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Developer

Change one field for many persons

Sets a single field, for example newsletter or member until, for many persons at once in a list.

Format
CSV (comma or semicolon), UTF-8
Access rights
Administrator, write contacts (CRM)
Example file
personen-feld-beispiel_technisch.csv (download)

In short: Per row, you write one person, the name of the field and the new value. For example, you can change the newsletter status for a hundred persons without opening each person individually.

What you need this for

If a detail changes for many persons at the same time, for example after a survey, a change of magazine or a new BuT number, this file is faster than doing it by hand.

Before you start

  • Rights: You need the access right Imports (Importe) and be an Administrator with write access for Contacts (CRM) (Kontakte (CRM)).
  • Person number: The column PERSON_IDENTIFIER needs the person number with its prefix, as it is stored in vynst (for example M-1001), or the imported ID of the person (for example AFS_CSV_1001). A pure number such as 1001 is understood by vynst as an internal record number and may then hit the wrong person. Check a test row first on a person you know.
  • Backup: Before larger changes, export your persons.

Prepare the file

  • File name: Free choice, it must end with .csv. The file is recognised by its header row.
  • Header row: PERSON_IDENTIFIER,UPDATE_SINGLE_FIELD_NAME,FIELD_VALUE. A semicolon instead of a comma also works.
  • Per row: one person, one field, one value.

Columns

Column Required Content
PERSON_IDENTIFIER yes Person number with prefix or imported ID, see above
UPDATE_SINGLE_FIELD_NAME yes Name of the field, see table below. An empty cell is skipped.
FIELD_VALUE yes New value. An empty cell is skipped.

Fields (for each field, one of the spellings from the table):

Field Spellings in UPDATE_SINGLE_FIELD_NAME Value
Newsletter Newsletter, Newsletter abonniert, SUBSCRIBED_NEWSLETTER, subscribedNewsletter yes or no
Magazine (Magazin) Magazin, Magazin abonniert, Magazin abonniert / Postversand, SUBSCRIBED_MAGAZINE, subscribedMagazine yes or no
Note (Notiz) Notiz, NOTE, PERSON_NOTE, note Text. Replaces the existing note.
First name (Vorname) Vorname, FIRST_NAME, firstName Text
Last name (Nachname) Nachname, LAST_NAME, lastName Text
Member since (Mitglied seit) Mitglied seit, Startdatum, START_DATE, startDate, START_TIME, startTime Date, for example 01.01.2020
Member until (Mitglied bis) Mitglied bis, Enddatum, END_DATE, endDate, END_TIME, endTime Date, for example 31.12.2025
BuT number (BuT-Nummer) BuT-Nummer, BuT Nummer, Bildung und Teilhabe Nummer, FINANCIAL_SUPPORT_NUMBER Text
Needs financial support (Braucht finanzielle Unterstützung) BuT, Braucht finanzielle Unterstützung, finanzielle Unterstützung, NEEDS_FINANCIAL_SUPPORT yes or no
MY YOLO GUID MY_YOLO_GUID, myYoloGuid Text, for the interface to MY YOLO
MY YOLO GUID overwrite MY_YOLO_GUID_OVERWRITE, myYoloGuidOverwrite Text. Also replaces the existing link with MY YOLO.

Special values:

Value Effect
SET_IW_EMPTY The field is set to an empty text.
SET_IW_NULL The field is cleared. For newsletter and magazine, this means “no”. For “Needs financial support”, the entry is set back to unanswered.

Example (contents of the example file, the field names are in the column UPDATE_SINGLE_FIELD_NAME):

PERSON_IDENTIFIER,UPDATE_SINGLE_FIELD_NAME,FIELD_VALUE
AFS_CSV_1001,SUBSCRIBED_NEWSLETTER,ja
AFS_CSV_1002,SUBSCRIBED_MAGAZINE,nein
AFS_CSV_1003,NOTE,Zahlt bar
AFS_CSV_1001,FIRST_NAME,Lena
AFS_CSV_1002,LAST_NAME,Hartmann
AFS_CSV_1003,START_DATE,15.09.2023
AFS_CSV_1002,END_DATE,31.12.2025
AFS_CSV_1004,FINANCIAL_SUPPORT_NUMBER,BUT-2026-0042
AFS_CSV_1004,NEEDS_FINANCIAL_SUPPORT,nein
AFS_CSV_1001,MY_YOLO_GUID,3f9c2a7e-6d1b-4e8a-9c52-7b1d0e4f5a61

Example file: personen-feld-beispiel_technisch.csv

How to proceed

  1. Open Settings → Import (Einstellungen → Import).
  2. Click Add (Hinzufügen) and select the file.
  3. Wait until the entry is green or red.
  4. Check the log for rows with Error: and Warning:.

Good to know

  • Note: This import replaces the note. If you only want to add to it, use the file Note to person.
  • Empty values: vynst skips an empty cell in FIELD_VALUE or UPDATE_SINGLE_FIELD_NAME without a message. To clear a field, write SET_IW_EMPTY or SET_IW_NULL.
  • Several rows for the same person: They are applied one after another. The last row wins.
  • BuT: If your system keeps education cards as a role, the log shows a note. The BuT number alone then does not create a role. For this, use the BuT import with a file AFS_BUT_…, see education cards.

When something does not work

Message in the log Meaning What to do
Error: skipped missing PERSON_IDENTIFIER The person number is missing. The row then appears as LINE-DATA. Add it and re-import only this row.
Error: person not found The person cannot be found with this number. The row then appears as LINE-DATA. Check the number, mind the prefix, re-import only this row.
Error: unknown field to update The field name in UPDATE_SINGLE_FIELD_NAME is unknown. The row then appears as LINE-DATA. Use the field names from the table.
Warning: no existing ExternalServiceConnect for MY_YOLO found for person When overwriting, there was no existing link with MY YOLO. The value was only set as additional data. Check the link in the person.
Info: this system keeps education cards as roles … Note on the BuT number, see above. Read only.
Read: N rows This many rows were read. Nothing to do.
Info: split into N files The file was split into packages of 500 rows each. Nothing to do.

See also