Importing Records to a Form

The following section describes the steps for importing Records to a Form. This can be used if you have multiple Records already available on a spreadsheet outside ActivityInfo and you don't want to manually add these Records.

The supported spreadsheet formats on ActivityInfo are:

  • Excel 
  • Open office
  • Libre office 
  • Numbers

Please note that you need to ensure that there are no duplicate Records for fields that have been defined as Keys while preparing the data in the spreadsheet. 

When you import data that match Keys of Records that have already been added to the Form, then the Records with the matching Keys will be updated. This means that you can easily update multiple Records by importing the updated data and using the Key fields that correspond to these Records. See below for more information.

If you use Serial Numbers instead of Key fields or no Key fields at all in your Form, then you cannot update multiple Records using the importer.

The Serial Number is a field assigned to a Record automatically, so you can choose to ignore it during the import.

If the Form has a Subform, records need to be imported to the Subform in a second step. 

Even if the Subform is marked as Required, the system will not prevent new records from being imported to the Form as the importing of records to Subforms happens at a different step.

Please note that we only support importing records with Date range locks and Rule-based locks on key fields.

Once you familiar with importing Records to Forms, take a look at the "Complete guide to data importing in ActivityInfo" to master the feature.

How to Import Records

Prepare the Records

Records are imported per Form. So first you need to design the Form on ActivityInfo or navigate to the Form you are invited to add Records to.


  • On the spreadsheet where your Records appear make sure you include all the relevant fields as they appear on the ActivityInfo Form.
  • Each of the Required fields in your ActivityInfo Form must have a corresponding column in your spreadsheet. If you don't have such fields in your spreadsheet, you need to create them.
  • For a Quantity field you must provide the values without a thousands separator and using a period ('.') as the decimal sign. A common European format such as '1.100,50' will not be accepted, only '1100.50'.
  • For Single Selection fields make sure you add the answers in the exact same way as 'Options' appear in the Form you created in ActivityInfo.
  • For Multiple Selection fields, add the available answers for each Record in one cell, divided by commas. Make sure you add the answers in the exact same way as 'Options' appear in the Form you created in ActivityInfo.
  • For Date fields use the international format "YYYY-MM-DD" to prevent a wrong format conversion.
  • If you have a Calculated field in your Form, you don't need to add it in the spreadsheet, the calculation will take place automatically once you upload the data.
  • If the Form is using a Reference field to reference another Form, make sure that you add the header of the Reference field and that you fill in the cells with the respective Serial Number or Key that corresponds to the Record you wish to refer to. To view the available Serial Numbers or Keys, open the Data Entry Form, navigate to that Reference field and click on the arrow to reveal the list.
  • If the Form is using a Reference field to reference a Location, make sure you add the header of the Reference field and that you fill in the cells with data that match the available locations of the Reference field. To view the available Location names open the Data Entry Form, navigate to that Reference field and click on the arrow to reveal the list of Locations.
  • When importing Geographic Point fields you need to enter both a Latitude and a Longitude column. You need to add valid coordinates for both columns and to make sure that the format of the number is correct (i.e. 39,074,200 is not an accepted format, 52° 3' 38.35" N  is an accepted format, etc.)
  • If instead of a Key field(s) you are using a Serial Number, note that the Serial Number is a field assigned to a Record automatically by the system, so you can choose to ignore it during the import.
Import the Data
  • Navigate to the Table View page of your Form.
  • Click on the "Import" button.
  • You will be redirected to the Record Import page.
  • Select all the Records you want to import from the spreadsheet, including the column headers.
  • Copy (CTRL+C or Command+C) the Records and the column headers.
  • Paste (CTRL+V or Command+V) the Records and the column headers on the white box on the Record Import page.
  • Click on the "Continue" button.
Match Columns with Form Fields and Review data
  • Required Form Fields (such as Partner) must have a corresponding column header in your table. Otherwise a message will appear prompting you to add these fields.
  • In the following import table some of your column headers will have been matched to the ActivityInfo column headers. These will be highlighted in green.
  • Take a look at the matched column headers and make sure they have been matched correctly to the fields of the Form in ActivityInfo.
  • If a column has not been matched to a field, it will be highlighted in red and you need to match it manually to the respective field of the Form.
  • Click on the column you want to match to a field and select the name of the field that corresponds to it from the "Column Matching" side panel.
  • If a column has not been matched correctly, click on the header of a column to view the possible field matches and select the correct match, if needed.
  • You can choose to ignore a Column by selecting the "Ignore this column" option.

The Serial Number is a field assigned to a Record automatically, so you can choose to ignore it during the import.

  • Once you have matched all the columns, click on the "Done" button.
  • If a field doesn't match a validation or relevance rule, you will be notified and you will need to correct the field before importing it or ignore the column. Click on the 'i' icon to get more information. 
  • When using relevance or validation rules for a field, makes sure that the fields on which these rules are based are also imported.
  • In case of invalid Records you will be notified by the system. Instead of "Done" you will see the button "Continue". If you continue importing, these rows will be ignored and not imported. You can click on "Download"invalid records as CSV" to fix the Records and retry to import them.
  • If you add Records for Key fields you will be informed about the actions that will take place for your Records. Once you have reviewed all Records,  click on the "Done" button to proceed.
  • A progress bar will show the progress of the importing process.

Do not close the window while the importing process is ongoing.

  • Once the import is finished, you can view the imported Records.

A message at the bottom-left corner of the table will inform you on how many Records have been imported.