Import and export from the command-line¶

Using the import:bulk command¶

By typing php symfony help import:bulk into the command-line without specifying the path to a directory of XML files, you can see the options available on the import:bulk command, as pictured above.

The --application, --env, and --connection options should not be used - AtoM requires the uses of the pre-set defaults for symfony to be able to execute the import.

The --index option is used to enable the rebuilding of the search index as part of the import task. When using the user interface to import XML files, the import is indexed automatically - but when running an import via the command-line interface, indexing is disabled by default. This is because indexing during import can be incredibly slow, and the command-line is generally used for larger imports. Generally, we recommend a user simply clear the cache and rebuild the search index following an import - from AtoM’s root directory, run:

php symfony cc & php symfony search:populate

However, if you would like to index the import as it progresses, the --index option can be used to enable this.

The --taxonomy option is used to assist in the import of SKOS xml files, such as places and subjects, ensuring that the terms are imported to the correct taxonomy. As input, the --taxonomy option takes a taxonomy ID - these are permanent identifiers used internally in AtoM to manage the various taxonomies, which can be found in AtoM in /lib/model/QubitTaxonomy.php (see on GitHub here).

Example use: Importing terms to the Places taxonomy

php symfony import:bulk --taxonomy="42" /path/to/mySKOSfiles

Example use: Importing terms to the Subjects taxonomy

php symfony import:bulk --taxonomy="35" /path/to/mySKOSfiles

Below is a list of some of the more commonly used taxonomies in AtoM, and their IDs. This list is NOT comprehensive - to see the full list, navigate to /lib/model/QubitTaxonomy.php, or visit the Github link above.

The --completed-dir option is used to automatically move files (e.g. XML files during an import) into a completed directory after they have imported. This can be useful during troubleshooting, to determine which files have imported and which have failed. The option takes a file path to the chosen directory as its parameter. You must manually create the directory first - the task will not automatically generate one at the specified location. Example use:

php symfony import:bulk --completed-dir="/path/to/my/completed-directory"
/path/to/my/importFolder

The --schema option is deprecated and should not be used.

The --output option will generate a simple CSV file containing details of the import process, including the time elapsed and memory used during each import. To use the option, you mush specify both a path and a filename for the CSV file to output. For example:

php symfony import:bulk --output="/path/to/output-results.csv"
/path/to/my/importFolder

The CSV contains 3 columns. The first (titled “File” in the first row) will list the path and filename of each imported file. The second column (titled “Time elapsed (secs)” in the first row) indicates the time elapsed during the import of that XML file, in seconds, while the third column (titled “Memory used”) indicates the memory used during the XML import of that file, in bytes. Also included, at the bottom of the CSV, are two summary rows: Total time elapsed (in seconds), and Peak memory usage (in megabytes).

The --verbose option will return a more verbose output as each import is completed. Normally, after the import completes, a summary of the number of files imported, the time elapsed, and the memory used:

Successfully imported [x] XML/CSV files in [y] s. [z] bytes used."

… where [x] is the number of files imported, [y] is a count of the time elapsed in seconds, and [z] is the memory used in bytes.

If the --verbose command-line option is used (or just -v for short), the task will output summary information for each XML file imported, rather than a total summary. The summary information per file includes file name, time elapsed during import ( in seconds), and its position in the total count of documents to import. For example:

[filename] imported.  [x]s  [y]/[z] total

… where [x] is the time elapsed in seconds, [y] is the current file’s number and [z] is the total number of files to be imported.

The --update option can be used when you want to use an XML import to update existing archival descriptions, instead of creating new records. There are 2 modes, but only the --update="delete-and-replace mode is supported for XML imports. When used, AtoM will attempt to identify matching records, and then delete the match before proceeding with the XML import as a new record. For more information on how AtoM attempts to match incoming XML imports to existing records, see:

• Matching critera for description XML imports
• Matching criteria for EAC-CPF XML imports

The --limit option can be used with --update to increase the likelihood of a successful match by limiting the match criteria to either records belonging to a specific repository, or matching a specific existing top-level description (for archival description imports). For more information on how entities can be linked to a repository, see:

• Link an archival description to an archival institution
• Link an authority record to a repository as its maintainer

The --limit option takes the slug of the related repository or top-level archival description as its value. For example, to import a folder of EAD 2002 XML descriptions called “my-updates”, deleting any existing matches but limit the matching criteria to those descriptions linked to a repository with the slug “my-repository”, your command might look like this:

php symfony import:bulk --update="delete-and-replace" --limit="my-repository"
/path/to/my-updates

Normally, when attempting to match records, if AtoM fails to find a match candidate, it will proceed to import the row as a new record. However, you can use the --skip-unmatched option with --update to change this default behavior. When --skip-unmatched is used, then any records that do not match will be ignored during the import, and reported in the console log shown on the Job details page of the related import job (see: Manage jobs for more information). This is recommended if you are intending to only import updates to existing records. Note that --skip-unmatched will not work if it is not used in conjunction with the --update option.

Similarly, with new imports, you can use the --skip-matched option to skip any records that AtoM identifies as matching those you have already imported. This can be useful if you are uncertain if some of the XML records have been previously imported - such as when passing records to a portal site or union catalogue. Any XML data that appear to match records will be ignored during the import, and reported in the console log shown on the Job details page of the related import job. For more information on how AtoM attempts to match incoming imports to existing records, see:

• Matching critera for description XML imports
• Matching criteria for EAC-CPF XML imports

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Using the export:bulk command¶

By typing php symfony help export:bulk into the command-line without specifying the path to the target directory of exported XML files, you can see the options available on the export:bulk command, as pictured above.

