CSV Files

CSV files are the medium that DutyMan uses to move, or upload, information from your computer to the DutyMan database, and to move, or download, information from DutyMan back to your computer.

CSV stands for Comma-Separated Value, a simple file format widely used to transfer information between computers.

A file in CSV format is simply a text file of values, or items of information, separated by commas. Examples of items of information are Duty Date, Duty Type and Member Name. Each row in the text file contains related items of information; in the case of DutyMan all the information in a row relates to one duty. The first row of a CSV file contains names for the items of information in the subsequent rows. So the first few rows of a DutyMan CSV file might look something like this -

Duty Date, Event, Duty Type, Member Name,...
1/6/2007,  AGM,   Chairman,  John Smith,...
1/6/2007,  AGM,   Secretary,  Jill Brown,...
1/6/2007,  AGM,   Treasurer,  Sue Jones,...

CSV files are usually, and most easily, created using either a spreadsheet or a database. If using a spreadsheet you save it as file type CSV; if using a database you export to CSV.

You can find out more about CSV files in Wikipedia