Dependencies in Import CSV Issue - Why won't you be a dependent?

Guys,

Help. I’m on my wits end. I checked on the forum and the guide. Some say use “dependents” some say “dependent” as a column header.

I did a small sample test and it worked with Dependent as a header.

When I do it on a dummy project, it really does not take the Dependent well but just an additional string tag.

Name,Start Date,Due Date,Dependent,Section/Column
Andorra,3/2/22,3/4/22,Algeria,Albania
Angola,3/7/22,3/7/22,Andorra,Argentina
Antigua and Barbuda,3/8/22,3/14/22,Angola,Argentina
Armenia,3/15/22,3/21/22,Albania,Argentina
Australia,3/22/22,3/28/22,Armenia,Argentina
Austria,3/29/22,3/29/22,Australia,Azerbaijan
The Bahamas,3/15/22,3/21/22,Antigua and Barbuda,Azerbaijan
Bahrain,3/22/22,3/22/22,The Bahamas,Azerbaijan
Bangladesh,3/30/22,3/30/22,Austria,Belarus
Barbados,3/31/22,3/31/22,Bangladesh,Belarus
Belgium,3/30/22,4/12/22,Austria,Belarus
Belize,4/13/22,4/18/22,Belgium,Belarus
Benin,4/19/22,4/25/22,Belize,Belarus
Bhutan,4/26/22,4/26/22,Benin,Botswana
Bolivia,4/27/22,5/5/22,Bhutan,Botswana
Bosnia and Herzegovina,5/6/22,5/6/22,Bolivia,Botswana
Brazil,5/9/22,5/23/22,Belarus,Botswana
Brunei,5/24/22,5/30/22,Brazil,Botswana
Bulgaria,5/31/22,6/6/22,Brunei,Botswana
Burkina Faso,6/7/22,6/7/22,Bulgaria,Cabo Verde
Burundi,6/8/22,6/14/22,Burkina Faso,Cabo Verde
Cambodia,4/26/22,5/11/22,Benin,Cabo Verde
Cameroon,5/12/22,5/17/22,Cambodia,Cabo Verde
Canada,5/18/22,5/18/22,Cameroon,Central African Republic
Chad,5/9/22,5/13/22,Belarus,Central African Republic
Chile,5/17/22,5/18/22,Chad,Central African Republic
China,5/19/22,5/25/22,Chile,Comoros
Colombia,5/26/22,5/27/22,China,Comoros
“Congo, Democratic Republic of the”,6/15/22,6/21/22,Botswana,Comoros
“Congo, Republic of the”,6/22/22,6/23/22,“Congo, Democratic Republic of the”,Comoros
Costa Rica,6/24/22,6/30/22,“Congo, Republic of the,China”,Croatia
Côte d’Ivoire,7/1/22,7/4/22,Costa Rica,Croatia
Cuba,6/22/22,6/24/22,“Congo, Democratic Republic of the”,Croatia
Cyprus,6/27/22,6/27/22,Cuba,Croatia
Czech Republic,7/1/22,7/5/22,“Cyprus,Costa Rica”,Djibouti
Denmark,7/6/22,7/7/22,Czech Republic,Djibouti
Dominica,7/8/22,7/8/22,“Central African Republic,Comoros,Croatia”,Djibouti
Dominican Republic,7/12/22,7/25/22,Dominica,Djibouti
East Timor (Timor-Leste),7/26/22,8/1/22,Dominican Republic,Egypt
Ecuador,8/2/22,8/4/22,East Timor (Timor-Leste),Egypt
El Salvador,6/27/22,7/1/22,Cuba,Egypt
Equatorial Guinea,7/26/22,7/28/22,“El Salvador,Dominican Republic”,Egypt
Eritrea,7/29/22,7/29/22,Equatorial Guinea,Estonia
Eswatini,8/5/22,8/8/22,Ecuador,Estonia
Ethiopia,8/10/22,8/16/22,Eswatini,Estonia
Fiji,8/17/22,8/18/22,Ethiopia,Estonia
Finland,8/19/22,8/19/22,Fiji,Estonia

Hi @anon89245342 , I feel your pain but I’m sure you can crack this.
The issue is that during the CSV import, it is converting your Dependencies fields into a simple text field as is clear from your last screenshot of the task details.

First of all, make sure you setup your project with all the custom fields you require BEFORE you import your CSV.

Then when you go to Import your CSV, the trick is to make sure you select ‘Make changes’ during the CSV import process (instead of the blue button ‘Go to project’). This will allow you to edit the fields that are being mapped to the fields in your project.

Find your field with your dependencies and from the field header’s dropdown menu, scroll all the way down and select ‘Dependents’. NOTE: the values in your CSV for dependents needs to be EXACLTY the same as the task’s name, otherwise the choice will be greyed out; if it is, hover your mouse over the greyed out ‘Dependents’ and a pop-up label should tell you what is invalid in your CSV file so you can go back to check it :wink:

If you have any other issues, you can try experimenting with the two buttons on the far right ‘X columns ignored’ and ‘UTF-8’ where you can change the encoding.

Once you have checked that all your other fields all mapped correctly (single-select fields or multi-sleect fields, etc) then hit the blue button Continue to project’. :crossed_fingers:

Let me know how you do!

Also forgot to mention, as per this article that “The dependent task should be located above the current row in the CSV file. If there are non-unique names in your CSV, the closest row above with a matching name will be used.” (see the example in the article how the rows are ordered).

I think this should solve your issue!

1 Like

Thanks so much!