The --application, --env, and --connection options should not be used - AtoM requires the uses of the pre-set defaults for symfony to be able to execute the import.

The --items-until-update option can be used for a simple visual representation of progress in the command-line. Enter a whole integer, to represent the number of XML files that should be exported before the command-line prints a period (e.g. . ) in the console, as a sort of crude progress bar. For example, entering --items-until-update=5 would mean that the import progresses, another period will be printed every 5 XML exports. This is a simple way to allow the command-line to provide a visual output of progress.

Example use reporting progress every 5 rows:

php symfony export:bulk --items-until-update=5 /path/to/my/exportFolder

This can be useful for large bulk exports, to ensure the export is still progressing, and to try to roughly determine how far the task has progressed and how long it will take to complete.

The --format option will determine whether the target export uses EAD XML, or MODS XML. When not set, the default is to export using EAD. Example use:

php symfony export:bulk --format="mods" /path/to/my/exportFolder

The --criteria option can be added if you would like to use raw SQL to target specific descriptions.

Example 1: exporting all draft descriptions

php symfony export:bulk --criteria="i.id IN (SELECT object_id FROM status
WHERE status_id = 159 AND type_id = 158)" /path/to/my/exportFolder

If you wanted to export all published descriptions instead, you could simply change the value of the status_id in the query from 159 (draft) to 160 (published).

Example 2: exporting all descriptions from a specific repository

To export all descriptions associated with a particular archival institution, you simply need to know the slug of the institution’s record in AtoM. In this example, the slug is “example-repo-slug”:

php symfony export:bulk --criteria="i.repository_id = (SELECT object_id FROM
slug WHERE slug='example-repo-slug')" /path/to/my/exportFolder

Example 3: exporting specific descriptions by title

To export 3 fonds titled: “779 King Street, Fredericton deeds,” “1991 Canada Winter Games fonds,” and “A history of Kincardine,” You can issue the following command:

sudo php symfony export:bulk --criteria="i18n.title in ('779 King Street,
Fredericton deeds', '1991 Canada Winter Games fonds', 'A history of
Kincardine')" path/to/my/exportFolder

You could add additional archival descriptions of any level of description into the query by adding a comma then another title in quotes within the ()s.

The --current-level-only option can be used to prevent AtoM from exporting any children associated with the target descriptions. If you are exporting fonds, then only the fonds-level description would be exported, and no lower-level records such as series, sub-series, files, etc. This might be useful for bulk exports when the intent is to submit the exported descriptions to a union catalogue or regional portal that only accepts collection/fonds-level descriptions. If a lower-level description (e.g. a series, file, or item) is the target of the export, it’s parents will not be exported either.

The --single-slug option can be used to to target a single archival unit (e.g. fonds, collection, etc) for export, if you know the slug of the target description.

Example use

php symfony export:bulk --single-slug="test-export"
/path/to/my/directory/test-export.xml

Important

For the export task to succeed when using the --single-slug option, you must specify not just a target output directory, but a target output file name. Exporting to path/to/my/directory/ will result in nothing being exported - you will be given a warning that the path should be a file - while exporting to path/to/my/directory/some-filename.xml will succeed. Note that the task cannot create new directories - but you can give the target file any name you wish (ending in .xml); it doesn’t need to be based on the target slug.

The --public option is useful for excluding draft records from an export. Normally, all records in a hierarchical tree will be exported regardless of publication status. Note that if a published record is the child of a draft record, it will not be included when this option is used - when the parent is skipped (as a draft record), the children are also skipped, so as not to break the established hierarchy.

Exporting EAC-CPF XML for authority records¶

In addition to the bulk export CLI tool for archival descriptions described above, AtoM also has a separate command-line task for the bulk export of authority records in EAC-CPF XML format.

The EAC-CPF XML standard is prepared and maintained by the Technical Subcommittee for Encoded Archival Context of the Society of American Archivists and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and a version of the Tag Library is available at:

• http://eac.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/fileadmin/user_upload/schema/cpfTagLibrary.html

When using the task, EAC-CPF XML files will be exported to a directory; you must first create the target directory, and then you will specify the path to it when invoking the export command:

php symfony export:auth-recs /path/to/my/xmlExportFolder

The authority record bulk export task has the same options available as the archival description export task described above. Some of these options will not be relevant to EAC-CPF exports (e.g. the --current-level-only option, as authority records are not hierarchical; and the --public option, as currently authority records do not have a publication status), but otherwise they can be used with this task in the same way as described for the archival description export options above. Please refer there for more detailed usage notes. Below is an example application, using the --criteria option:

Example: using the --criteria option to select only authority records whose entity type is “family”

First, you will need to know the entity type ID for family. Entity type is a term maintained in the Actor entity types taxonomy - when elements from a different table in the database are linked to actors, the term ID is used. Here are the term object IDs for the Actor entity types:

We can now use the entity type to limit our export to include only those authority records with an entity type of “Family,” like so:

php symfony export:auth-recs --criteria='a.entity_type_id=133'
path/to/my/export-folder

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Importing archival descriptions¶

Example syntax use (with the RAD CSV template):

php symfony csv:import
lib/task/import/example/rad/example_information_objects_rad.csv

By typing php symfony help csv:import into the command-line from your root directory, without specifying the location of a CSV, you will able able to see the CSV import options available (pictured above). A brief explanation of each is included below. For full archival description CSV import documentation, please see:

• Prepare archival descriptions for CSV import
• Import new archival descriptions via CSV
• Update existing descriptions via CSV import

The --application, --env, and --connection options should not be used - AtoM requires the uses of the pre-set defaults for symfony to be able to execute the import.

