CSV Order Import

This guide describes the default CSV order import. It watches a configured folder for .csv files, imports all CSV files in sorted filename order, and then moves successful files to the archive folder. Failed files are moved to an error folder together with an .error.txt file.

System Settings

The settings are in the Integration system settings group.

Setting	Default	Description
Order Import Path	empty	Folder watched for CSV files. When empty, the watcher is stopped. When set, the watcher starts automatically.
Order Import Archive Path	c:/eton/import/archive	Folder where successfully imported CSV files are moved. If empty, successfully imported files are deleted.
Order Import Date Formats	yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm, yyyy-MM-dd	List of date formats tried in order when parsing date columns.
Order Import Delimiter	;	Field delimiter used by the default CSV order import.

The import path setting controls the watcher:

Import path value	Watcher behavior
Empty or whitespace	Watcher is disabled/stopped.
Non-empty folder path	Watcher is enabled and attempts to import .csv files from the folder.

File Format

The default delimiter is semicolon (;). The first row must contain column names. Column names are case-insensitive.

The examples below are shown as tables for readability. Each table represents one CSV file: the table headers are the CSV header row, and each table row is one CSV data row.

OrderNumber	OrderLineNumber	Quantity	ArticleNumber
10001	1	25	500101

Empty rows are ignored. Rows that contain order data but no orderline data are kept only as the current order header/context. They are not imported as standalone orders. Every imported order must have at least one orderline by the end of the file.

Escaping Values

If a value contains the field delimiter, a line break, or a double quote ("), wrap the whole value in double quotes.

Inside a quoted value, write a double quote as two double quotes ("").

Intended value	CSV value
ABC;123	"ABC;123"
ABC"123	"ABC""123"
ABC;"123"	"ABC;""123"""

Example with article numbers that contain the delimiter and quote characters:

OrderNumber;OrderLineNumber;Quantity;ArticleNumber
10001;1;25;"ART;500101"
10001;2;10;"ART""500102"

Minimal Import

This is the smallest useful file: one order, one orderline, one article.

OrderNumber	OrderLineNumber	Quantity	ArticleNumber
10001	1	25	500101

Actual CSV file content:

OrderNumber;OrderLineNumber;Quantity;ArticleNumber
10001;1;25;500101

Result:

Entity	Value
Order	10001
Orderline	1
Quantity	25
Article	500101

Multiple Orderlines On One Order

Repeat the order number for each orderline.

OrderNumber	OrderLineNumber	Quantity	ArticleNumber
10001	1	25	500101
10001	2	10	500102

The import creates one order with two orderlines.

Header Row With Continued Orderlines

You can put order data on a header row and then list orderlines below it. The header row only provides context; it does not create an order by itself. Rows without order data are attached to the last order row.

OrderNumber	OrderDate	DeliveryDate	OrderLineNumber	Quantity	ArticleNumber
20001	2026-07-08 10:00	2026-07-20
			1	15	600101
			2	20	600102

Because row 2 and row 3 omit OrderNumber, they continue using order 20001.

If an order header is never followed by an orderline row, that order is not imported.

Multiple Orders In One File

Start a new order by specifying a new order number.

OrderNumber	OrderDate	OrderLineNumber	Quantity	ArticleNumber
30001	2026-07-08	1	5	700101
30001	2026-07-08	2	8	700102
30002	2026-07-09	1	6	700201

Dates

Date columns are parsed using the Order Import Date Formats setting. The default accepts:

Example	Format
2026-07-08 10:00	yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm
2026-07-08	yyyy-MM-dd

Example:

OrderNumber	OrderDate	DeliveryDate	FirstManufacturingDate	OrderLineNumber	Quantity	ArticleNumber
40001	2026-07-08 08:00	2026-07-15	2026-07-09	1	25	800101

Aliases

The preferred column names avoid dots and use the entity/property name where that is unambiguous. Older dotted names and a few short names are still accepted as aliases.

Order	Orderline	Quantity	Article	Bulk factor
50001	1	12	900101	1.5

This is equivalent to:

OrderNumber	OrderLineNumber	Quantity	ArticleNumber	BulkFactor
50001	1	12	900101	1.5

Custom Fields

Custom fields can be imported for orders, orderlines, articles, and article groups.

Use scoped prefixes when a row contains both order and orderline data:

OrderNumber	OrderLineNumber	Quantity	ArticleNumber	Order.Custom:Customer	Orderline.Custom:Batch
60001	1	25	910101	Acme	B-100

This creates:

Scope	Custom field	Value
Order	Customer	Acme
Orderline	Batch	B-100

Bare Custom: is allowed only when the row is unambiguous:

OrderNumber	OrderDate	Custom:Customer
60002	2026-07-08	Acme

Do not use bare Custom: on a row that contains both order and orderline data. The import rejects that because it cannot know whether the value belongs to the order or the orderline.

Criteria

Use Criteria:{type} or Orderline.Criteria:{type} to add criteria to an orderline.

