A CSV file is a file that contains "comma-separated values". CSV files are created by export procedures, and are read by import procedures. A CSV file can be read into an Excel spreadsheet. Each line in the file becomes a new row in the spreadsheet, and each value in a line becomes a value in the cell. By convention, the first line of each CSV file contains the column headings (also known as field labels).

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When created by a Pulpstream background process, multiple CSV files are generated containing, for example, records from one or more streams and records from one or more Smart Objects. Those files are placed into a .zip file which can be downloaded when the export is finished.

 

CSV files can be created by:

• Administrative Data Exports  
• Report-based Data Exports
• Stream Definition Exports

CSV files can read into Pulpstream by:

• Administrative Data Imports
• Stream Definition Imports

For example, here is a CSV file that contains data produced by a small report:

   

Zip File Structure

The structure of the generated zip file is:

• A folder for each data stream or Smart Object that is exported.
  • A definitions subfolder:
    • For a stream, that folder contains a file of field definitions for the primary data component, and additional field-definition files for any child data components in the stream. 
    • For a custom Smart Object, that folder contains a file of field definitions for the object.
      (For a standard Smart Object that is pre-built into the system, the definitions file is omitted.)
  • CSV data files
    • For a stream, there is a file for each data component in the stream.
      Each file contains column headings and data values for records in that data component.
    • For a Smart Object, there is one file for the Smart Object data.