The --rows-until-update option can be used for a simple visual representation of progress in the command-line. Enter a whole integer, to represent the number of rows should be imported from the CSV before the command-line prints a period (e.g. `` . `` ) in the console, as a sort of crude progress bar. For example, entering --rows-until-update=5 would mean that the import progresses, another period will be printed every 5 rows. This is a simple way to allow the command-line to provide a visual output of progress. For further information on the --rows-until-update option and an example of the command-line option in use, see also the section below, Display the progress of an upload via the command-line interface (CLI).

You can use the --skip-rows option to skip X amount of rows in the CSV before beginning the import. This can be useful if you have interrupted the import, and wish to re-run it without duplicating the records already imported. --skip-rows=10 would skip the first 10 rows in the CSV file, for example. Note that this count does not include the header column, so in fact, the above example would skip the header column, and rows 2-11 in your CSV file.

The --error-log option can be used to specify a directory where errors should be logged. Note that this option has not been tested by Artefactual developers.

Use the --source-name option (described in the CSV import documentation here) to specify a source when importing information objects from multiple sources (with possibly conflicting legacy IDs), or when importing updates, to match the previous import’s source name. This will ensure that multiple related CSV files will remain related - so, for example, if you import an archival description CSV, and then supplement the authority records created (from the eventActors field in the description CSV templates) with an authority record CSV import, using the --source-name option will help to make sure that matching names are linked and related, instead of duplicate authority records being created. You can also use this option to relate a large import that is broken up into multiple CSV files, or when importing updates to existing descriptions. See the Legacy ID mapping: dealing with hierarchical data in a CSV section in the User manual for further tips and details on the uses of this option.

Tip

When no --source-name is set during import, the filename of the CSV will be used by default instead.

You can always check what source name was used for records created via an import by entering into edit mode and navigating to the Administration :term:` area <information area>` of the edit page - the source name used will be diplayed there:

The --default-legacy-parent-id option will allow the user to set a default parentID value - for any row in the CSV where no parentID value is included and no qubitParentSlug is present, this default value will be inserted as the parentID.

Similarly, the --default-parent-slug option allows a user to set a default qubitParentSlug value - wherever no slug value or parentID / legacyID is included, AtoM will populate the qubitParentSlug with the default value. If you are importing all rows in a CSV file to one parent description already in AtoM, you could use the --default-parent-slug option to specify the target slug of the parent, and then leave the legacyID, parentID, and qubitParentSlug columns blank in your CSV. Note that this example will affect ALL rows in a CSV - so use this only if you are importing all descriptions to a single parent!

By default, AtoM will build the nested set after an import task. The nested set is a way to manage hierarchical data stored in the flat tables of a relational database. However, as Wikipedia notes, “Nested sets are very slow for inserts because it requires updating left and right domain values for all records in the table after the insert. This can cause a lot of database thrash as many rows are rewritten and indexes rebuilt.” When performing a large import, it can therefore sometimes be desirable to disable the building of the nested set during the import process, and then run it as a separate command-line task following the completion of the import. To achieve this, the --skip-nested-set-build option can be used to disable the default behavior.

NOTE that the nested set WILL need to be built for AtoM to behave as expected. You can use the following command-line task, from the AtoM root directory, to rebuild the nested set if you have disabled it during import:

php symfony propel:build-nested-set

The task is further outlined on the Command line tools page - see: Rebuild the nested set.

Similarly, when using the user interface to perform an import, the import is indexed automatically - but when running an import via the command-line interface, indexing is disabled by default. This is because indexing during import can be incredibly slow, and the command-line is generally used for larger imports. Generally, we recommend a user simply clear the cache and rebuild the search index following an import - from AtoM’s root directory, run:

php symfony cc && php symfony search:populate

However, if you would like to index the import as it progresses, the --index option can be used to enable this. This is useful if you have a large database, and don’t want to have to re-index everything. For more information on indexing options, see: Populate search index.

The --update option can be used when you want to use a CSV import to update existing archival descriptions, instead of creating new records. There are 2 modes: --update="match-and-update" and --update="delete-and-replace. When used, AtoM will attempt to identify matching archival descriptions and, depending on which option is used, either update them in place, or delete the match and replace it with the new description in the CSV. For more information on how AtoM attempts to match incoming imports to existing descriptions, see: Matching criteria for archival descriptions.

For the “match-and-update” option, AtoM will update any information object related columns that have new data. Columns in the related CSV row that are left blank will not delete existing data - instead, they will be ignored and any existing data in the related field will be preserved.

With the “delete-and-replace” option, the matched archival description and any descendants (i.e. children) will be deleted prior to import. Note that related entities are not deleted - such as linked authority records, terms such as subject, place, or genre access points, accessions, etc. If you want these removed as well, you will need to manually delete them from the user interface following the delete-and-replace import. On import of the replacement record, AtoM will also not automatically link to the same entities. Instead, it will use the existing matching logic to determine if it should link to an existing linked record, or create a new one. For more information on how AtoM determines whether or not to link to an existing authority record, see: Attempting to match to existing authority records on import.

