Fulcrum supports importing existing data into your custom apps for field deployment. This is useful when you have pre-existing information you want to make available to field staff to either update in the field or use as a reference while collecting additional information.
The supported formats to import your data are CSV or shapefile.
Before Importing Data
To get data loaded in Fulcrum, first you will need to create a new app using Fulcrum's App Designer. In this app, you can include all the fields that are already part of your data, as well as new fields, so that your team can gather additional data out in the field.
Limitations
The importer can only import 10,000 records at one time. When importing data into an app, make sure that the import file does not have more than 10,000 records (10,001 rows).
Importing lines or polygons with more than 5,000 vertices (in a single line or polygon) will cause performance issues on certain mobile apps.
Importing Your Data
After your app is built to meet your needs, click the 'Import Data' button. This option is available in three different locations:
In the Import menu item, located in the Configuration section, under the Setup dropdown.
In the Apps List page, on the action icons left of the Apps Name. It is the fourth one from the left, with the arrow pointing up.
From the Quick Actions dropdown ('+') located in the top right corner of the page.
Fulcrum’s importer will walk you through a step-by-step process to do several things before it starts the actual import:
Browse to the data file you’d like to import.
Select which tables you want to import (if you have child features to import).
Select which fields contain the spatial reference information (latitude and longitude), or verify the proper projection identification (for shapefiles).
Map fields in your data to the fields in your custom survey. You’ll see the field as it’s named in your dataset on the left and the target field into which to import on the right. Picking the checkbox on the side lets you optionally load or skip specific fields.
Fulcrum verifies everything and shows a summary of the import process about to take place — total records to be created, updated, or skipped, photos to load, etc. Any errors or issues will be displayed here.
Clicking 'Finish' will start the process and import your data.
When importing data that contains media attachments, the media files and CSV file(s) must all be contained in a single ZIP file.
Since this is sometimes a challenging process, we recommend that you register for the 'Data Import' course from Fulcrum Academy. It covers all the different import scenarios and it is 100% free!