Matching Columns and Values

Department menu → Import & Migration → (workspace) → Files & data sets → Open

Every file other than the Resgrid starter workbook needs two kinds of matching before it can be imported. Columns: which column of your file fills which Resgrid field — Cell in your file is Mobile phone in Resgrid. Values: how the codes and names in your file map to Resgrid options and records — ENG is the unit type Engine, Stn 1 is Station 1. Resgrid proposes both; you confirm or change them. Every change re-checks the file in the background.

Preview feature

Import & Migration is a Preview feature: it is off by default and Resgrid turns it on per department while it is being rolled out.

## Where to find it

Open a data set from the Files & data sets tab, from its card on the Overview tab (Match columns), or from the Next step card. The data set page has:

Panel	Contents
Match columns	One row per column of your file — see below.
Match values	A link per field whose values must match a Resgrid option or record — see Matching values.
Destination	The data set's status and counts (rows · ready · warnings · blocked), What does this file contain? with a description of the chosen kind of data, and Confirm / Change.
Saved matches	Use saved matches and Save these matches as — see Saved matches.
Issues	The data set's top issues and Fix issues.

Once a data set is being imported (or has been), its matches are locked.

## Turning it on

Part of Import & Migration: the Onboarding.MigrationWizard flag on for your department and a department administrator signed in. See Overview → Turning it on.

## Confirm what the file contains

Resgrid proposes a destination from the column headers (see From files to data sets). While it is not confirmed, the Data sets table shows an N% sure chip and, below 85%, a blocking issue We're not sure what this file contains. Pick the right kind of data under What does this file contain? and select Confirm (or Change after it has been confirmed). Changing the destination proposes a fresh set of column matches for it.

## Glossary

When you have told Resgrid which products you are moving from (Where your data comes from), a Glossary panel on the data set page (and, closed, on the Files and Configure tabs) lists each product's words next to what Resgrid calls that kind of record — for example, from Aladtec:

In Aladtec	In Resgrid
Members	People (Suggested name)
Work groups	Stations and groups
Positions	Roles
Qualifications	Certification types
Schedules	Shifts (not imported)
Payroll	Not imported

A word that lands in a data set names it as What does this file contain? does, so you can pick the right destination. (not imported) means Resgrid has that feature but an import doesn't fill it; Not imported means Resgrid keeps no such record. Features are named as your department names them. Suggested name marks a word that the Configure tab offers as your name for the feature. Words are shown in your language when the product has them (DIVERA 24/7 in German, for example), otherwise as the product shows them.

## Matching columns

Column	What it shows
Column in your file	The header, with a confidence chip for the proposed match; matches below 80% are highlighted as uncertain.
What we found	The value type Resgrid sees (Text, Whole number, Date, Email, Phone …), how full the column is (N% filled) and up to three example values. Columns with emails, phone numbers or many different names show Values hidden instead of examples; columns that look like passwords, ID numbers, card numbers or other never-imported data show Never imported (sensitive data) and are dropped whatever you choose.
Resgrid field	Don't import, any field of the destination (required fields end in *), or Keep as a custom field for people and units.
Clean-up	Optional transforms applied to every value of the column before it is checked — see Clean-up transforms.
How dates are written	Shown when the column goes to a date field — see Dates.

Under each column, Also use for another field adds a second row for the same column, so one column can fill two fields — see One column, two fields. Remove takes such a row away again.

Select Save matches when you are done: Saved. We're checking the file again. The matches, the date answers and the same value for every row are saved together.

How the proposal works: each header is compared with the field names and the other names each field is known by (e-mail, mail and email address all mean the person's email; the known names are listed on each field reference page). An exact match is 100%; a header that contains a known name scores between 60% and 90%; anything weaker is left as Don't import. Each field is proposed for one column only.

Rules the checks enforce:

• Every required field (marked *) needs a column or a same value for every row — otherwise A required field has no column.
• A field can be filled by one column only — otherwise Two columns are matched to the same field. One column can fill several fields, though (below).
• Match the column holding the old system's record ID to Source ID. Other files can then refer to these rows by it, and re-uploading a corrected file in the same workspace — or in a workspace that continues this import — recognizes the rows already imported.
• Columns left as Don't import are not imported.

## Clean-up transforms

Choose up to five per column; they run in the order listed.

Transform	Turns	Into
Trim spaces	Engine 1	Engine 1
Collapse spaces	Engine 1	Engine 1
UPPER CASE	e1	E1
lower case	ALEX@EXAMPLE.ORG	alex@example.org
Title Case	STATION ONE	Station One
Digits only	(555) 123-4567	5551234567
First name from full name	Rivera, Alex or Alex Rivera	Alex
Last name from full name	Rivera, Alex or Alex Rivera	Rivera
First word	Engine 1 Reserve	Engine
Last word	Engine 1 Reserve	Reserve

## One column, two fields

To split a single Name column into first and last names, match the column to First name with First name from full name, select Also use for another field under it, and match the new row (Same column, another field) to Last name with Last name from full name. Each use has its own clean-ups. The same works for any column that holds two things, for example the first word of Engine 1 Reserve as one field and the last word as another.

