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title: "Configure a Data Import"
canonical: "https://docs.rubiconwater.com/space/DMNC/2053439797/Configure%20a%20Data%20Import"
format: markdown
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> Macro (toc)

Configure a data import to import the details of one or more tags, update existing tag data, or add new data to the database.

**Step 1**

In the Data Import module complete the following fields:

| **Property** | **Description** |
| --- | --- |
| Import Object (*optional*) | Specify an object to import. To select an object, click the Find button beside the Import Object field to open the object chooser.<br>When you have selected an object, the system will load the details of any tags that belong to the object in the Data Columns field. Or, if you have previously imported the object, it will load the saved configuration settings.<br>See <u>[Importing and Exporting an Object](https://rubiconwater.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DMNC/pages/2053439737)</u> for more information about the advantages of specifying an object to import and export. |
| File | Specify the input file name and location.<br>**Note:**<br>Make sure that the import file is accessible from where the import will be run. An import preview runs on your local machine, but a scheduled import runs on the application server and the file must be accessible on the server for a scheduled import. |
| Separator | Specify the separator character used in the input file. |
| Site | Specify how the import tool will identify the site to which each data item belongs. See <u>[Identifying Sites and Tags in Imported Data](https://rubiconwater.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DMNC/pages/2053439827)</u> for details of how sites and tags are identified in import files. |
| Data Columns | Add or remove any data columns from the list. You can add actual tag values, or additional information such as timestamps or site details. You can also specify columns in the import file that will be ignored by the import tool. See <u>[Data types for import and export files](https://rubiconwater.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DMNC/pages/2053439767)</u> for details of the available column data types.<br>- Use the **Add** and **Remove** buttons to specify the data to import.
- Use the **Up** and **Down** buttons to adjust the order of the columns.<br>**Note:**<br>You can import columns containing custom site or tag identifiers and map them to Rubicon sites and tags. See <u>[Identifying Sites and Tags in Imported Data](https://rubiconwater.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DMNC/pages/2053439827)</u> for more information. |
| #Header Rows | Specify the number of header rows in the input file. The import tool will ignore these rows, so you can also use this field to exclude data rows from the beginning of the file. |
| #Data Rows | Specify the number of data rows to read from the input file. Leave this field blank to read all the data in the file. |
| Data Duplication | Use these options to control how the import process deals with duplicate data. That is, data that has the same date and time (or timestamp) as existing data entries in the database.<br>- Enforce unique data entries - if the import contains entries that are duplicates of existing data (or of other entries in the import file), the whole import fails.
- Ignore duplicate data entries - if the import file contains entries that are duplicates of existing data, the duplicates in the import file are ignored and the original values in the database are retained. Any non-duplicate entries in the import file are written to the database.
- Update existing data values - if the import file contains entries that are duplicates of existing data, the database entries are overwritten by the new values in the import file. |
| Overwrite existing data values | Select this option to replace all the values in a time range with the values in the input file. This is what happens when the file is imported:<br>- All existing data values from the database that fall within the time range are deleted.
- Any data values in the input file that fall within that time range are written to the database. If there are no new data values in the input file, the original data is just deleted. |
| Start Time/End Time | Specify the time range to use with the **Overwrite existing data values** option above. |
| Import Reason | Choose a reason for this data import. |
| Import Comment | Enter an optional comment to describe the data import. |

**Step 2**

Click **Preview** to validate and view the data that will be imported.The import tool validates the data in the import file against the data in the database and displays a list of data that will be processed. Rows in the import file that contain invalid data are highlighted in red. Hover over these rows to display an error message for the row.

**Step 2**

Click **Commit** to import the file.

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