With Teamup Calendar, you can import events from other calendar applications, spreadsheets, databases, and text files. Currently, supported import formats include iCalendar files (*.ics files) and text files with comma-separated values (*.csv files).
This articles discusses how to import data into your calendar, the iCalendar data format, and the CSV data format.
Note that the importing feature is meant for a one-time transfer of data from a third-party application to Teamup Calendar. It does not offer ongoing synchronization. If you want ongoing synchronization between your Teamup Calendar and an external calendar source, please read about iCalendar feeds.
How to import calendar data
To use the import feature, go to Settings > Import Events. The import feature is only available to calendar administrators.
What you need to know about the importing tool
The importing tool currently supports two sources for data: files stored on your computer and files accessible from a link (URL). The second option can be particularly handy as many calendaring applications support the export of data through iCalendar feeds, which are links (URLs). If a feed is available for the application you are importing from, simply copy and paste this feed URL into the import tool.
Importing from .ics files
Each import creates a new sub-calendar. Data cannot be added to existing sub-calendars. You are required to enter a name for the new sub-calendar in the Import settings.
Importing from .csv files
- Events with a calendar name specified in the source .csv file: A sub-calendar with the same name must already exist. The new events will be inserted into the existing sub-calendar.
- Events with no calendar name specified in the source .csv file: A calendar name is required in the Import settings, to which the new events will be imported.
- A calendar name in the Import settings will be ignored for events that have a calendar name specified in the source .csv file. If all events have a specified calendar name in the source .csv file, a calendar name in the Import settings is not required.
- If at least one event does not have a calendar name specified in the source .csv file, a calendar name in the Import settings is required.
Preventing duplicate data
To prevent duplicates when importing from a CSV file, there is an option to ‘CLEAR DATA BEFORE IMPORT’ in the advanced import settings.
Go to Settings > Import screen, then click Advanced Options:
If the Clear Data option is selected, existing data will be cleared (deleted) before new data is imported. Data will only be cleared from sub-calendars into which new data is imported. Other sub-calendars are not affected.
The same result can be achieved by first deleting the sub-calendar that you intend to import into. Then import all the data once again to a new sub-calendar with the same title. This approach will only work if your imported events remain on a separate sub-calendar that is used only for that purpose.
If you have special importing needs, we suggest that you talk to us first. We might be able to help you with suggestions to make the process easy.
The iCalendar data format
The iCalendar file format, often called ics format or ical format, is a widely used and standardized format for the exchange of data between calendar applications.
If you plan to migrate from another calendar solution to Teamup, we recommend that you first check if it supports the iCalendar format. This is the easiest and most reliable way to migrate calendar data.
Step 1: Export data from the old calendar.
Export the data from the old calendar in .ics. If you are exporting from another Teamup calendar, see how-to details here.
Here are instructions on how to export data for a few widely used products:
A few important notes:
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- When exporting to .ics file, each sub-calendar will be exported to its own file. All files are zipped in one file when downloading.
- Note that .ics files do not keep the custom fields in separate fields, but appended to the text in Description field. If you do not have custom fields, the .ics format is a good choice. If you do have custom fields, consider using .csv file format (see below for details).
Step 2: Import data into the new calendar.
Import the exported file(s) into the new calendar:
- Create a new Teamup calendar if you haven’t done so yet.
- Go to Settings > Import.
- Import each sub-calendar separately from the respective ics file and name it accordingly.
The CSV data format
A CSV file (comma-separated values) stores tabular data in plain text. It is a widely used format for data exchange and is supported by many spreadsheets and database applications.
The first line of a CSV file is a comma-separated list of field names. Subsequent lines are data records; in our case, these are calendar events.
