I have built an application with Excel that parses my input file to make it import ready.

I see the API as a way to replace most of that which is great, but one thing I have a problem with is dealing with parsing errors.

For example, I get user data from our website with data like:
First Name: John & Jane
Last Name: Doe
or
First Name: John Doe
Last Name: Jane Doe

We do not have a spouse field on the website and cannot add it.

My parsing app does its best to figure these out (splits at "&" for spouse first name for example) but that only goes so far.  If, after parsing, the name ends up with two or more words then I flag the cell with a red background so that I can manually change that field before sending the file to IOM using human judgement.

If I am going to use the API for the import parsing then I need to be able to do this manual change before the import goes ahead.  Is there a way to pop up a decision UI as it's processing?  My first thought was to output any error lines into a new file and reprocess that new file of errors in a second import but that would break up my batches which I would rather not do.

Ideas on dealing with errors that need manual correction before import?

I'm happy to send along my parser and a test file but I don't know how to upload files to a post.

I finally got around to testing this out and it's amazing!

It really adds a lot of flexibility for us when the data is wonky.

I will use this when my parsing algorithms can't figure out what to do with the input (which, unfortunately, is often...)

Now for the annoying user feature creep...

Is there a way to show the side by side comparison utility with all of the linked fields?  Assuming that you would pass in the record from RE that would be compared?  Right now it only shows name information, and I can't call it from the API.  It would be great to be able to see things like email, address, spouse name, etc. and have it pop up when I decide that there is conflicting data.

Tall order I know.  I can probably build some little pop-up windows to show the fields that are conflicting as they come up but I like the idea of seeing all of the data side by side so that the the user can make an informed decision.

   -Wayne

That's great, I'll give it a shot!

Unfortunately I am pretty swamped at work right now so I can't do as much testing as I would like but I will try and make time this week.

Thanks for being awesome!

After much deliberation, we decided to add a new function to the API. Import.ShowRow will show the current data row and allow you to make any changes you want. You can then put all of your conditional logic inside one of the events that occur prior to the row being imported and if need be, call Import.ShowRow to provide your user the opportunity to fix the incoming data manually.

Is there a way to highlight fields in the code tester output based on a condition?  That might help by letting me pre-screen the data and fix it in the source file before importing.

It is possible to create your own custom UI for pre-processing a file by creating your own application that you load up from the API. I had a similar test when creating the API. It is obviously something more advanced than most clients are comfortable with but it is certainly possible.