CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

Hi,
I've had a search around for this and there is plenty of information on people importing relationships where they are importing Individual data and then the Organisation Name, using the Employer Of option on import. However, Is it possible to import anymore data regarding the relationship. It is useful to be able to import the basic relationship data but to also import Start Date and End Date would be even more useful! I've had a look at the import function, but there are no options in the matching fields drop-down box for additional relationship data, so I'm not hopeful, but wanted to check if anyone had managed to do this. I know with exporting relationships there may be a work-around using Custom Searches, so was hoping there may be a work-around for this too!

Many thanks,
Russ

You know, I might have to have a go at doing this. The problem is I have no experience of writing using API's, only of PHP and MySQL. So I'm a bit unsure where to start, and the possibilities that CiviCRM already possesses. I've looked at the documentation but feel a bit flummoxed by it all. Where do you think would be a good place to start? Would it be possible to use the current Import function as a starting point and then customise it for importing multiple fields? This to me would make the most sense, as it means I can utilise a lot of the functions that are there, such as Upload, Mapping, recording of Import Activity. It would then be a case of modifying the import function so that instead of Updating or Filling duplicate entries, it simple creates a duplicate, for that same contact. Does this sound reasonable or do I need to think outside of the box a little more? Are there many design issues that could cause a problem to this rationale?

For looking into this issue, is there any documentation on how the functions are built? I have had a search for the Import function but not found much on the site. There is an import folder in the CRM folder and also in the CRM/Activity folder. Is there any documentation on the structure of the process?

Thanks
Russ

I often have to do complex imports.  I avoid PHP completely and run queries directly on the MySQL database after my import if I need additional data imported.  Being more of a database guy than a PHP guy this is way easier for me.  The CiviCRM tables in the db are named intuitively and you can learn a lot just be looking at the structure.  Good luck!