Example 1: Simple CSV file
Subject,Start Date,Start Time,End Date,End Time,All Day Event,Location,Who,Description
Project Meeting,02/12/2016,2:00pm,02/12/2016,4:00pm,False,Conf. Room A,"John, Mark", Linda in Paris,02/15/2016,,02/15/2016,,True,Paris,Linda, Team Meeting,02/15/2016,9:00am,02/15/2016,11:00am,False,Conf. Room B,"Linda, John",Supported fields in CSV format
The following table defines the supported field names and their format.
| Field Name | Required? | Description |
| Subject | No | Event title. Up to 255 characters in length. |
| Start Date | Yes | Start date of event. The required date format depends on the configuration of the date format for the calendar (see the Date & Time configuration of your calendar). Supported formats are “12/31/2016”, “31/12/2016” and “31.12.2016.” |
| Start Time | No | Start time of event. 12 hour and 24 hour date formats are supported, for example “2:30pm” and “14:30.” |
| End Date | No | End date of event. For supported formats see above. |
| End Time | No | End time of event. For supported formats see above. |
| All Day Event | No | The All Day Event flag defines if an event is an all-day event or an hourly event. Supported values are “True” and “False.” If no value or an unsupported value is specified, “False” is used by default. |
| Location | No | Location of event. Up to 255 characters in length. |
| Who | No | Participants of event. Up to 255 characters in length. |
| RRule | No | Recurrence rule according to RFC 5545 iCalendar. An example is “FREQ=WEEKLY;COUNT=3” for an event that repeats weekly for three times. Please note that Teamup supports only a subset of the recurrence rules as defined by the specification. To learn about supported rules, we recommend creating some repeating test events using Teamup in the web browser. Then, export the test events in CSV format to see how the recurrence rules are represented. |
| Calendar Name | No | Name of calendar into which the event is to be imported. Up to 100 characters in length.
Note that events can be imported into an existing calendar. If no calendar exists with the name specified, a new calendar will be created. If an event is to assigned to multiple calendars, then this field must contain a list of all calendars separated by the pipe characters (“|”). Example: Conf. Room Newton|Auditorium |
| Description | No | Description of event. Up to 16,000 characters in length. Simple formatting of the text is supported following the markdown approach. See Common Mark specification for a 2-minute introduction to markdown formatting. |
| <Custom Field Name> | No | Teamup supports custom event fields. Custom event fields are user defined fields added to calendar events. Currently, three types of custom event fields are supported: Single line text, single choice, multiple choice.
The import of values for custom fields is supported and works identically to the standard event fields. See example 3 below. Please proceed in the following way:
|
Example 2: File with multi-line event description
"Subject","Start Date","Start Time","End Date","End Time","All Day Event","Location","Who","Description" "Project Meeting","02/12/2016","2:00pm","02/12/2016","4:00pm","False","Conf. Room A","John, Mark","" Linda in Paris,02/15/2016,,02/15/2016,,True,Paris,Linda,In case of emergencies I am reachable by email. "Team Meeting","02/15/2016","9:00am","02/15/2016","11:00am","False","Conf. Room B","Linda, John","## Meeting Agenda * Project review * Next steps * Next meeting " "","02/12/2016","","02/12/2016","","True","","","Minimum record values"
Example 3: File with custom fields
This example shows the import of custom field Project Type, which is a multiple choice field. Three choice values are imported for this field:
"Subject","Start Date","Start Time","End Date","End Time","All Day Event","Project Type" "Project Meeting","02/12/2016","2:00pm","02/12/2016","4:00pm","False","Research, Internal, Not Billable"
What you need to know about importing in CSV format
- The order of fields does not matter. However, it is important that all lines, including the header line, use the same field order.
- Field values can span multiple lines.
- Field values must be wrapped in quote characters (“…”) if the field value contains commas or spans multiple lines. Otherwise quotes are optional.
- If a field value contains the quote character, it must be escaped by doubling it, e.g. a field value of
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"The importance of the "" character"
- will be imported as
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The importance of the " character
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- When importing into an existing sub-calendar, there is no update of existing data. Duplicate events will be created.