Import CSV file (2 questions)

[JeanneMarie]

Hi. I'm testing this software and absolutely ecstatic so far. I'm sure I'll be paying for it before the end of the weekend. While I clean up a whole heap of data, I figured I might save time with two questions.

The instructions for importing a CSV file indicate the correct format for dates *except* for Bond Maturity Date. Should I conform to my transaction date setup (YYYYMMDD--already done) or the mm/dd/yyyy that is indicated for bond frequency and custom investment properties?

I find the instructions for the XX wildcard confusing. It's used in the format string? Can you give an example? I'd expect it to be in the data records if a field cannot be blank. (But I don't recall ever seeing that. What I recall in CSV files is just commas delimiting any empty fields in a record.) I'm trying to imagine including a field while no records use that field.

Thanks,

Jeanne

[Mark]

Hi Jeanne,

The format for bond maturity is:

mm/dd/yyyy

Thanks for pointing out this was missing from the documentation. I've just updated it:

https://www.fundmanagersoftware.com/hel ... neric.html

The XX key is used in the format string, not in the importing data. It is meant for when you have a data field in your data that you want to ignore. For example, let's say your data looks like:

10/23/2014,10:02 AM,INTC,BUY,21,100,5

where the second field is the time. You could remove this from your data, but if it is easier, you can just tell FM to skip it, by using a format string like:

MM/DD/YY,XX,SYMB,TRAN,ANUM,BNUM,CNUM

[JeanneMarie]

The format for bond maturity is: mm/dd/yyyy

Thanks. You know, I just realized that I'm not sure whether I need to include the slashes and leading zeroes. Is that a 10-character string always? I'll be doing all the bond info tonight, so I'm quite grateful to get this clarified.

when you have a data field in your data that you want to ignore

Aha! Little experience with importing in this situation (obviously). I'm always generating the output that I need to transfer. Just kinda hit a pothole in my head. Thanks again!

Jeanne

[Mark]

Hi Jeanne,

For importing the bond maturity date in the mm/dd/yyyy format you do need the slashes (/), but do not need leading zeroes.