Preparing CSV Files

The first row in a CSV file lists the field names for the object that you're processing. Each subsequent row corresponds to a record in Salesforce. A record consists of a series of fields that are delimited by commas. A CSV file can contain multiple records and constitutes a batch.

All the records in a CSV file must be for the same object. You specify this object in the job associated with the batch. All batches associated with a job must contain records for the same object.

Note the following when processing CSV files with the Bulk API:

• The Bulk API doesn't support any delimiter except for a comma.
• The Bulk API is optimized for processing large sets of data and has a strict format for CSV files. See Valid CSV Record Rows. The easiest way to process CSV files is to enable Bulk API for Data Loader.
• You must include all required fields when you create a record. You can optionally include any other field for the object.
• If you're updating a record, any fields that aren't defined in the CSV file are ignored during the update.
• Files must be in UTF-8 format.