Common problems when importing databases into ORDS could be improved

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Could we just explain on this page how a .csv file needs to be formatted? e.g.

"
To successfully import a .csv file into the ORDS it must be correctly 
formatted. 

The first row must contain the field names (not a title). There must be no 
empty columns between the field names.

The ORDS system reserves the name of the csv file with the string '_index' 
concatenated for its own use. If one of the field names matches this reserved 
name then you will need to rename it before importing the spreadsheet. For 
example, if you have a csv file called 'data.csv', it must not contain a column 
called 'data_index'. Simply rename this field to something else. 

Each subsequent row must contain the same number of columns as there were field 
names in the first row. Any inconsistencies will trigger an upload failure.

When the ORDS creates a table from a .csv file, all fields will be assumed to 
be text fields. Simple redefine them using the schema designer after import if 
you need to.
"

This would seem simpler than the current advice to me, but alter as you see fit.

Please use labels and text to provide additional information.
This refers to the text on the page 
https://staging.ords.ox.ac.uk/ordsProjectNode/commonProblems.jsp, which is 
where the import failure email links to.

p.s. and I think the heading should be 'importing .csv files', not 'importing 
databases'.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by jajwil...@gmail.com on 27 Jan 2015 at 10:55

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I don't think I currently have editing access to this page. Dave, would you be 
happy for me to make some changes along the lines James suggests? If so, how do 
I get access to the page?

As I understand it, the point of this page is to help people interpret error 
messages that they may get when they make an unsuccessful attempt to upload a 
database. I agree that it would be worth having a general explanation of 
properly formatting a .csv file on there, but I think there's also some value 
in keeping the Problem/Solution structure.

Regarding the page heading, my understanding was that the intention was that 
this page would grow over time - and that although the problems currently 
listed relate to formatting of .csv files, this might not always be the case. 
Dave, can you comment on that?

Original comment by meriel.p...@gmail.com on 28 Jan 2015 at 10:32

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Original comment by jajwil...@gmail.com on 16 Feb 2015 at 10:31

• Added labels: Milestone-1.0.8

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The original idea was to have the page grow over time as we discover new 
problems so we can document their solutions. I am thus assigning this to Meriel 
- the file you need is in the project node under 
src/main/resources/commonUploadProblems.xml. 

Original comment by thest...@gmail.com on 25 Feb 2015 at 8:30