The --limit option can be used with --update to increase the likelihood of a successful match by limiting the match criteria to either records belonging to a specific repository, or matching a specific existing top-level description. It takes the slug of the related repository or top-level archival description as its value. For example, to import a CSV called “my-updates.csv” and update the descriptions of the John Smith Fonds, your command might look like this:

php symfony csv:import --update="match-and-update" --limit="john-smith-fonds"
/path/to/my-updates.csv

Normally, when attempting to match records, if AtoM fails to find a match candidate, it will proceed to import the row as a new record. However, you can use the --skip-unmatched option with --update to change this default behavior. When --skip-unmatched is used, then any records that do not match will be ignored during the import, and reported in the console log shown on the Job details page of the related import job (see: Manage jobs for more information). This is recommended if you are intending to only import updates to existing records. Note that --skip-unmatched will not work if it is not used in conjunction with the --update option.

Similarly, with new imports, you can use the --skip-matched option to skip any records that AtoM identifies as matching those you have already imported. This can be useful if you are uncertain if some of the records in your CSV have been previously imported - such as when passing records to a portal site or union catalogue. Any records that appear to match existing archival descriptions will be ignored during the import, and reported in the console log shown on the Job details page of the related import job. For more information on how AtoM attempts to match incoming imports to existing descriptions, see: Matching criteria for archival descriptions.

Normally during an update import when using match-and-update, the digital object will be deleted and re-imported as part of the update, even if the path or URI provided is the same - this is in case the digital object itself has changed at the source. However, there are 2 ways users can avoid this. The first is to include a digitalObjectChecksum column in the import CSV, and to populate the row with the exact same checksum used by AtoM when uploading the digital object (this can be seen in the file path to the master digital object). If you export a CSV with a digital object from AtoM, the checksum column and value is included in the export (see: CSV export). However, if you do not have the checksum value handy and you don’t want or need the digital object to be deleted and re-imported, then the other way to skip this process is to use the --keep-digital-objects option. When this option is used with --update="match-and-update", then the deletion of the existing digital object and its derivatives will be skipped.

Finally, the --skip-derivatives option can be used if you are using the Digital object-related import columns to import a digital object attached to your description(s). For every digital object uploaded, AtoM creates two derivative objects from the master digital object: a thumbnail image (used in search and browse results) and a reference display copy (used on the view page of the related archival description). The master digital object is the unaltered version of a digital object that has been uploaded to AtoM. When the --skip-derivatives option is used, then the thumbnail and reference display copy of your linked digital object will not be created during the import process. You can use the digital object derivative regeneration task to create them later, if desired - see: Regenerating derivatives.

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Importing events¶

Read more about importing events in the AtoM User manual documentation, here:

• Prepare events for CSV import
• Import events via CSV

Example use - run from AtoM’s root directory:

php symfony csv:event-import lib/task/import/example/example_events.csv

There are also various command-line options that can be used, as illustrated in the options depicted in the image below:

By typing php symfony help csv:event-import into the command-line from your root directory, without specifying the location of a CSV, you will able able to see the CSV import options available (pictured above). A brief explanation of each is included below.

The --application, --env, and --connection options should not be used - AtoM requires the uses of the pre-set defaults for symfony to be able to execute the import.

The --rows-until-update, --skip-rows, and --error-log options can be used the same was as described in the section above on importing descriptions. For more information on the --rows-until-update option, see also the section below, Display the progress of an upload via the command-line interface (CLI).

Use the --source-name to specify a source importing to a AtoM installation in which information objects from multiple sources have been imported, and/or to associate it explicitly with a previously-imported CSV file that used the same --source-name value. Further information is provided in the section on legacy ID mapping in the User Manual - see: Legacy ID mapping: dealing with hierarchical data in a CSV.

The --event-types option is deprecated, and no longer supported in AtoM.

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Importing repository records¶

Example use - run from AtoM’s root directory:

php symfony csv:repository-import
lib/task/import/example/example_repositories.csv

There are also various command-line options that can be used, as illustrated in the options depicted in the image below:

By typing php symfony help csv:repository-import into the command-line from your root directory, without specifying the location of a CSV, you will able able to see the CSV import options available (pictured above). A brief explanation of each is included below. For full details on archival institution CSV imports, please see:

• Prepare archival institution records for CSV import

• Import new archival institutions via CSV

• Update archival institutions via CSV import

  • Updating repository records in place via CSV import
  • Deleting and replacing repository records via CSV import

The --application, --env, and --connection options should not be used - AtoM requires the uses of the pre-set defaults for symfony to be able to execute the import.

The --rows-until-update, --skip-rows, and --error-log options can be used the same was as described in the section above on importing descriptions. For more information on the --rows-until-update option, see also the section below, Display the progress of an upload via the command-line interface (CLI).

Use the --source-name option (described in the CSV import documentation here) to specify the source name that will be added to the keymap table. This can be useful for improving the matching logic when importing updates - you can specify the same source name used as the was used during the original import for greater matching. By default in AtoM, when no source name is specified during import, the CSV filename will be stored in the keymap table as the source name.

The --index option will progressively add your imported repository records to AtoM’s search index as the import progresses. Normally when using the user interface to perform an import, the import is indexed automatically - but when running an import via the command-line interface, indexing is disabled by default. This is because indexing during import can sometimes be incredibly slow, and the command-line is generally used for larger imports. Generally, we recommend a user simply clear the cache and rebuild the search index following an import - from AtoM’s root directory, run:

php symfony cc && php symfony search:populate

However, if you would like to index the import as it progresses, the --index option can be used to enable this. This is useful if you have a large database, and don’t want to have to re-index everything. For more information on indexing options, see: Populate search index.

