Import designs

When you create an import specification, part of the process is to specify an import design. The import design defines the structure and types of the entities and links that the import wizard creates from each row in your data.

Creating an import design has up to three stages:

1. If you are working with a classic specification, you can use the Select Design page of the wizard to select a representation of the relationships between the items you are importing. Otherwise, the wizard moves straight to the Assign Columns page.
2. The import design appears on the Assign Columns page as a small entity and link chart. You can edit the small chart to select which types of entity and link are created in the chart when you import your data.
3. The Assign Columns page is also where you provide the instructions that govern how values in the incoming data become the property values of entities and links. The Property and Value table, next to the import design chart, is key to building and creating records.
   Note: For a schema-aligned specification, the available entities, links, and properties depend on the i2 Analyze schema on the server that you connected to most recently. You can add custom item and property types to model data that is not supported in your current schema.