How to Prepare Your Files for a Data Import

This article walks you through how to set up the two files you need to import submission or user-profile information into RQ Platform. Following these steps will help your import go smoothly the first time.

The two files you'll need

Every import uses two spreadsheet files that work together:

File	What it does
Data File	Holds the information you're bringing in, like names and answers to questions.
Map File	Tells RQ Platform where each piece of information belongs in the submission.

A simple way to think about it: the Data File is what you're importing, and the Map File is where it goes.

1. Setting up your Data File

Your Data File is a spreadsheet where each column holds one type of information (for example, first names) and each row is one person.

Put your column names in the first row.
Don't use spaces in column names. For example, use Column1, not Column 1.
Check that there are no extra spaces before or after any of your entries.

You don't need descriptive column names. Simple names like Column1, Column2, and Column3 work well, because the Map File is what tells the system what each column means.

⚠️ Important: Every column name in your Data File must appear exactly the same way in your Map File.

2. Setting up your Map File

Your Map File connects each column in your Data File to the right question in the submission. It has four columns:

Column	What to enter
SourceFieldName	The column name from your Data File, typed exactly the same way.
TargetQuestionID	The ID number of the question in the submission.
Target	The name of the question or field the information should go into.
TargetMapFieldName	Leave this blank. Our team fills it in for you.

Example: Say Column3 in your Data File has each person's first name. In your Map File, you would enter:

SourceFieldName: Column3
TargetQuestionID: 3
Target: FirstName

Now RQ Platform knows to put everything in Column3 into the First Name question.

Single checkbox questions

For a question with just one checkbox, you can only use two options:

What to enter	What it means
`on`	The box is checked.
Leave the cell empty	The box is not checked, or there's no answer.

🚫 Don't use words like yes, true, checked, or 1. The system won't recognize them.

Multiple-choice questions (radio buttons, dropdowns, and checkbox lists)

For these questions, your entries must match the answer choices in the submission exactly, including spelling, capital letters, and spaces.

Example: If the answer choices in the submission are Choice1, Choice2, and Choice3, your Data File must use those exact words.

🚫 These would not work (unless they're set up as real choices in the submission):

Choice 1 (has a space in the middle)
Choice-1 (has a dash added)
Choice1 (has a space at the end, which is easy to miss)

Even a tiny difference means the system won't match the answer.

When someone picked more than one answer

For checkbox list questions where someone selected several answers, put all their answers in one cell, separated by commas with no spaces.

What to enter	What it means
`Choice1,Choice3`	Choice 1 and Choice 3 were selected.
`Choice2`	Only Choice 2 was selected.
`Choice1,Choice2,Choice3`	All three were selected.
Leave the cell empty	Nothing was selected.

Each answer in the list still needs to match the submission's choices exactly.

Importing uploaded files and attachments

To bring in files (like PDFs) for each person, your Data File needs to show where each file is saved, written as its folder location.

Example: If a file is saved in a folder called folder1, inside a folder with the person's name, you would enter:

/folder1/ApplicantName/testDoc.pdf

SubmitterName	DocumentPath
John Smith	/folder1/John Smith/testDoc.pdf
Jane Doe	/folder1/Jane Doe/testDoc.pdf

The folder location must exactly match where the file is actually saved, or the system won't find it.

Signature questions

Signatures can't be imported. Submitters will need to sign these questions themselves after the import.

Putting it all together: a complete example

This example imports three submissions for a scholarship application. The form has five questions:

First Name and Last Name (text)
I agree to the terms (single checkbox)
Year of Study (dropdown with the choices FirstYear, SecondYear, ThirdYear)
Areas of Interest (checkbox list with the choices Arts, Science, Business)
Transcript (file upload)

The Data File

Column1	Column2	Column3	Column4	Column5	Column6
Jane	Doe	on	SecondYear	Arts,Science	/transcripts/Jane Doe/transcript.pdf
John	Smith	on	FirstYear	Business	/transcripts/John Smith/transcript.pdf
Maria	Lopez		ThirdYear		/transcripts/Maria Lopez/transcript.pdf

In this file, Jane picked two areas of interest, John picked one, and Maria didn't check the terms box or pick any areas of interest, so those cells are empty.

The Map File

SourceFieldName	TargetQuestionID	Target
Column1	1	FirstName
Column2	2	LastName
Column3	3	AgreeToTerms
Column4	4	YearOfStudy
Column5	5	AreasOfInterest
Column6	6	Transcript

Each row in the Map File matches one column in the Data File. The Question IDs and Target names here are examples only. Use the real ones from your own form.

Checklist before you import

Column names are in the first row of your Data File, with no spaces.
Every Data File column name also appears in the Map File's SourceFieldName column.
No entries have extra spaces before or after them.
Single checkboxes use only on or an empty cell.
Multiple-choice answers exactly match the choices in the submission.
Multiple answers in one cell are separated by commas with no spaces.
File locations exactly match where each file is saved.
No signature questions are included.