How does the Excel data import module work?

The data import module lets a company bring in the Excel or CSV lists it already has — customer, vehicle, driver, passenger, trip, document rows — safely while moving onto Rotenta. The point is not just moving the data, it is showing you a bad row BEFORE it is applied; the “first, enter all your data” step is usually the most expensive part of onboarding, and this module is built to shorten it.

A four-step wizard

Import runs as a wizard: upload (pick a file, the system senses the delimiter and format itself), mapping (every column in the file is tied to a target field, by hand or from automatic suggestions), validation (the system checks every row one by one and lists failing rows with a reason), and apply (only rows that passed validation are written to the database). Large files run validation in the background as a queued job with a progress indicator; small files finish instantly.

Turkish data realities

The module is built around the habits of real Turkish spreadsheets: a phone number written as 0532 123 45 67 or 5321234567 lands in the same field either way, a date in dd.mm.yyyy or yyyy-mm-dd is both recognised, a yes/no column accepts “E/H”, “Evet/Hayır” or “1/0” alike, and a plate entered with extra spacing or lowercase letters is normalised. These sensing rules are previewed at the mapping step, so “did it read this column correctly” is answered before anything is applied.

Error report and row-level fixes

Every row that fails validation lists, row by row, which field was rejected and why (e.g. “invalid phone number”, “this customer code already exists”). The rows that pass can still be applied; the failing ones can be corrected and retried one at a time, without re-uploading the whole file. Duplicate detection runs against a blind index — a second record with the same phone or ID number is never created silently, the system asks for a decision instead.

Undo and export

Even after an import batch is applied, it can still be undone: because the system keeps the “before” state of every row, all or part of a batch can be rolled back in a single action — if a mis-mapped column corrupted thousands of rows, no one has to fix them by hand. The Export tab runs the other direction: it hands your current data back out as Excel, with amount columns only showing for a user who holds that permission, and personal data masked wherever it applies.

Saving a mapping template

Companies receiving data regularly from the same source — a fixed-format export from an old system, say — can save the column mapping they built once as a template; the next file skips straight to validation instead of rebuilding the mapping from scratch.

Example

Picture a school-shuttle company moving an 800-row student/parent spreadsheet out of its old system. After upload, the system suggests “Full name”, “Phone” and “Address” automatically but cannot recognise a “Guardian relation” column — that one is mapped by hand. Validation finds 12 of the 800 rows with an invalid phone number; the remaining 788 are applied, and the 12 are fixed and retried one at a time from the error report. A week later, a second spreadsheet arrives and the same mapping template is selected, skipping the mapping step entirely.

How it works in Rotenta

1. Under Settings › Data, the Import screen is where a file (xlsx/csv) is uploaded.
2. The system’s suggested column mapping is checked and corrected by hand where needed; the mapping can be saved under “Mapping templates”.
3. The “Validate” step checks every row; failing rows are listed with their reason.
4. Rows that pass validation are written to the database with “Apply”; failing rows can be fixed and retried one at a time.
5. The history of every run is a permanent ledger on the Batches screen; a batch can be undone in a single action if needed.
6. When data needs to go back out, the Export tab produces an Excel file.

To see where imported data actually lands, check our customer management and vehicle and driver management articles, and for trip/passenger data, trip and transfer operations. Our module guide shows how this module fits together with the rest; to talk through your migration plan, get in touch.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if a mis-mapped column corrupts thousands of rows?

The batch can be undone: because the system keeps every row’s prior state, a bad import is rolled back in one action, with no manual cleanup required.

Does the system catch a customer being added twice?

Duplicate checking runs on fields like phone number or ID number; if a match is found, the system does not create a second record automatically — it asks for a decision instead.

Will uploading a large file freeze the screen?

No; large files run validation as a background job with a visible progress indicator, so you can keep working on other panel screens while it runs.

Do I have to remap columns every single time?

No; if you receive data regularly from the same source, you can save the mapping as a template and select it directly on later files.

Can anyone pull an export that includes amounts?

No; amount columns only appear in an export for a user who holds that specific permission — a user without it gets the column back empty.