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Managing Data ProvidersLocate this document in the navigation structure

Use

You can upload data to the system from various data sources, such as a back-end system, a directory, a project management system, or a CRM system. The data is contained in a CSV (comma-separated values) file. You can also upload an archive file (ZIP) that contains a folder for the CSV file and a folder for related images.

Note

The recommended optimum size for images is 48 x 48 pixels.

You manage data sources using data providers. Within each data provider, you define one or more data sources. When you upload a data source, the columns of the CSV file are loaded, so that you can map entities and relationships to the corresponding columns.

You can also configure People Explorer to upload data from the ESPACES online data provider. The online data is merged seamlessly with the offline data. At runtime, all the workspaces in which the user is a member are uploaded. Each workspace appears as a separate entity in the Member of relationships graph.

Caution

To merge data for a person from multiple data sources (online and offline), the data sources must contain one mutual identifier and must be derived from the same entity type.

Data Provider Properties

The following table describes the properties of a data provider:

Property

Description

Display Name

Defines the name of the data provider.

Provider Type

Defines whether the data source is an online source, or contains offline source files (CSV or ZIP).

Properties(Online provider only)

The properties required to upload the online data.

Enabled(Online provider only)

Defines whether the online provider data should be uploaded.
Offline Data Source Properties

The following table describes the properties of an offline data source:

Property

Description

Data Source Name (DSN)

Defines the name of the data source.

File Type

Defines the type of the data source file:

  • CSV - comma-separated values file

  • Archive - a ZIP file that contains the following folders:

    • CSV - Contains the CSV file.

    • Images - Contains any related images.

File

Enables you to browse for the data source file and upload it.

Number of Title Lines

Defines the number of title lines to skip before the first line that contains data.

Field Separator

The character to use to separate values (usually a comma (,) or a semicolon (;)).

Text Separator

The character to use to separate text strings (optional).

Text Encoding

The encoding used by the CSV file (default is UTF-8).
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