Skip to content

Lesson 06 – CSV Training: Importing, Exporting, and Practical Context

Prerequisites: Before working with CSV data, review Lesson 05 – SOLID Design Principles to ensure your code structure supports reliable data handling.

Why This Matters

When working with business systems, you'll often encounter terms like CSV, import, export, header row, and URL. Understanding these in context—not just as abstract definitions—will help you confidently manage data and interact effectively with tools, teams, and automation systems.

🔍 What is a CSV?

CSV stands for Comma-Separated Values. It's a simple file format used to store tabular data—think rows and columns, like a spreadsheet.

🧾 What it looks like:

Full Name,Email,Company
Alice Smith,alice@company.com,Acme Inc
Bob Jones,bob@brand.com,BrandCo

Each line represents a row, and each comma separates columns. It's human-readable, easy to generate, and used widely for importing/exporting data between systems.

🔁 Import vs Export

Term Meaning
Import Bringing data into a system from an external source (like a CSV).
Export Sending data out of a system into a format you can use elsewhere.

⚙️ Examples:

  • Importing a customer list from Excel into a CRM.
  • Exporting invoice data from a system into a CSV for reporting.

🧩 What’s a Header Row?

The header row is the first line in your CSV file. It tells the system what each column represents.

Example:

First Name,Last Name,Email
John,Doe,john.doe@example.com
Jane,Smith,jane.smith@example.com

⚠️ If the headers are missing, misnamed, or out of order, many systems will fail to process your data correctly.

🌐 What’s a URL (and why does it matter here)?

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address used to access a specific page, tool, or endpoint in your browser.

When you're instructed to upload a CSV at a particular location (like test.company.com/crm/staff/import), this path must be entered exactly—otherwise, you may end up in the wrong system or environment.

💻 Exporting from Google Sheets to CSV

Steps:

  1. Open your spreadsheet.
  2. Go to File > Download > Comma-separated values (.csv).
  3. That's it—you now have a CSV file ready to import.

✅ Pro Tip: Only the active sheet is downloaded. If your spreadsheet has multiple tabs, export the one you want.

📥 Importing a CSV Into a Tool or System

While every system differs, the process generally follows this pattern:

  1. Go to the correct URL (e.g., yourcompany.com/import/accounts).
  2. Find the Import or Upload CSV option.
  3. Select or drag your CSV file.
  4. Review column mappings (if applicable).
  5. Click Import or Submit.

💡 Be sure your CSV headers match exactly what the system expects. If it expects Account Name, don't write Company—it will likely ignore the column or fail.

🧪 Tips for Success

  • Always include a header row.
  • Keep column names simple and accurate (avoid extra spaces or symbols).
  • Validate your file by importing a small batch before doing a full dataset.
  • If something goes wrong, check for:
  • Missing headers
  • Extra blank rows
  • Incorrect file format (e.g., .xls instead of .csv)
  • Wrong URL path (e.g., uploading to the wrong client environment)

🛠 Practice Exercise

  1. Open Google Sheets.
  2. Create a small dataset with 3–5 rows.
  3. Headers: Full Name, Email, Company
  4. Export it as a CSV.
  5. Open a tool you use (test environment or sandbox).
  6. Try importing the CSV and note:
  7. Did it accept the file?
  8. Were the fields mapped correctly?
  9. What happened when you used the wrong headers?

📌 Summary: Terms in Practical Context

Term Contextual Meaning
CSV A plain-text file format to store rows and columns of data
Header Row The top line in a CSV that labels what each column means
Import Loading external data into a system
Export Downloading system data for external use
URL The address of a page or function, like an import tool

📎 Resources

Next Up

Secure your configuration in Lesson 07 – Environment Variables and .env Files.