silverstripe-framework/docs/en/02_Developer_Guides/11_Integration/00_CSV_Import.md

---
title: CSV Import
summary: Load data into your Silverstripe CMS database in bulk
icon: upload
---
# Import CSV data

## Introduction

CSV import can be easily achieved through PHP's built-in `fgetcsv()` method,
but this method doesn't know anything about your datamodel. In Silverstripe CMS,
this can be handled through the a specialized CSV importer class that can
be customised to fit your data.

## The CsvBulkLoader class

The [CsvBulkLoader](api:SilverStripe\Dev\CsvBulkLoader) class facilitate complex CSV-imports by defining column-mappings and custom converters.
It uses PHP's built-in `fgetcsv()` function to process CSV input, and accepts a file handle as an input.

Feature overview:

*  Custom column mapping
*  Auto-detection of CSV-header rows
*  Duplicate detection based on custom criteria
*  Automatic generation of relations based on one or more columns in the CSV-Data
*  Definition of custom import methods (e.g. for date conversion or combining multiple columns)
*  Optional deletion of existing records if they're not present in the CSV-file
*  Results grouped by "imported", "updated" and "deleted"

## Usage

You can use the CsvBulkLoader without subclassing or other customizations, if the column names
in your CSV file match `$db` properties in your dataobject. E.g. a simple import for the
[Member](api:SilverStripe\Security\Member) class could have this data in a file:
```
FirstName,LastName,Email
Donald,Duck,donald@disney.com
Daisy,Duck,daisy@disney.com
```

The loader would be triggered through the `load()` method:


```php
use SilverStripe\Dev\CsvBulkLoader;

$loader = new CsvBulkLoader('Member');
$result = $loader->load('<my-file-path>');
```

By the way, you can import [Member](api:SilverStripe\Security\Member) and [Group](api:SilverStripe\Security\Group) data through `http://localhost/admin/security`
interface out of the box.

## Import through ModelAdmin

The simplest way to use [CsvBulkLoader](api:SilverStripe\Dev\CsvBulkLoader) is through a [ModelAdmin](api:SilverStripe\Admin\ModelAdmin) interface - you get an upload form out of the box.


```php
use SilverStripe\Admin\ModelAdmin;
use SilverStripe\Dev\CsvBulkLoader;

class PlayerAdmin extends ModelAdmin 
{
   private static $managed_models = [
      Player::class
   ];
   private static $model_importers = [
      Player::class => CsvBulkLoader::class,
   ];
   private static $url_segment = 'players';
}
```

The new admin interface will be available under `http://localhost/admin/players`, the import form is located
below the search form on the left.

## Import through a custom controller

You can have more customised logic and interface feedback through a custom controller. 
Let's create a simple upload form (which is used for `MyDataObject` instances). 
You'll need to add a route to your controller to make it accessible via URL 
(see [Routing](../../controllers/routing/)).


```php
use SilverStripe\Forms\Form;
use SilverStripe\Forms\FieldList;
use SilverStripe\Forms\FileField;
use SilverStripe\Forms\FormAction;
use SilverStripe\Forms\RequiredFields;
use SilverStripe\Dev\CsvBulkLoader;
use SilverStripe\Control\Controller;

class MyController extends Controller 
{

    private static $allowed_actions = ['Form'];

    protected $template = "BlankPage";

    public function Link($action = null) 
    {
        return Controller::join_links('MyController', $action);
    }

    public function Form() 
    {
        $form = new Form(
            $this,
            'Form',
            new FieldList(
                new FileField('CsvFile', false)
            ),
            new FieldList(
                new FormAction('doUpload', 'Upload')
            ),
            new RequiredFields()
        );
        return $form;
    }

    public function doUpload($data, $form) 
    {
        $loader = new CsvBulkLoader('MyDataObject');
        $results = $loader->load($_FILES['CsvFile']['tmp_name']);
        $messages = [];
        if($results->CreatedCount()) $messages[] = sprintf('Imported %d items', $results->CreatedCount());
        if($results->UpdatedCount()) $messages[] = sprintf('Updated %d items', $results->UpdatedCount());
        if($results->DeletedCount()) $messages[] = sprintf('Deleted %d items', $results->DeletedCount());
        if(!$messages) $messages[] = 'No changes';
        $form->sessionMessage(implode(', ', $messages), 'good');

        return $this->redirectBack();
    }
}
```

Note: This interface is not secured, consider using [Permission::check()](api:SilverStripe\Security\Permission::check()) to limit the controller to users
with certain access rights.

## Column mapping and relation import

We're going to use our knowledge from the previous example to import a more sophisticated CSV file.

Sample CSV Content
```
"Number","Name","Birthday","Team"
11,"John Doe",1982-05-12,"FC Bayern"
12,"Jane Johnson", 1982-05-12,"FC Bayern"
13,"Jimmy Dole",,"Schalke 04"
```

Datamodel for Player


```php
use SilverStripe\ORM\DataObject;

class Player extends DataObject 
{
   private static $db = [
      'PlayerNumber' => 'Int',
      'FirstName' => 'Text',
      'LastName' => 'Text',
      'Birthday' => 'Date',
   ];
   private static $has_one = [
      'Team' => 'FootballTeam'
   ];
}
```

Datamodel for FootballTeam:

```php
use SilverStripe\ORM\DataObject;

class FootballTeam extends DataObject 
{
   private static $db = [
      'Title' => 'Text',
   ];
   private static $has_many = [
      'Players' => 'Player'
   ];
}
```

Sample implementation of a custom loader. Assumes a CSV-file in a certain format (see below).

*  Converts property names
*  Splits a combined "Name" fields from the CSV-data into `FirstName` and `Lastname` by a custom importer method
*  Avoids duplicate imports by a custom `$duplicateChecks` definition
*  Creates `Team` relations automatically based on the `Gruppe` column in the CSV data

```php
use SilverStripe\Dev\CsvBulkLoader;

class PlayerCsvBulkLoader extends CsvBulkLoader 
{
   public $columnMap = [
      'Number' => 'PlayerNumber', 
      'Name' => '->importFirstAndLastName', 
      'Birthday' => 'Birthday', 
      'Team' => 'Team.Title', 
   ];
   public $duplicateChecks = [
      'Number' => 'PlayerNumber'
   ];
   public $relationCallbacks = [
      'Team.Title' => [
         'relationname' => 'Team',
         'callback' => 'getTeamByTitle'
      ]
   ];
   public static function importFirstAndLastName(&$obj, $val, $record) 
   {
      $parts = explode(' ', $val);
      if(count($parts) != 2) return false;
      $obj->FirstName = $parts[0];
      $obj->LastName = $parts[1];
   }
   public static function getTeamByTitle(&$obj, $val, $record) 
   {
      return FootballTeam::get()->filter('Title', $val)->First();
   }
}
```

Building off of the ModelAdmin example up top, use a custom loader instead of the default loader by adding it to `$model_importers`. In this example, `CsvBulkLoader` is replaced with `PlayerCsvBulkLoader`.


```php
use SilverStripe\Admin\ModelAdmin;

class PlayerAdmin extends ModelAdmin 
{
   private static $managed_models = [
      'Player'
   ];
   private static $model_importers = [
      'Player' => 'PlayerCsvBulkLoader',
   ];
   private static $url_segment = 'players';
}
```

## Related

*  [CsvParser](api:SilverStripe\Dev\CsvParser)
*  [ModelAdmin](api:SilverStripe\Admin\ModelAdmin)