# Bulk imports (spreadsheet)

{% hint style="warning" %}
Bulk imports from a spreadsheet have been deprecated and are no longer supported. The below is retained for archival purposes only.
{% endhint %}

The spreadsheet has the following columns:

For all **date** columns:

* The format is `yyyy-mm-dd`.
* If you type in e.g. '1 Mar 20', it should automatically update to '2020-03-01'.

For all **relationships** columns:

* The related work must already have its own row in the spreadsheet.
* Its FRBR URI should be final.
* To select a related work, start typing its title in the dropdown and the list of options will shrink.
* There's no need to record both sides of a relationship in the spreadsheet; use the one that works best for your workflow.

<table data-header-hidden><thead><tr><th>Column</th><th>Description</th><th>Notes</th><th data-hidden>Examples</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Column</td><td>Description / Examples</td><td>Notes</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Core details</strong></td><td></td><td>Used for working out the FRBR URI (unique identifier).<br>Most fields are mandatory.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>country</td><td>2-letter country code: <br><strong>ZA</strong> for South Africa, <strong>KE</strong> for Kenya</td><td>Case insensitive.<br>Must be the same code as the country you're in on the platform.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>locality</td><td>locality code: <br><strong>cpt</strong> for Cape Town in South Africa</td><td>Leave blank for national legislation.<br>Case insensitive.<br>Must be the same code as the locality you're in on the platform.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_in_South_Africa"><br></a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_in_South_Africa">ZA municipalities on Wikipedia</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>title</td><td>The short title of the work: <br><strong>Criminal Procedure Act</strong></td><td>May or may not include the year at the end – house style decision.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>cap</td><td>Chapter (Cap.) number: <br><strong>12</strong> for Chapter 12</td><td>Not all countries use Chapter numbers.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>doctype</td><td>The code for the work's type: <br><strong>act</strong>, <strong>statement</strong></td><td>In most places the default is 'act', and this column can be ignored.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>subtype</td><td>The code for the work's subtype: <br><strong>ln</strong> for a Legal Notice, <strong>by-law</strong> for a By-law, <strong>p</strong> for a Proclamation, <strong>si</strong> for a Statutory Instrument</td><td>Case insensitive.<br>Leave blank for Acts.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>actor</td><td>A code decided on internally for the author of a work: <br><strong>mepc</strong></td><td><p>No spaces allowed.</p><p>Can mostly be left blank.</p></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>number</td><td>The number of the work: <br><strong>9</strong> for Act 9 of 2012, <strong>34</strong> for SI 34 of 2012</td><td>Use words separated by hyphens for works without a number and for by-laws.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>year</td><td>The year of the work: <br><strong>2012</strong> for Act 9 of 2012</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Publication details</strong></td><td></td><td>Used to try and automatically link the relevant Gazette when creating the work on the platform.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>publication_name</td><td>Usually the name of the Gazette: <br><strong>Eastern Cape Provincial Gazette</strong></td><td>For national Gazettes, try just 'Government Gazette' at first to find matches on gazettes.africa.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>publication_number</td><td>The Gazette number: <br><strong>12345</strong> for Gazette 12345 of 1 March 2020</td><td>Found on the front cover of the Gazette.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>publication_date</td><td>The Gazette date: <br><strong>2020-03-01</strong> for Gazette 12345 of 1 March 2020</td><td>Found on §the front cover of the Gazette.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>gazette link</td><td>Automatically generated based on the previous three columns, if available on gazettes.africa</td><td>Don't edit these cells, but do delete the formula if it's slowing down the spreadsheet loading (especially if no links are found).</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Other relevant dates</strong></td><td></td><td><p>Date format is <code>yyyy-mm-dd</code>.</p><p>If you type in e.g. '1 Mar 20', it should automatically update to '2020-03-01'.</p></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>assent_date</td><td>The date on which the work was signed by the relevant authority</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>commencement_date (main)</td><td>The date on which the work came or will come into force</td><td>If the work has more than one commencement date, enter the main one here.<br></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>consolidation_date</td><td>The date up to which the work has been consolidated</td><td>Leave this blank if the work hasn't been consolidated.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>as_at_date_override</td><td>The date up to which the work is up to date</td><td>Only fill this in if the place has an as-at date and the work's doesn't match.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Other info</strong></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>principal</td><td>Mark this work as principal, i.e. a work for which the content should be pulled in</td><td>An 'Import content' task will be created on bulk import.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>stub</td><td>Mark this work as a stub, i.e. a work for which the content will not be pulled in: <br>Commencement notices, amending works, repeal notices (works without substantive provisions)</td><td>Stubs are hidden by default on the works listing page (select 'Stubs' or 'All' to see them).