When to import from CSV
Typing a few custom items by hand is fine. Typing four hundred is not. Import from CSV reads an item export from your estimating software, shows you every row it found with any problems flagged, and creates the items you choose in one go. Items already in ZeroCount and rows that repeat a code are skipped automatically, so you can re-import an updated export without creating duplicates.
Expected file layout
The importer expects the layout produced by an estimating-software item export:
- An optional first line beginning
VersionID, which is ignored. - A section band row with headings such as
General,Costs,Site Labour,Headings & GroupsandUOM. Only the first cell of each band is filled; the importer fills the rest in. - A column header row.
- One data row per item.
Columns are matched by band and header together, because the same header appears under more than one band. All of the following must be present or the file is rejected with a message naming the missing column:
| Band | Header | Becomes |
|---|---|---|
| General | Code | Code (required per row) |
| General | Description (*) | Description (required per row) |
| Costs | Material | Material List Price |
| Costs | Plant | Plant Cost |
| Site Labour | Time | Labour Time |
| Site Labour | Cost | Labour Rate (the hourly rate; total labour is worked out as time × rate) |
| Headings & Groups | Category (*) | Category |
| Headings & Groups | Manufacturer (*) | Manufacturer |
| Headings & Groups | Heading (*) | Heading |
| Headings & Groups | Group (*) | Group |
| UOM | Take Off (*) | Take Off |
Currency symbols, spaces and thousands separators in the number columns are stripped. An empty number cell is read as 0; text that is not a number marks the row invalid. Blank lines are skipped. Discount (%) is not in the export, so imported items start at 0% discount; edit them afterwards if needed.
Quoted cells, including ones containing commas or line breaks, are handled. Save the file as plain CSV rather than an Excel workbook.
Importing a file
Open Templates › Custom Items from the left navigation.
- 1
Click Import from CSV.
- 2
In the Import Custom Items from CSV window, click Choose CSV file and pick the export.
- 3
Read the summary line above the table. It shows the file name and how many rows are importable, how many already exist, how many are duplicated in file and how many are invalid.
- 4
Review the rows. Use Previous and Next to move between pages, and tick or untick importable rows with the checkbox at the start of each row. The header checkbox selects all importable rows.
- 5
Click Import (n selected) to import the ticked rows, or Import all (n) to import every importable row.
The window closes and the new items appear in the Custom Items list. To start again with a different file, click Choose a different file above the table.
Reading the Status column
Each row shows a status badge alongside its Code, Description, Category, Manufacturer, Take Off, Material, Plant, Lab. Time and Lab. Rate columns. Only Ready rows can be selected; the others are dimmed and skipped.
| Status | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Ready | The row is complete and its code is new | Nothing; it will import |
| Already exists | A custom item with this code already exists in ZeroCount (codes are compared ignoring case) | Edit the existing item on the Custom Items page instead |
| Duplicate in file | The same code appears earlier in this file | Only the first occurrence imports; fix the export if the later one was the correct row |
| Code is required | The Code cell is empty | Add a code in the file and re-import |
| Description is required | The Description cell is empty | Add a description and re-import |
| … is not a number | A number column holds text | Correct the cell and re-import |
Importing cannot be undone in bulk. Check the preview before clicking Import all, especially the Take Off column, because a wrong Take Off hides the item from the pre-filtered picker when you link it from a group.
Common issues
"Column … not found in the file"
The band row or header row does not match the layout above. Open the file in a text editor and confirm that line 2 (or line 3 if there is a VersionID line) holds the band names and the next line holds the headers exactly as listed, including the (*) suffixes.
The Import buttons are disabled
Either no rows are Ready, or the connection has dropped; the footer shows Reconnecting… imports need a live connection. Wait for it to reconnect and try again.
Every row says Already exists
You have already imported this export. Delete the old items first if you intend to replace them, or edit them individually.
Next steps
- Custom items — edit the imported items, set discounts and tags.
- Linking to custom items — attach the items to marker groups.
- Group templates — build templates whose groups come pre-linked to custom items.
- User preferences — restore the delete confirmation for custom items if you turned it off.