The --update option can be used when you want to use a CSV import to update existing archival institutions, instead of creating new records. There are 2 modes: --update="match-and-update" and --update="delete-and-replace. When used, AtoM will attempt to identify matching archival institution records and, depending on which option is used, either update them in place, or delete the match and replace it with the new repository record in the CSV. The matching criteria for repository records is based on an exact match on the authorized form of name of the existing repository. This means that you cannot use the --update option to update the name of your existing repositories, or AtoM will fail to find the correct match on import.

For the “match-and-update” option, AtoM will update any repository record related columns that have new data. Columns in the related CSV row that are left blank will not delete existing data - instead, they will be ignored and any existing data in the related field will be preserved.

With the “delete-and-replace” update option, AtoM will delete the matches prior to importing the CSV data as a new record to replace it.

Note that only the matched repository record is deleted during this process. Any related/linked entities (such as an authority record linked as being maintained by the repository, Thematic area or other repository access points, and linked archival descriptions) are not automatically deleted. If you also want these fully removed, you will have to find them and manually delete them via the user interface after the import.

Once the original matched repository record has been deleted, the CSV import proceeds as if the record is new. That is to say, just as AtoM does not automatically delete entities related to the original archival institution, it also not automatically re-link previously related entities.

Normally, when attempting to match records, if AtoM fails to find a match candidate, it will proceed to import the row as a new record. However, you can use the --skip-unmatched option with --update to change this default behavior. When --skip-unmatched is used, then any records that do not match will be ignored during the import, and reported in the console log shown on the Job details page of the related import job (see: Manage jobs for more information). This is recommended if you are intending to only import updates to existing records. Note that --skip-unmatched will not work if it is not used in conjunction with the --update option.

Similarly, with new imports, you can use the --skip-matched option to skip any records that AtoM identifies as matching those you have already imported. This can be useful if you are uncertain if some of the records in your CSV have been previously imported - such as when passing records to a portal site or union catalogue. Any records that appear to match existing repository records (based on the authorized form of name) will be ignored during the import, and reported in the console log shown on the Job details page of the related import job.

You can use the --upload-limit option to specify the default upload limit for repositories which don’t specify their uploadLimit in the CSV file. That is, if for example you performed a CSV import with the command-line option of --upload-limit=5, then for every repository in the CSV that does NOT have a value in the uploadLimit column, the default value of 5 GBs will be assigned. For more information on this functionality in the user interface, see: Set digital object upload limit for an archival institution.

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Importing authority records¶

The authority record import tool allows you to import data about people, familiies, and organizations. A typical authority record import can be conducted via the user interface - for more information, see: Import new authority records via CSV. However, inn addition to importing data detailing these entities, the command-line tool also allows the simultaneous import of supplementary data (in separate CSV files) on how these entities relate to each other and alternate names by which these entities are known.

You can view the example CSV files for authority records in the AtoM code (at lib/task/import/example/authority_records/) or they can be downloaded directly here:

• https://wiki.accesstomemory.org/Resources/CSV_templates#Authority_records

The primary documentation for preparing the main authority record CSV template can be found in the User Manual, here:

• Prepare authority records for CSV import

However, the basic information on preparing the supplementary Actor Relationships CSV and the Actor Aliases will be described below.

Importing authority records¶

Example use - run from AtoM’s root directory:

php symfony csv:authority-import lib/task/import/example/authority_records/example_authority_records.csv

There are also various command-line options that can be used, as illustrated in the options depicted in the image below:

By typing php symfony help csv:authority-import into the command-line from your root directory, without specifying the location of a CSV, you will able able to see the CSV import options available (pictured above). A brief explanation of each is included below.

The --application, --env, and --connection options should not be used - AtoM requires the uses of the pre-set defaults for symfony to be able to execute the import.

The --rows-until-update, --skip-rows, --error-log, and --index options can be used the same was as described in the section above on importing descriptions. For more information on the --rows-until-update option, see also the section below, Display the progress of an upload via the command-line interface (CLI).

The --alias-file and --relation-file options are used to import accompanying alternate name (aka Alias data) and relationship CSV files at the same time as the authority record CSV import. An example of each will be given below, though they can be used together. Jump to:

• Importing alternate names (Alias data)
• Importing Relations data

Use the --source-name option (described in the CSV import documentation here) to specify the source name that will be added to the keymap table. This can be useful for improving the matching logic when importing updates - you can specify the same source name used as the was used during the original import for greater matching. By default in AtoM, when no source name is specified during import, the CSV filename will be stored in the keymap table as the source name.

The --index option will progressively add your imported authority records to AtoM’s search index as the import progresses. Normally when using the user interface to perform an import, the import is indexed automatically - but when running an import via the command-line interface, indexing is disabled by default. This is because indexing during import can sometimes be incredibly slow, and the command-line is generally used for larger imports. Generally, we recommend a user simply clear the cache and rebuild the search index following an import - from AtoM’s root directory, run:

php symfony cc && php symfony search:populate

However, if you would like to index the import as it progresses, the --index option can be used to enable this. This is useful if you have a large database, and don’t want to have to re-index everything. For more information on indexing options, see: Populate search index.

The --update option can be used when you want to use a CSV import to update existing authority records, instead of creating new records. There are 2 modes: --update="match-and-update" and --update="delete-and-replace. When used, AtoM will attempt to identify matching authority records and, depending on which option is used, either update them in place, or delete the match and replace it with the new repository record in the CSV. The matching criteria for authority records is based on an exact match on the authorized form of name of the existing authority record. This means that you cannot use the --update option to update the authorized form of name of your existing authority records, or AtoM will fail to find the correct match on import. Note that at this time, the update options only work with the data found in the primary Authority record CSV template - --update cannot update Relations and Alias data.