OrderNumber	OrderLineNumber	Quantity	ArticleNumber	Criteria:SIZE	Criteria:COLOR
70001	1	10	920101	M	NAVY

This adds orderline criteria:

Criteria type	Value
SIZE	M
COLOR	NAVY

For Criteria:{type}, colons inside the type name are converted to spaces. For Orderline.Criteria:{type}, colons inside the type name are converted to hyphens.

Routes

Routes must already exist in the system. If a referenced route is missing, the import fails.

OrderNumber	OrderLineNumber	Quantity	ArticleNumber	Route
80001	1	10	930101	Main Route

Route sets the route on the orderline. Article.Route sets the default route on the imported article.

Article Groups

Use ArticleGroup to assign an article group by name.

OrderNumber	OrderLineNumber	Quantity	ArticleNumber	ArticleGroup
90001	1	10	940101	Jackets

Article group custom fields can be provided with ArticleGroup.Custom:{field}.

OrderNumber	OrderLineNumber	Quantity	ArticleNumber	ArticleGroup	ArticleGroup.Custom:Season
90002	1	10	940102	Jackets	AW26

Advanced Example

This example combines order header rows, continued orderline rows, dates, criteria, custom fields, article groups, and routes.

OrderNumber	OrderDate	DeliveryDate	Order.Custom:Customer	OrderLineNumber	Quantity	Express	ArticleNumber	ArticleDescription	BulkFactor	ArticleGroup	Route	Criteria:SIZE	Criteria:COLOR	Orderline.Custom:Batch
91001	2026-07-08 10:00	2026-07-20	Acme
				1	15	false	950101	Blue jacket	1.0	Jackets	Main Route	M	NAVY	B-91001-1
				2	20	true	950102	Black jacket	1.5	Jackets	Main Route	L	BLACK	B-91001-2
91002	2026-07-09	2026-07-21	Northwind
				1	12	false	950201	White shirt	1.0	Shirts	Main Route	S	WHITE	B-91002-1

Column Reference

Order Columns

Column	Alias	Type	Description
OrderNumber	Order.Number, Order	Text/number	Required to start a new order.
Customer	Order.Customer	Text	Customer value on the order.
OriginalOrderNumber	Order.OriginalNumber, Original order number	Text	Original order number.
OrderDate	Order.OrderDate, Order.Date, Order date	Date	Order date.
DeliveryDate	Order.DeliveryDate, Delivery date	Date	Delivery date.
FirstManufacturingDate	Order.FirstManufacturingDate, First manufacturing date	Date	First manufacturing date.
Order.Custom:{field}	Custom:{field} on order-only rows	Text	Order custom field.

Orderline Columns

Column	Alias	Type	Description
OrderLineNumber	Orderline.Number, Orderline	Text/number	Orderline number. If omitted on an orderline row, a sequence number is assigned.
OriginalOrderLineNumber	Orderline.OriginalNumber, Original order line number	Text	Original orderline number.
Quantity	Orderline.Quantity	Integer	Required for orderline rows.
Express	Orderline.Express	Boolean	true or false. Defaults to false when omitted.
OrderLineRoute	Orderline.Route, Route	Text	Existing route name to use for this orderline.
Orderline.Custom:{field}	Custom:{field} on orderline-only rows	Text	Orderline custom field.
Orderline.Criteria:{type}	Criteria:{type}	Text/number	Orderline criteria. Numeric values also become criteria codes.

Article Columns

Column	Alias	Type	Description
ArticleNumber	Article.Number, Article	Text/number	Article number for the orderline.
ArticleDescription	Article.Description	Text	Article description.
BulkFactor	Article.BulkFactor, Bulk factor	Decimal	Article bulk factor. Defaults to 1.
ArticleRoute	Article.Route	Text	Existing route name to assign as the article route.
Article.Custom:{field}		Text	Article custom field.

Article Group Columns

Column	Alias	Type	Description
ArticleGroup		Text	Article group name.
ArticleGroup.Custom:{field}		Text	Article group custom field.

Validation Rules

Rule	Result
Empty rows	Ignored.
Rows without order data and without orderline data	Ignored.
Order-only rows	Used as headers/context for following orderline rows. They are not imported as standalone orders.
Order with no imported orderlines	Not imported. If the file contains no new orderlines at all, import fails.
Orderline row before any order row	Import error.
Bare Custom: on a row with both order and orderline data	Import error.
Duplicate orderline numbers within the same imported order	Import error.
Imported orderline already exists in the system	Import error.
Referenced route does not exist	Import error.
No new orderlines found	Import error.

File Processing

1. Put one or more .csv files in the configured import path.
2. The watcher waits briefly so files can finish copying.
3. Files are imported in sorted filename order.
4. Successful files are moved to the archive folder.
5. Failed files are moved to {ImportPath}/error/{timestamp} with an .error.txt file.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause
Nothing imports and watcher does not run	Order Import Path is empty.
File goes to error with "No new order lines found"	The file has no recognized orderline rows, or all orderlines already exist. Check delimiter and column names.
File goes to error with route message	The route name in Route, OrderLineRoute, Orderline.Route, ArticleRoute, or Article.Route does not exist.
Date parse error	Add the date format to Order Import Date Formats or change the CSV date value.
Columns are ignored	Column name does not match the supported names or aliases.