Import and Export Contract Data

Estimated Read Time: 5 minutes

Sections in this article:

Export Contract Data
Export Options
Customise the Export File
Bulk Import Contracts
Manage Import Errors
Troubleshooting

Bulk exporting and re-importing contract metadata is a way to change values stored in your Gatekeeper contracts repository en-masse. You can create new records or update existing ones using the Gatekeeper ID as a unique identifier.

➡️ If no Gatekeeper ID is populated, the import function will infer that row is a new contract and create a new contract record.

➡️ If the Gatekeeper ID is populated, the import function will match the row to the existing record and overwrite the data.

Export Contract Data

Exporting your contract data makes it easier to update existing records during a bulk import. To export your contract data:

From the navigation menu, expand Vault then click Contracts.
Click Export, then select the relevant option.

Export Options

There are several options available for exporting the data:

Export Option	Description	Notes
CSV \| All Pages	All exportable data from all pages, ignoring any filtering and column configuration. This view is primarily used for bulk updates when a complete export of all data columns is required, regardless of the user’s filtered view. This option includes all available data fields; however, system or hidden fields are only included if they are part of the default export structure.	If you're using the data to bulk update your records later, the import file requires all metadata columns. Therefore, it's recommended to select one of these options.
CSV \| Current Page	All exportable data from the current page, ignoring any filtering and column configuration. This is useful for users who need a quick export of visible data without navigating multiple pages.
CSV \| This View \| All Pages	All exportable data from all pages, using the current filtering and column configuration.	If you want to export vendor data that you have configured to be displayed on the contract list view, you must use one of these options.
CSV \| This View \| Current Page	All exportable data from the current page, using the current filtering and column configuration. This is useful if you have filters applied and want to export the data exactly as it is displayed in Gatekeeper.

Customise the Export File

Prior to exporting, there are various ways to customise the data included in the file. You can filter by status or other data values, such as contract type. You can also configure the columns to show or hide certain fields. See

Filter by Status

By default, Gatekeeper applies a filter of Pipeline & Live, so your export will only include these contracts. See Configure your Vault Views for further details.

Bulk Import Contracts

The bulk import method is useful when you have multiple new contracts to be created, or existing records to update, and do not wish to use the UI to do this one-by-one.

When performing a bulk import, you can either use a blank template (best for creating new records) or modify a previously exported file to update existing records.

Import with a blank template

From the navigation menu, expand the Vault then click Contracts.
Click Add, then select Bulk Import.
Select Download Template to download a blank version of the template.
Populate the file with the relevant data. Detailed instructions are available on the page within Gatekeeper, including field by field import rules.
Return to Gatekeeper and click Choose File to locate your import file.
Once your file has been chosen, click Upload.
Review the Summary then click Import Data to finalise the import.

Note: For new records, you must leave the Gatekeeper ID column blank.

Import data with an existing file

From the navigation menu, expand the Vault then click Contracts.
Click Add, then select Bulk Import. Detailed instructions are available on the page within Gatekeeper, including field by field import rules.
Click Choose File to locate your import file, then click Upload.
Review the Summary and click Import Data to finalise the import

Note:

When editing existing records, you don't need to include all fields in your import file. You can add or remove columns based on your requirements, as long as the Gatekeeper ID column is included.
The import template and instructions are all dynamically updated with any custom data you create within your contract data model.

Manage Import Errors

If the import file contains errors, you will be presented with a summary table that will assist you in fixing the errors. Please fix all of the errors in your spreadsheet before attempting to reimport.

If you would like further support on getting your contract data into Gatekeeper, please reach out to your assigned Professional Services Consultant.

Note: If a bulk import fails, Gatekeeper will not perform any updates. For example, if you have 1000 rows of data with 1 error, that will block the import process. This is so you can correct errors from your import file and immediately re-import without having to remove correct rows.

Troubleshooting

Encoding Error

This error generally occurs when the uploaded file isn’t in a UTF-8 format.

If you have access to Google Sheets:

Create a new Google Sheets document.
Import your CSV file.
Click File, then select Download As, and Comma-Separated Values to save the file to your device.

This downloads the file in UTF-8 encoding.

If you have access to Excel:

Open and alter the import template in Excel.
Save it as a CSV file.
Open the CSV file in Notepad.
Click Save As, then remove the .csv at the end of the filename, and select UTF-8 as the encoding type.
Find the saved file and alter the .txt at the end of the filename to .csv
Click OK on the warning about changing the file type
Import the new file into Gatekeeper.