Tip

You can read more about each update option in the User Manual:

• Update authority records in place via CSV import
• Delete and replace existing authority records via CSV import

For the “match-and-update” option, AtoM will update any authority record related columns that have new data. Columns in the related CSV row that are left blank will not delete existing data - instead, they will be ignored and any existing data in the related field will be preserved.

Important

At this time, not all fields in the authority record template can be updated. Primarily, these are fields that are found in other tables in the AtoM database than the primary authority record table. For further details, see: Update authority records in place via CSV import.

With the “delete-and-replace” update option, AtoM will delete the matches prior to importing the CSV data as a new record to replace it.

Note that only the matched authority record is deleted during this process. Any related/linked entities (such as a repository linked as the authority record’s maintainer, other authority records linked via a relationship, Occupation access points, and linked archival descriptions) are not also automatically deleted. If you also want these fully removed, you will have to find them and manually delete them via the user interface after the import.

Once the original matched authority record has been deleted, the CSV import proceeds as if the record is new. That is to say, just as AtoM does not automatically delete entities related to the original archival institution, it also not automatically re-link previously related entities.

Warning

This means that if your authority record is linked to descriptions, a repository, or other authority records, using the “Delete and replace”method will unlink all descriptions, repositories, and authority records - these will not be automatically re-linked with the new import!

We recommend you only use the “Delete and replace” method with authority records that are not currently linked to other entities.

For more information on linking authority records, see:

• Link an existing authority record to an archival description
• Create a relationship between two authority records
• Link an authority record to a repository as its maintainer

The --limit option can be used with --update to increase the likelihood of a successful match by limiting the match criteria to records linked to a specific repository as its maintainer. This option takes the slug of the related repository as its value. For example, to import a CSV called “my-updates.csv” and update an authority record for Jane Doe belonging to the Example Archives, your command might look something like this example:

php symfony csv:authority-import --update="match-and-update"
--limit="example-archives" /path/to/my-updates.csv

Normally, when attempting to match records, if AtoM fails to find a match candidate, it will proceed to import the row as a new record. However, you can use the --skip-unmatched option with --update to change this default behavior. When --skip-unmatched is used, then any records that do not match will be ignored during the import, and reported in the console log shown on the Job details page of the related import job (see: Manage jobs for more information). This is recommended if you are intending to only import updates to existing records. Note that --skip-unmatched will not work if it is not used in conjunction with the --update option.

Similarly, with new imports, you can use the --skip-matched option to skip any records that AtoM identifies as matching those you have already imported. This can be useful if you are uncertain if some of the records in your CSV have been previously imported - such as when passing records to a portal site or union catalogue. Any records that appear to match existing authority records (based on the authorized form of name) will be ignored during the import, and reported in the console log shown on the Job details page of the related import job.

php symfony csv:authority-import lib/task/import/example/authority_records/example_authority_records.csv \
--alias-file=lib/task/import/example/authority_records/example_authority_record_aliases.csv

php symfony csv:authority-import lib/task/import/example/authority_records/example_authority_records.csv \
--relation-file=lib/task/import/example/authority_records/example_authority_record_relationships.csv

Import accession records¶

The accession record import tool allows you to import data about your accessions. Additionally, when importing descriptions as well, you can use the subsequent archival description CSV import to create a link between your accession records and your descriptions, by adding an accessionNumber column in the archival description CSV and populating it with the exact accession number(s) used during your accessions data import.

Alternatively, you can use the qubitParentSlug column to link existing descriptions in AtoM to new or updated accessions records via your import - for more details see the User Manual: Prepare accession records for CSV import.

An example CSV template file is available in the lib/task/import/example/example_accessions.csv directory of AtoM, or it can be downloaded here:

• https://wiki.accesstomemory.org/Resources/CSV_templates#Accessions

The primary documentation for preparing your accession record data in a CSV file for import can be found in the User Manual:

• Prepare accession records for CSV import

Please review the guidance provided there carefully prior to running a command line import. The use of the command-line task and its options are outlined below.

Example use - run from AtoM’s root directory:

php symfony csv:accession-import /path/to/my/example_accessions.csv

There are also a number of options available with this command-line task.

By typing php symfony help csv:accession-import into the command-line from your root directory, without specifying the location of a CSV, you will able able to see the CSV import options available (pictured above). A brief explanation of each is included below.

The --application, --env, and --connection options should not be used - AtoM requires the uses of the pre-set defaults for symfony to be able to execute the import.

Use the --source-name to specify a source importing to a AtoM installation in which accessions and information objects from multiple sources have been imported, and/or to associate it explicitly with a previously-imported CSV file that used the same --source-name value. An example is provided in the section on legacy ID mapping in the User Manual - see: Legacy ID Mapping.

The --rows-until-update, --skip-rows, --error-log, and --index options can be used the same was as described in the section above on importing descriptions. For more information on the --rows-until-update option, see also the section below, Display the progress of an upload via the command-line interface (CLI).

The --index option will progressively add your imported accession records to AtoM’s search index as the import progresses. Normally when using the user interface to perform an import, the import is indexed automatically - but when running an import via the command-line interface, indexing is disabled by default. This is because indexing during import can sometimes be incredibly slow, and the command-line is generally used for larger imports. Generally for very large imports we recommend a user simply clear the cache and rebuild the search index following an import - from AtoM’s root directory, run:

php symfony cc && php symfony search:populate

However, if you would like to index the import as it progresses, the --index option can be used to enable this. This is useful if you have a large database, and don’t want to have to re-index everything. For more information on indexing options, see: Populate search index.

