# 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, this can be handled through the a specialized CSV importer class that can be customized to fit your data. ## The CsvBulkLoader class The [api: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 `[api: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 $loader = new CsvBulkLoader('Member'); $result = $loader->load(''); By the way, you can import `[api:Member]` and `[api:Group]` data through `http://localhost/admin/security` interface out of the box. ## Import through ModelAdmin The simplest way to use [api:CsvBulkLoader] is through a [api:ModelAdmin] interface - you get an upload form out of the box. :::php 'PlayerCsvBulkLoader', ); static $url_segment = 'players'; } ?> The new admin interface will be available under `http://localhost/admin/players`, the import form is located below the search form on the left. ## Import through a custom controller You can have more customized logic and interface feedback through a custom controller. Let's create a simple upload form (which is used for `MyDataObject` instances). You can access it through `http://localhost/MyController/?flush=all`. :::php load($_FILES['CsvFile']['tmp_name']); $messages = array(); if($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 [api: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 "SpielerNummer","Name","Geburtsdatum","Gruppe" 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 'Int', 'FirstName' => 'Text', 'LastName' => 'Text', 'Birthday' => 'Date', ); static $has_one = array( 'Team' => 'FootballTeam' ); } ?> Datamodel for FootballTeam: :::php 'Text', ); static $has_many = array( 'Players' => 'Player' ); } ?> Sample implementation of a custom loader. Assumes a CSV-file in a certain format (see below). * Converts property names * Splits a combined "Name" fields from the CSV-data into `FirstName` and `Lastname` by a custom importer method * Avoids duplicate imports by a custom `$duplicateChecks` definition * Creates `Team` relations automatically based on the `Gruppe` colum in the CSV data :::php 'PlayerNumber', 'Name' => '->importFirstAndLastName', 'Geburtsdatum' => 'Birthday', 'Gruppe' => 'Team.Title', ); public $duplicateChecks = array( 'SpielerNummer' => 'PlayerNumber' ); public $relationCallbacks = array( 'Team.Title' => array( 'relationname' => 'Team', 'callback' => 'getTeamByTitle' ) ); static function importFirstAndLastName(&$obj, $val, $record) { $parts = explode(' ', $val); if(count($parts) != 2) return false; $obj->FirstName = $parts[0]; $obj->LastName = $parts[1]; } static function getTeamByTitle(&$obj, $val, $record) { $SQL_val = Convert::raw2sql($val); return DataObject::get_one( 'FootballTeam', "Title = '{$SQL_val}'" ); } } ?> ## Related * [api:CsvParser] * [api:ModelAdmin]