## Dates

A date such as 03/04/2026 can be read two ways. For a column that goes to a date field, How dates are written answers it once for the whole column, showing one of the column's own values both ways:

Choice	Reads 03/04/2026 as
Work it out from the values (default)	Only dates that settle it themselves (13/04/2026, 2026-04-03); the rest raise N dates could be read two ways.
Day first	3 April 2026
Month first	4 March 2026
Year first	Dates written 2026-04-03

The answer is about order, not punctuation: 03.04.2026 and 03-04-2026 are read the same way as 03/04/2026. Dates written 2026-04-03, and date cells in Excel, are always read correctly. You can also answer from the issue itself on the Issues tab.

## Same value for every row

Same value for every row lists the fields no column fills, with any value you already set. A value there fills that field in every row — for example the same Station or group for everyone in a roster that has no station column — and also fills rows whose column for that field is empty. Choice fields offer their options; other fields show an example of what they accept, and a value the field cannot hold is refused when you save (That value doesn't fit this field). Source ID and fields that must be unique, such as a person's email, cannot share one value. A required field with no column can also be given its value from the issue on the Issues tab.

## Keep as a custom field

For people and units, a column with no matching Resgrid field — badge colour, locker number, radio ID — can be kept as a custom field. Its values go into the custom field whose label matches the column header (ignoring case, spaces and punctuation).

• If your department has no custom fields yet for that kind of record, the import creates them: one text field per kept column, labelled with the column header and visible to department administrators only. You can change the fields afterwards on the User Defined Fields screen.
• If your department already has custom fields for that kind of record, the import does not change them — publishing a new set would hide every value saved against the current one. Instead the data set shows Add these custom fields first: … with the missing labels. Add fields with exactly those labels on Department menu → User Defined Fields, then select Save matches again so the file is checked again.

## Saved matches

Column matches can be saved for the next file with the same layout — next month's export, or a sister station's roster.

• Save these matches as stores the current matches under a name for this kind of data. Saving again with the same name keeps the old version and adds a new one.
• Use saved matches lists the saved matches for this kind of data; Apply fills in the matches by column header and checks the file again.

Saved matches belong to your department, not to a workspace, and are kept while your department exists. They hold column names and choices only — never values from your files.

## Matching values

Fields that must match something in Resgrid are listed under Match values on the data set page:

• Choice fields must be one of the field's options — a station's Type is station or organizational, a status set's Set type is personnel, unit or staffing. Values equal to an option's code or one of its known names (listed on the field reference pages) are matched automatically.
• Reference fields point at another record — a person's Station or group, a unit's Type, a certification's Person. A reference is found automatically when it names a row in another file of the same workspace (by its Source ID, or by its name, code or email) or a record already in Resgrid (by name; a person by email), ignoring case, accents, spaces and punctuation.

Open a field to see every distinct value in the file (the 500 most frequent), how many rows use it, Resgrid's Suggestion with a confidence chip, and Your choice:

Choice	Effect	Offered for
an option / an existing record	Use it for every row with this value.	Choices; references (when Resgrid found a record with the same name)
Create new	Create a record with this name during the import; every row with the value shares the one new record.	References to stations and groups, roles, certification types, unit types and point of interest types
Keep as text	Import the rows without linking them to a record.	References
Leave empty	Import the rows with this field empty.	Choices and references
Not decided	Leave it to the automatic match — rows that still match nothing get an issue.	Both

The bar For all rows: applies Accept the suggestions, Create new for all (references) or Leave empty for all at once. Select Save choices: Saved. We're checking the file again. Your choices are saved with this data set and count as part of what you approve.

Choice suggestions are 100% when a value equals an option's code or known name and 60% when it is the start of one (stat → station). Reference suggestions are existing Resgrid records with the same name; rows in your other files do not need a decision because they are matched automatically.

## How values are read

Type	Accepted
Text	Trimmed. Longer than the field allows: a warning — the text is shortened if you accept it.
Whole number	Digits with an optional sign; spaces are ignored and 12.0 counts as 12. Checked against the field's range.
Number	A point or a single comma as the decimal separator.
Yes/No	Yes: yes, y, true, t, 1, x, on, active, enabled (also ja, oui, si, sí, sì, tak, так, ναι, نعم). No: no, n, false, f, 0, off, inactive, disabled, - (also nein, non, nie, nej, ні, όχι, لا). Empty means not set.
Date	2026-03-04 or 2026/03/04; Excel date cells; named months (4 Mar 2026, March 4, 2026, 4-Mar-26). 04/03/2026-style dates are accepted only when the value itself shows the order (a part above 12) — otherwise dates could be read two ways.
Date and time	A date as above plus 14:30; with a Z or an offset it is taken as given, otherwise in your department's time zone.
Email	Lower-cased; mailto: and angle brackets are removed.
Phone	Stored in international format. A number without a country code is read with your department's country.
Choice	An option's code or a known name, or your value match.
Reference	See Matching values.
Latitude / Longitude	Decimal degrees (a comma also works as the decimal point), up to ±90 and ±180.
Colour	Hex, with or without #: #d32f2f, d32f2f, #d33.
Time zone	A Windows name (Central Standard Time) or an IANA name (America/Chicago). Empty uses the department's.
Language	en, es, sv, de, fr, it, pl, uk, ar, el — regional forms such as en-US are accepted. Empty uses the department's.
List	Values separated by ; (or by commas when there are no semicolons); duplicates are dropped.

A value that cannot be read blocks its row when the field is required; otherwise it is a warning and the value is left empty if you accept it. See Fixing issues.