Watershed Essentials: Importing Data Using CSVs

How do I import CSV data into Watershed Essentials?

Depending on how you implement Watershed, you might need to use CSV files to bring data into Watershed.

Before you can import CSVs into Watershed, you'll need to set up templates. This guide explains how to set up a template to convert CSV learner data into xAPI and covers: 

• Importing CSVs
• Using the Default Interaction Statement Template
• Import History

Importing CSVs

1. Go to the Other Data Sources section of the Data page.
2. Choose a data template from the Select a Template dropdown. You can use the default interactions template, or a template you created.
3. Drop the file you're looking to import into the box that appears, or click in the box to find the file:
4. If your CSV is compatible with the template you chose, you'll see a preview. Below is an example preview of interaction statements created by an import.
5. Click the Start Import button to begin the import. Please note: it could take up to an hour to import the data from your file depending on how large it is. Confirm that your file is completely imported before starting a new import. Essentials accounts are limited to files with 10,000 rows or less per upload. But don't worry, if your file is larger that that, you can import it in batches.

Using the Default Interaction Statement Template

The Default Interaction Statement Template allows you to import statements from a CSV without first setting up a custom Import CSV template.

Download this example CSV to see an example of how you should format your CSV. In the example CSV, you’ll see each column is part of a statement, and each row is a complete statement. For a minimally viable statement, check out the columns that are absolutely required:

Now that you see what a properly formatted CSV looks like, you need to decide how to format your CSV. Make sure to select at least an actor, verb, and object, and make sure you know which pieces of data are important to you. Use The Registry when selecting the pieces of your statements—it’s better to use data points that have already been defined and fit your needs (and the CSV importer only accepts verbs that are in the registry).

Import History

Import History shows every file that has been imported into your organization's Watershed account:

• Import File shows the name of the file that was imported.
• Template shows the name of the template that was used.
• User shows the name of the user that imported the file.
• Date shows the date that the file was imported.
• Interaction Statements shows the number of xAPI statements that were created from the file.
• Click Source to download the file that was actually imported.
• Errors shows the number of rows that were errors.
• Click Void to void all the statements that were created by the import file. If the file had groups information, voiding the file will remove any people, groups and permissions created by the import, even if they have been changed by a later import. It won't revert any changes made to people and groups that previously existed.