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Import deaccession records¶

The deaccession import tool allows you to import data about deaccession activies, which can be appended to accession records in AtoM. For more general information on working with deaccession records in AtoM, consult the User manual: Deaccession records. For the task to succeed, an accession number for an existing accession must be provided for each row - it is not possible to create new accession records while importing deaccession CSV data.

An example CSV template file is available in the lib/task/import/example/example_deaccessions.csv directory of AtoM, or it can be downloaded here:

• https://wiki.accesstomemory.org/Resources/CSV_templates#Deaccession_records

The expected CSV will have 7 columns, corresponding to various fields available in the Deaccession record template. These include:

• accessionNumber: expects the accession number of an existing accession record in AtoM as input. If no match is found for an existing accession, the console will provide a warning, the row will be skipped, and the task will continue.
• deaccessionNumber: an identifier for the deaccession. Free text, will support symbols and typographical marks such as dashes and slashes.
• date: expects a date value in ISO-8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD).
• scope: expects one of the controlled terms from the “Scope” field in the AtoM deaccession record template. English options include “Whole” and “Part”.
• description: Free-text. Identify what materials are being deaccessioned.
• extent: Free-text. Identify the number of units and the unit of measurement for the amount of records being deaccessioned.
• reason: Free-text. Provide a reason why the records are being deaccessioned.
• culture: Expects a 2-letter ISO 639-1 language code as input (e.g.: en, fr, es, pt, etc).

Example use - run from AtoM’s root directory:

php symfony csv:deaccession-import /path/to/my/example_accessions.csv

There are also a number of options available with this command-line task.

By typing php symfony help csv:deaccession-import into the command-line from your root directory, without specifying the location of a CSV, you will be able to see the CSV import options available (pictured above). A brief explanation of each is included below.

The --application, --env, and --connection options should not be used - AtoM requires the uses of the pre-set defaults for symfony to be able to execute the import.

The --rows-until-update, --skip-rows, and --error-log options can be used the same was as described in the section above on importing descriptions. If you wish a summary of warnings reported in the console log, you can use the --error-log option - it takes a path to a new text file as input, and will copy all console warnings to this log file. Acceptable file extensions for the log file are .txt or .log. For more information on the --rows-until-update option, see also the section below, Display the progress of an upload via the command-line interface (CLI).

More than 1 row of data (i.e more than 1 deaccession record) can be associated with the same accession record. To prevent accidental exact duplicates, by default AtoM will skip any rows where all data is identical to a row preceding it, and will report the skipped record in the console log. If you are intentionally importing duplicate deaccession records, you can use the --ignore-duplicates option.

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Display the progress of an upload via the command-line interface (CLI)¶

The various CSV import tools allow the use of the --rows-until-update command-line option to display the current row of CSV data being imported. This is an extremely simplified way to indicate progress graphically via the command-line - the user sets a numerical value for the number of rows the task will progress before an update, and then the task will output a dot (or period ) in the command-line every time the indicated number of rows has been processed in the current CSV.

Example use reporting progress every 5 rows:

php symfony csv:import
lib/task/import/example/rad/example_information_objects_rad.csv
--rows-until-update=5

This can be useful for large imports, to ensure the import is still progressing, and to try to roughly determine how far the task has progressed and how long it will take to complete.

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Finding the information_object_id¶

The information_object_id is not a value that is accessible via the user interface - it is a unique value used in AtoM’s database. You can, however, use SQL in the command-line to determine the ID of an information object. The following example will show you how to use a SQL query to find the information_object_id, if you know the slug of the description:

1. First, you will need to access mysqlCLI to be able to input a SQL query. To do this, you will need to know the database name, user name, and password you used when creating your database during installation. If your database is on a different server (e.g. if you are trying to SSH in to access your database server), you will also need to know the hostname - that is, the IP address or domain name of the server where your database is located.

2. The following is an example of the CLI command to enter to access mysqlCLI:

   mysql -u root -pMYSECRETPASSWORD atom
   

   • -u = user. If you followed our installation instructions, this will be root
   • -p = password. Enter the password you used during installation right after the -p. If you did not enter a password, include the -p on its own. If you are prompted later for a password and didn’t use one, just press enter.
   • -h = hostname. If your database is on a different server, supply either an IP address, or the domain name, where it is located.
   • atom = your database name. If you followed our installation instructions, this will be atom; otherwise enter the database name you used when installing AtoM.

3. You may be prompted for your password again. If so, enter it. If you did not use a password during installation, simply press enter.

4. Your command prompt should now say something like mysql>. You can now enter a SQL query directly.

5. The following example SQL command will return the information_object_id for a desription, when the information object’s slug is known:

   SELECT object_id FROM slug WHERE slug='your-slug-here';
   

6. The query should return the object_id for the description. Here is an example:

7. Enter quit to exit mysqlCLI.

Using the digital object load task¶

Before using this task, you will need to prepare:

• A CSV file with 2 columns - EITHER information_object_id and filename, OR identifier and filename
• A directory with your digital objects inside of it

Here is a sample image of what the CSV looks like when the identifier is used, and the CSV is prepared in a spreadsheet application:

You can see the options available on the CLI task by typing in the following command:

php symfony help digitalobject:load

The --application, --env, and --connection options should not be used - AtoM requires the uses of the pre-set defaults for symfony to be able to execute the import.

By default, the digital object load task will not index the collection as it runs. This means that normally, you will need to manually repopulate the search index after running the task. Running without indexing allows the task to complete much more quickly - however, if you’re only uploading a small set of digital objects, you can choose to have the task index the collection as it progresses, using the --index (or -i) option

The --limit option enables you to set the number of digital objects imported via CSV using the digital object load task.

