Imports
Verified against source (4)
import/ImportFile.csimport/ImportFileTemplate.Fields.csConfig/ImportEngine.configExtensions/ServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
Most work starts with someone else’s data: a client’s spreadsheet of new orders, a nightly file from a partner, a JSON payload from another system, or a query against a data warehouse. Imports turn that data into QBO records (cases, contacts, tasks, documents) in a repeatable, auditable way.
An import is defined once, as an import template, and then runs many times:
- By hand. Drop a file on the import template and QBO does the rest.
- On a schedule. Watch an sFTP site, an Amazon S3 bucket, or a network share, and import every new file that arrives.
- Through the API. Post a file or payload and get the result back, or queue it for an app server.
Every run is recorded as an import file, with its status, success and error counts, the original file, and a log, so you can always answer “what came in, and what did it do?”
Key concepts
Section titled “Key concepts”| Concept | In QBO | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Import template | ImportFileTemplate |
Defines a kind of import: the engine, mappings, statements, validation, and queue. |
| Import file | ImportFile |
One run of a template: the source file, status, counts, and timing. |
| Import engine | ImportEngine on the template |
The plugin that reads the data and loads it (row by row, in bulk, or through XML). |
| Mapping | ImportFileMap |
Renames, translates, requires, or adds columns between the source and QBO. |
| Row item | ImportFileQueue |
One queued operation per row, tracked with its own status and retry. |
| Staging table | import.ImportFile_{ID} |
Where bulk engines load raw data before a statement merges it into QBO. |
What it reads
Section titled “What it reads”Excel workbooks, CSV and other delimited text, fixed-width text (described by a schema file), JSON, XML, Parquet, zip archives of these, plus the results of any QBO query or an external database procedure.
Choose your view
Section titled “Choose your view”Use the buttons under the page title. End user covers uploading a file and checking the results; Power user covers import templates, engines, mappings, validation, and watched folders; Developer covers the API for importing, watching, and running an operation per row.