CSV file format and examples

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Before you import a comma-separated values (CSV) file, ensure that the file adheres to the CSV format. In addition, CSV files, as well as spreadsheet files, must follow the content rules for rows and columns and must be encoded in UTF-8.

CSV format

IBM Engineering Requirements Management DOORS Next (DOORS Next) implements the CSV format as specified in the RFC 4180 document from the Network Working Group of the Internet Society. For general information about CSV file format, see Comma-separated values on the RFC Editor website.

CSV and spreadsheet content rules

To successfully import a CSV or spreadsheet file, the content must adhere to these rules:
Rows
Each row in the file must contain the same number of cells. This rule also applies to the header row.
Header row
The first row must contain column headers. These headers must not contain escaped characters or apostrophes.
Columns of the first row
The following table contains the requirements for the columns of the first row. You can have as many columns as needed to correspond to the fields in an artifact type. The artifact type that the columns map to is determined by the entry in the Type column of each content row.
Table 1. Content rules for rows and columns: columns of the first row
Column name Presence
Artifact Type Required. Each row in the CSV file must contain an entry in this column that corresponds to an artifact type in the system.
Name Required if the primary text is omitted. By default, each artifact in the system has a Name field. The data in this field is displayed when you view the folder hierarchies or view search and filter results.
Primary Text Required if the name is omitted. Each text-based artifact type in the system contains a Primary Text field, which corresponds to the primary content that is associated with the artifact. For example, if the artifact is a requirement, its primary text represents the actual requirement, such as "The vehicle must have two wheels."
Description Recommended. By default, each artifact in the system has a Description field. The description is displayed in a tooltip when you hover over a title.
The following example shows a CSV entry for an artifact with a custom artifact type named MyRequirementType:
Artifact Type, Primary Text, Name, Description, Owner
MyRequirementType, "The vehicle must have two wheels.", "Vehicle wheels", "This requirement defines the rules for vehicles", "Joe Blogs"
For information about creating a custom artifact type, see Creating requirement artifact types.
In the exported file, links in link columns are represented by markup that is similar to this example:
{LINK id=3129 uri=https://server/rm/resources/_abaf26f172a149b2aaf8f22933be1661}
Links in the Primary Text column are similar to this example:
"The text contains a link:{LINK id=3129 title=""3129: AMR Information Architecture"" uri=https://server/rm/resources/_abaf26f172a149b2aaf8f22933be1661}."
Images and embedded artifacts are similar to these examples:
{EMBEDDED id=3498 title=""new requirement"" uri=https://server/rm/resources/_klHmkbljEeWqUL0WZ--HjQ}
{IMAGE id=3496 title=""watson-analytics-logo.png"" uri=https://server/rm/wrappedResources/_dyVrMLljEeWqUL0WZ--HjQ}
Content rows
A CSV file can have multiple rows after the header row. Each row corresponds to an artifact that will be created. The entry in the Type column corresponds to the artifact type in the system that will be created. The other cells in the row correspond to the matching fields on the artifact.
Important: If a cell that contains content for a column does not match the specified artifact type, as denoted by the Type value, the cell is ignored. Even if a CSV import is complete, certain data might not be included because the corresponding columns do not exist for an artifact type. To avoid this situation, import the content by artifact type. For example, you can import different artifact types separately, in which case all rows will contain the same value in the Type column.
Unsupported fields
The following fields are system-maintained and are not supported in the CSV import function. If you import a CSV file that contains any of these fields, the fields are ignored on import.
  • Identifier
  • Creator
  • Created By
  • Created On
  • Contributor
  • Modified By
  • Modified On
Note: You can add the Team Ownership column to a view; however, the export of Team Ownership information is not currently supported. If you include the column in an export operation, the Team Ownership field in the resulting CSV or spreadsheet file is empty.
Date formats
Several date formats are supported for all locales that are typically defined by various standards, such as ANSIC, XSD, RFC822, and RFC3339. The date formats are included for scenarios where CSV files are generated programmatically. Examples:
2011-08-01T10:54:12+01002011-08-01T10:54:12.203Z
2011-08-01T10:54:12Z
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:54:12 BST
Monday, 01-Aug-11 10:54:12 BST
Aug 01, 2011 10:54:12 AM BST
2011-08-01T10:54:12
Mon Aug 1 10:54:12 2011
2011-08-01
10:54:12 AM BST
10:54:12
In addition, the long, medium, and short forms that are defined on the locale by the International Components for Unicode (ICU) are supported. This example shows the long forms for the locales at Berlin:
de_DE Montag, 1. August 2011 11:58:36 Deutschland
de_DE Montag, 1. August 2011 11:58:36 MESZ
de_DE Montag, 1. August 2011 11:58:36
de_DE Montag, 1. August 2011 11:58
de_DE 1. August 2011 11:58:36 Deutschland
de_DE 1. August 2011 11:58:36 MESZ
de_DE 1. August 2011 11:58:36
de_DE 1. August 2011 11:58
de_DE 01.08.2011 11:58:36 Deutschland
de_DE 01.08.2011 11:58:36 MESZ
de_DE 01.08.2011 11:58:36
de_DE 01.08.2011 11:58
de_DE 01.08.11 11:58:36 Deutschland
de_DE 01.08.11 11:58:36 MESZ
de_DE 01.08.11 11:58:36
de_DE 01.08.11 11:58
This example shows the long forms for the locales at Chicago:
en_US Monday, August 1, 2011 5:08:17 AM CT
en_US Monday, August 1, 2011 5:08:17 AM CDT
en_US Monday, August 1, 2011 5:08:17 AM
en_US Monday, August 1, 2011 5:08 AM
en_US August 1, 2011 5:08:17 AM CT
en_US August 1, 2011 5:08:17 AM CDT
en_US August 1, 2011 5:08:17 AM
en_US August 1, 2011 5:08 AM
en_US Aug 1, 2011 5:08:17 AM CT
en_US Aug 1, 2011 5:08:17 AM CDT
en_US Aug 1, 2011 5:08:17 AM
en_US Aug 1, 2011 5:08 AM
en_US 8/1/11 5:08:17 AM CT
en_US 8/1/11 5:08:17 AM CDT
en_US 8/1/11 5:08:17 AM
en_US 8/1/11 5:08 AM