

    4. Step 4: "Site Username/Password"

      1. Site Username

        1. If the file is a password protected site, you can specify the username here

      2. Site Password

        1. If the file is a password protected site, you can specify the password here

    5. Step 5: "Zip Password"

      1. Zip Password

        1. If the file is a password protected zipped directory, you can specify the password here

    6. Step 6: "CSV Format"

      1. Other Delimiter

        1. If the file is delimited by something other than a comma, specify the delimiter here

      2. Enclosure

        1. If text values that contain the delimiter are enclosed by something other than a double-quote, specify the symbol here

      3. Escape

        1. How text values escape the Enclosure character

          1. Ex.  using [ " ] for both the Enclosure or Escape, John "Jimbo" Doe would appear as "John ""Jimbo"" Doe" in the file

          2. Check your file; other drivers and exports may escape with backslash [ \ ] instead.

      4. Has Header Row

        1. Specify Yes if first row is headers. Will use to name columns in generated table

    7. Step 7: "Target"

      1. Work Area/Target

        1. This is the name of the table that the import will write the records to

        2. The table is automatically named according to the title of the job in step 1: "Basic" but you can edit it if you would like

      2. Append

        1. Choose if you want to overwrite the table every time the sync is run

        2. A scenario where you might want to append is if the source only has changes / new data

    8. Step 8: "Schedule"

      1. If you want to have this job run on a regular basis, you can specify a schedule on this step

        1. Schedule the job to run on a specific day or days by selecting a day of the week in the "When" column and a time in the "Time" column. Click "Add another row" if you want this job to run on multiple days

        2. Select "Finish of Job" in the "When" column if you want the end of another job to trigger the start of this job. Select which job should trigger this one in the "Job" column

      2. If another job is scheduled to run after the finish of this job, it will be listed under the schedule table

    9. Step 8: "Review and Execute"

      1. If everything in the previous steps is set up correctly, an "execute" button will be available to press which will trigger the job to run immediately

      2. There will also be an option to run any jobs that are scheduled to run after this job. The text next to the checkbox will list the number of jobs that are triggered by this job

      3. Click "Execute" to run the job. The page will refresh and a link to the results page will be displayed

    10. Click "Save & Exit"

 

Import an ESRI Shapefile from an upload:

  1. Under ‘Customizer’ select the ‘Data Import’ tab located under the ‘Jobs’ grouping.

  2. Click ‘Add’.

  3. Fill out the Data Import setup

    1. Step 1: "Basic"

      1. Name of Job: Enter a descriptive name for the job.

      2. Source:

        1. Choose the format of the incoming data

          1. Current choices include the following ESRI Shapefile

    2. Step 2: "File Retrieval"

      1. File Retrieval Method

        1. Choose "Upload Here"

    3. Step 3: "File Location"

      1. File Location

        1. This field is disabled for the Upload option

      2. File Location Name

        1. If the file you are uploading is a directory or zipped file, enter the name of the file inside

        2. Only required if:

          1. The file does not end in expected extension (shp)

          2. There are multiple files with that extension

          3. The file is in a subdirectory

    4. Step 4: "Zip Password"

      1. Zip Password

        1. If the file is a password protected zipped directory, you can specify the password here

    5. Step 5: "Target"

      1. Work Area/Target

        1. This is the name of the table that the import will write the records to

        2. The table is automatically named according to the title of the job in step 1: "Basic" but you can edit it if you would like

      2. Append

        1. Choose if you want to overwrite the table every time the sync is run

        2. A scenario where you might want to append is if the source only has changes / new data

      3. Dimensions

        1. Specify the number of dimensions for any geometry in the source. 

      4. Mimic Precision

        1. If Width/Scale/Precision data is available from the source, set this to "Yes" to mimic that in the field types of the target table

    6. Step 6: "Review and Execute"

      1. A file upload on this step allows the source file to be uploaded

        1. The zip file can be uploaded here.

      2. If everything in the previous steps is set up correctly, an "execute" button will be available to press which will trigger the job to run immediately

      3. There will also be an option to run any jobs that are scheduled to run after this job. The text next to the checkbox will list the number of jobs that are triggered by this job

      4. Click "Execute" to run the job. The page will refresh and a link to the results page will be displayed

    7. Click "Save & Exit"

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