Package Importer - Documentation

Package Importer

Introduction

This importer provides an easy way to bulk import packages into CKAN via a spreadsheet. It fills the gap between entry via a simple form and the powerful programmatic RESTful API.

Details

Importing a package with the same name as one that exists in the CKAN database results in the new package overwriting the existing one. There is a warning for this.

To perform an import, the user must be logged in. To add a package to a group, the user must have priviledges to edit the particular group.

Format

The details of the packages should be stored in an Excel spreadsheet. It should be the first (or only) sheet of a workbook.

The importer looks for a header row (which must contain 'name' or 'title') and below that all the rows are the package details. The header row can contain any or all of the field names, but must include 'name' or 'title'. If the 'name' is not specified then a unique name will be generated from the title.

Example

ABCDEF
1Packages
2
3nametitleresource-0-urltags
4wikipediaWikipediahttp://download.wikimedia.org/encyclopedia reference
5tvivTV IVhttp://tviv.org/Category:Gridstv encyclopaedia
6

Fields

Each package has many fields.

NameExample valueNotes
namewikipedia-blind
titleWikipedia for the Blind
notesMaintained until 2008
urlhttp://blind.wikipedia.org/
resource-0-urlhttp://blind.wikipedia.org/dump-en.csvNumber resources from 0.
resource-0-formatcsv
resource-0-descriptionEnglish version
resource-1-urlhttp://blind.wikipedia.org/dump-fr.csv
resource-1-formatcsv
resource-1-descriptionFrench version
tagsencyclopedia blind format-csvSpace separated list
authorJohn Doe
author_urljohn@doe.com
maintainerJohn Doe
maintainer_urljohn@doe.com
licenseOKD Compliant::UK Click Use PSILicense name (see options below).
[arbitrary]Any field name and a string value.
groupsblind-picksSpace separated list of group names to add package to.

License names