Data sources for importing CSV files

The data source helps you easily filter or delete data imported from this CSV file. Sitefinity Insight uses the data source value together with the UniqueId value to form the identity of the record that you are saving to Sitefinity Insight. As a result, you can:

• Differentiate between record with Id=123 in System A from the record with Id=123 from System B, because their Sitefinity Insight UniqueId will be (System A, 123) and (System B, 123), respectively.
• Accumulate interactions and client metadata for a specific visitor, based on its Sitefinity Insight UniqueId, without uploading Email values or explicitly mapping instructions each time.
• Delete all the data from a given data source without affecting the rest of the data.

Following are the best practices for creating and managing data source for different use cases:

• If you are performing a one time import that contains an email value for each unique visitor.
  Create a new data source with a descriptive name.
• If you are performing regular imports with data from the same source.
  The first time you are importing data, create a new data source with a name related to your source. Reuse this data source for subsequent imports.
• If you are not confident in the quality of the data to be imported.
  Create a new data source that you can later delete, if the data proves to be of poor quality. Make sure that the data you are going to import have Email values for each unique visitor. Otherwise, the result of the import may have no connection to the rest of your data.
• If you are just testing the import workflow or your CSV data from a third-party service.
  Create a new disposable data source. After you have stabilized your workflow and data format, delete the disposable data source, and continue working as if you are performing regular imports with data from the same source.