Description of CSV file formats

All files begin with an ID containing a minimum of six characters.

The identification part (3 characters), information type code (1-2 characters) and version number (2-3 characters). These fields are always directly next to each other and are separated from the other fields either by a fixed column width or a semicolon, depending on whether the file is semicolon based or has a fixed column width. If the format uses a fixed column width or is semicolon separated is stated in the description of the individual formats.

This does not, however, apply in the case of importing from XML, as XML uses fields called tags. A tag is a field in an XML file that starts with < and ends with >. For instance, <tagname> indicates a tag called ‘tagname’.

A number of places in the formats you will find reference to ‘StdReg_xxx.xls’. This is an excel file which should be exported in advance with Mamut Import/Export. This file shows which values the different elements in the list boxes have in the properties register. ‘StdReg_xxx.xls’: Read more in Default Values in Mamut Business Software.

Tip! The full stop [.] is used as the decimal separator for all numerical fields. The semicolon separated formats are generally much easier to relate to than the formats with fixed column width. All the semicolon separated formats must be completed with a semicolon after the last field in each line. If errors occur during import/export, a file named ‘GBAe2apiErrors.txt’ will be created (usually in the folder C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\My Documents\). This file contains error messages that can provide information on the nature of the error and when in the process the error occurred.