Import csv

divot

I have read the threads about importing csv data but none of this helps me with what I’m trying to do. Let me explain:

On a Macbook Pro I use a flat file database manager (Panorama by ProVUE). About 1000 records with about 15 fields comprised of names, addresses, phone, email, notes, etc. I want to encrypt this data for access on an iPhone.

Previously I had 1P3 on both Mac and iPhone. I exported flat file data as csv and imported into 1P3. This address data was added to the existing data by tricking 1P3 into thinking the address data was logins with selective matching of fields, a bit of a kludge but workable. This was followed by syncing with the iPhone and Viola!, a sluggish but tolerable lookup/filtering workaround to safely carry my contact list in encrypted format on the iPhone.

Now that I’ve upgraded to 1Password 4 on both machines I'm working on having addresses in a separate vault. My hope is that when accessing the smaller primary vault there won’t be a performance hit because the separate vault with addresses with be in background. The problem is the csv import process. I changed csv CR to LF to import as individual records but getting a nice clean list of names, addresses, some notes, etc. seems beyond the current release of 1P4. I realize that field matching/selecting is no longer an option in 1P4 nor is bulk modification of field names but I’d appreciated any thoughts or suggestions how to move forward. TIA.

sjk

Hi there, @divot.

We have a new document that describes the CSV format that the 1Password 4 importer recognizes:

How can I import data from another application?

I hope that's helpful. If you have any other questions about this or anything else please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks!

divot

Thanks for the link. Yes, the new doc clarifies field sequence. I need to spend some time rearranging the csv export but it looks like "Software" import format will do the trick for now. I'll check back here every now and then to see if you've added new import formatting.

sjk

I'm glad you've found something that'll work, @divot.

It sounds like you already know about adding custom fields to an item; I'll check into the possibility of supporting "bulk modification" of their field names (labels). Applying changes to multiple items can generally be quite useful and this is a pretty good specific example of that.

divot

After experimenting with the Software import template I find it's too messy to be workable for my needs. Ideally I'd like to simply import csv into a 1P vault into "free form" fields (i.e. not pre-defined fields). This is similar to what was available in 1P3 but with added option to globally define each field. In order to decide whether to pursue this approach (of using 1P for storing and encrypting flat file data) I'd appreciate hearing if this capability is likely to be included in 1P4 in the foreseeable future?

sjk

Thanks for the feedback and suggestion, @divot.

As mentioned in the import article:

Regardless of the format, 1Password captures every field of data from your source file in the notes field of the item it creates just in case something extra was there or 1Password doesn’t have a field dedicated to that field in the source file.

For instance:

It might eventually be possible to import those extra fields directly into user-defined custom fields.

Note: We’re exploring ways to make this more flexible in the future.

But I can't promise anything at the moment. :)

divot

Yes, but this essentially duplicates the amount of data within the vault. I guess that's OK but surely will degrade performance because I'm dealing with a sizable number of records. I hope my import requirement will make it's way up the developers' list.

sjk

We'll see what we can do about this, @divot.

divot

Thanks for listening, and the quick responses, all much appreciated. Let me know if you would like my assistance in testing.

sjk

You're welcome, @divot.

I've filed an importer improvement request specifically referring to this discussion.