ESB Formatting
ESB File Structure
The CSV file must be comma-delimited, UTF-8 encoded (with BOM omitted), and named according to the CSV Documentation.
Header Row
The first line of the file, or header row, must conform to the following:
The CSV file must include a header row containing a comma-delimited list of all data fields, including unused fields.
All fields names must be in the same letter casing as they appear in the CSV documentation (e.g.
BallotReturnDate
is acceptable, butballotreturndate
is not).All fields must be emitted in the order they appear in the CSV documentation.
Control Characters
The CSV file must be free of control characters, except for newlines, which should
follow UNIX syntax (i.e. \n
).
Missing Values
If a data point specified by a field is unavailable, place the value na
in
that field. Note that:
na
should not be used in a field when a value is not expected, such as anOtherType
, when the base field is not set toother
.na
must not be used in required fields.
Data Types
Each field
belongs to a particular data type. These data types constrain
the allowed values for a particular field. For example, a field of type date
must follow the conventions of a ISO 8601.
array
An array
is used to store multiple values in a single field.
[""first-value"",""second-value""]
Even if a field only contains a single value, it still must be surrounded by brackets.
boolean
A boolean
represents a true or false value. Possible values are true
or
false
.
date
All dates in the ESB feed must conform to the ISO 8601 standard on dates. The
format model of such a date is YYYY-MM-DD
.
string
A string
is a sequence of characters. Most fields in the ESB Data Standard are
strings. Be sure to read the documentation for each string
field, as some
fields only allow values that are specified in an enumerated list. String fields
should be free of leading or training whitespace.