</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>disclaimer</td><td>Include a disclaimer for this work, which will appear on the coverpage of all expressions</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>taxonomy</td><td>Optional taxonomy tag/s to be applied to the work, separated by ';'s: <br><strong>lawsafrica-special:COVID-19</strong> for the Laws.Africa Special Collection titled 'COVID-19'</td><td>Choose an item from the dropdown.<br>The taxonomy must exist on the platform first.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Passive relationships</strong></td><td></td><td><p>The related work must already have its own row in the spreadsheet, and its FRBR URI should be final.</p><p>To select a work's FRBR URI from the dropdown, start typing its title in the cell and the list of options will shrink.<br>There's no need to record both sides of a relationship in the spreadsheet; use the one that works best for your workflow.</p></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>primary_work</td><td>The FRBR URI of this work's parent / primary work</td><td>Only use for subsidiary legislation (e.g. Regulations / SIs).</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>commenced_by</td><td>The FRBR URI of a work that commences this work</td><td>Leave this blank if the work gives its own commencement date (either on publication or at another date).</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>commenced_on_date</td><td>The date on which this work is commenced by the commencing work</td><td>The commencing work will most often commence on publication, but may give a different commencement date for the work being commenced.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>amended_by</td><td>The FRBR URI of a work that amends this work</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>amended_on_date</td><td>The date on which this work is amended by the amending work</td><td>If nothing is given here, the commencement date of the amending work will be used (if it has one).</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>repealed_by</td><td>The FRBR URI of a work that repeals this work</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>repealed_on_date</td><td>The date on which this work is repealed by the repealing work</td><td>If nothing is given here, the commencement date of the repealing work will be used (if it has one).</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Active relationships</strong></td><td></td><td><p>The related work must already have its own row in the spreadsheet, and its FRBR URI should be final.</p><p>To select a work's FRBR URI from the dropdown, start typing its title in the cell and the list of options will shrink.</p><p>There's no need to record both sides of a relationship in the spreadsheet; use the one that works best for your workflow.</p></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>subleg</td><td>The FRBR URI of this work's children / subsidiary works, separated by ';'s</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>commences</td><td>The FRBR URI of a work commenced by this work</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>commences_on_date</td><td>The date on which that work is commenced by this work</td><td><p>The commencing work (i.e. the current work) will most often commence on publication, but may give a different commencement date for the work being commenced. </p><p>If nothing is given here, the commencement date of this work will be used (if it has one).</p></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>amends</td><td>The FRBR URI of a work amended by this work</td><td>If this work amends more than one work, list each on its own line (Option or Alt + Enter).</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>amends_on_date</td><td>The date on which that work is amended by this work</td><td>If nothing is given here, the commencement date of this work will be used (if it has one).</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>repeals</td><td>The FRBR URI of a work repealed by this work</td><td>If this work repeals more than one work, duplicate this work's row as many times as needed, only changing this column (and the next one if relevant).</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>repeals_on_date</td><td>The date on which that work is repealed by this work</td><td>If nothing is given here, the commencement date of this work will be used (if it has one).</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Housekeeping</strong></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Ignore</td><td>When doing a bulk import, put anything in this column and the importer will skip it. Putting a ✔ will make the cell green, to show it's been imported. Putting a "?" will make it yellow, to show research must still be done. It will be red as long as it's empty, to show it must still be imported.</td><td><p>If a work already exists and is reimported ('Ignore' is left blank), it won't be overwritten on import and will be shown as a 'Duplicate', but the taxonomy and any relationships will be linked if they weren't linked previously. </p><p>If any other non-core details were corrected on the platform in the meantime, they should be updated on the spreadsheet before it's reimported.</p></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>frbr_uri</td><td>A formula in this cell will generate the FRBR URI: <br><strong>/akn/za/act/2020/1</strong> for Act 1 of 2020 in South Africa</td><td>Do not edit this cell: <br>If it looks wrong, check the core details.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>frbr_uri_title</td><td>A formula in this cell will generate the FRBR URI followed by the title: <br><strong>/akn/za/act/2020/1</strong> - Banking Act, 2020 for Act 1 of 2020 in South Africa</td><td>This column populates the dropdown lists for all relationships.</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Comments etc</strong></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>comments</td><td>Text from this column and any others you add won't be imported; use them as a record for yourself</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>LINKS ETC (add columns as needed)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>