A Flexible or Flexi Header Import is a CSV (Comma Delimited) file that consists of one header row ( the first row in the file) followed by one or more data rows.

Flexible header import files have been created to give clients an easy way to import data into Equus Platform. The file formats allow for flexibility as the user can choose the fields to include, while also providing a structure to reduce the risk of users incorrectly updating records.

The Employee Assignment Flexible Header Import is an example of a Flexible Header import where a large number of Assignment and/or Employee tables can be imported simultaneously.

As flexible header file contains a header row, which starts with the Command Action columns. These columns explicitly tell Equus Platform what to do with the data and for which record (key) to do it to. These columns must always appear and be the first columns to appear in the header row.

The columns beyond the Command Action header columns are referred to as Data Field Definition columns and are the data fields to import. A flexible header file might have one or many data definition fields. Apart from a couple of exceptions (detailed in the specific flexi header file article), the order of the data field columns is entirely flexible.

The format for each Data Field Definition header column is <table name>!<field name>. For example, in order to update the LAST_NAME field of an EMPLOYEE record, the field-definition column should be EMPLOYEE!LAST_NAME. The most common way to identify this value is to look at the individual fields on the Equus Platform screens in Data Dictionary Override mode.

Example of an Employee Assignment Flexible Header Import file.

Fields should only appear once and the content needs too match the type of data in the field. For example, a date field must contain data in a date format (01/01/2019).

Unlike a Fixed Import, empty columns are allowed and will not cause an error.

Flexible Header imports are also known as Standard Imports because they are built for specific reasons or needs and are available to all clients. Thorough documentation on how to create files for all Standard Imports are available in this section.