The --link-source option could apply in a use case where an institution might typically store master digital objects in a separate local repository. Rather than maintain multiple copies of every digital object, you could use the --link-source option to load objects via local filepath stored to a source file in the database. Essentially, when you use the --link-source option, the digital object load task will behave like an external digital object being uploaded via URI, and ultimately, the source “master” file(s) are not copied to the uploads directory.

The --path option will allow you to simplify the filename column in your CSV, to avoid repetition. If all the digital objects you intend to upload are stored in the same folder, then adding /path/to/my/folder/ to each object filename seems tedious - your filename column will need to look something like this:

filename
/path/to/my/folder/image1.png
/path/to/my/folder/image2.jpg
/path/to/my/folder/text1.pdf
etc...

To avoid this when all digital objects are in the same directory, you can use the --path option to pre-supply the path to the digital objects - for each filename, the path supplied will be appended. Note that you will need to use a trailing slash to finish your path prefix - e.g.:

php symfony digitalobject:load --path="/path/to/my/folder/"
/path/to/my/spreadsheet.csv

TO RUN THE DIGITAL OBJECT LOAD TASK

php symfony digitalobject:load /path/to/your/loadfile.csv

NOTES ON USE

• If an information object already has a digital object attached to it, it will be skipped during the import

• Remember to repopulate the search index afterwards if you haven’t used the --index option! For more information, see: Populate search index.

  php symfony search:populate
  

Regenerating derivatives¶

Sometimes the digitalobject:load task won’t generate the thumbnail and reference images properly for digital objects that were loaded (e.g. due to a crash or absence of convert installed, etc.). In this case, you can regenerate these thumbsnail/reference images using the following command:

php symfony digitalobject:regen-derivatives

For more information on this task and the options available, see: Regenerating derivatives.

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CSV export task options¶

By typing php symfony help csv:export into the command-line from your root directory, without specifying an export location of the CSV, you will able able to see the CSV import options available (pictured above). A brief explanation of each is included below.

The --application, --env, and connection options should not be used - AtoM requires the uses of the pre-set defaults for symfony to be able to execute the export.

The --items-until-update option can be used for a simple visual representation of progress in the command-line. Enter a whole integer, to represent the number of rows should be imported from the CSV before the command-line prints a period (e.g. `` . `` ) in the console, as a sort of crude progress bar. For example, entering --items-until-update=5 would mean that the import progresses, another period will be printed every 5 rows. This is a simple way to allow the command-line to provide a visual output of progress.

The --criteria option can be added if you would like to use raw SQL to target specific descriptions.

Example 1: exporting all draft descriptions

php symfony csv:export --criteria="i.id IN (SELECT object_id FROM status
WHERE status_id = 159 AND type_id = 158)" /path/to/my/exportFolder

If you wanted to export all published descriptions instead, you could simply change the value of the status_id in the query from 159 (draft) to 160 (published).

Example 2: exporting all descriptions from a specific repository

To export all descriptions associated with a particular archival institution, you simply need to know the slug of the institution’s record in AtoM. In this example, the slug is “example-repo-slug”:

php symfony csv:export --criteria="i.repository_id = (SELECT object_id FROM
slug WHERE slug='example-repo-slug')" /path/to/my/exportFolder

Example 3: exporting specific descriptions by title

To export 3 fonds titled: “779 King Street, Fredericton deeds,” “1991 Canada Winter Games fonds,” and “A history of Kincardine,” You can issue the following command:

sudo php symfony csv:export --criteria="i18n.title in ('779 King Street,
Fredericton deeds', '1991 Canada Winter Games fonds', 'A history of
Kincardine')" path/to/my/exportFolder

You could add additional archival descriptions of any level of description into the query by adding a comma then another title in quotes within the ()s.

The --current-level-only option can be used to prevent AtoM from exporting any children associated with the target descriptions. If you are exporting fonds, then only the fonds-level description would be exported, and no lower-level records such as series, sub-series, files, etc. This might be useful for bulk exports when the intent is to submit the exported descriptions to a union catalogue or regional portal that only accepts collection/fonds-level descriptions. If a lower-level description (e.g. a series, file, or item) is the target of the export, its parents will not be exported either.

The --single-slug option can be used to to target a single archival unit (e.g. fonds, collection, etc) for export, if you know the slug of the target description.

Example use

php symfony csv:export --single-slug="test-export"
/path/to/my/directory/test-export.csv

The --public option is useful for excluding draft records from an export. Normally, all records in a hierarchical tree will be exported regardless of publication status. When using the --public option, only records with a publication status of “Published” will be exported.

The --standard option allows you to determine if the Canadian RAD template or the international ISAD(G) template is used when exporting. The default if the option is not specified is ISAD(G). AtoM maintains several different standards-based templates (see: Descriptive standards) and there are currently 2 different CSV import/export templates - the default ISAD(G) template, and the Canadian RAD template (because there are many different fields in the RAD template). Other standards-template users (such as DACS users) are encouraged to use the ISAD template.

The --rows-per-file option can be used when performing large exports, to break the export into multiple CSV files. You can specify a whole integer representing the number of rows to be included in a single CSV file, before the export task will begin a new CSV. When invoking the task, remember to specify the destination target to a directory, not a filename.

Example use

php symfony csv:export --rows-per-file="1000" /path/to/my/export-directory/

In the above example, when 1000 rows are added to the first CSV, AtoM will export it, and begin a second CSV - and so on.

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