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INSTRUCTIONS FOR IMPORTING DATA INTO SCHEDULE A

Download this spreadsheet - Schedule A template by right-clicking and clicking  “Save” or "Save Target to..."   You may name the file any name.

Follow these rules:

All of the columns must be on the spreadsheet in exactly the same order as the downloaded file.

You may resize the width of a column and change the font

The spreadsheet must have only one "worksheet" (see the tab at the bottom) and it must be named "Sheet1"

The column headings in row 1 on the downloaded file must be on the sheet you import on row 1 the same way.

There must be no blank lines until the end of your list.

The transactions must all be for Schedule A - Contributions, and no other form.

A single spreadsheet may have no more than 2,500 records, but you may upload more than one spreadsheet if you have more than 2,500 Schedule A transactions.

Only upload the transactions ONCE.

These fields are required:

Contribution Date - this MUST be a date within the range of the dates on your cover sheet page 1
- For January 15, 2009 filings this will be the period 7/1/08 to 12/31/08 for most filers
- The dates must appear in the mm/dd/yyyy format, like 10/12/2008, not as "Oct-12-2008" or some other format

NAME – Person’s name or Business name is required

There must either be a valid person's name in the First Name and Last Name fields, or there must be a business/organization name in the "Contributor organization" field

A compound first name like "Jack & Jill" is allowed in the first Name field.

"Contributor organization" is for a business or an organization. Do not use "Contributor organization" for a person’s name.

The only "Titles" allowed are "Mr", "Ms", "Mrs", and "Dr". Others such as "Rev", "Hon" and "Judge" are not allowed. Do not add the period at the end of "Mr/Ms/Mrs/Dr". You may leave the field blank

Only put one character for Middle Initial. For example, do not put "H."; only put the "H" The system will reject more than one character.

It is allowed to put both a person’s name and a organization name.

ADDRESS – Street Address or P O Box is required
                       (INPUT ONLY ONE OF THE TWO – NOT BOTH)

There must be a valid mailing address - but DO NOT put both a P O Box and a House Number and Street Name(or you will get an error when you import)

For a valid street address, both a House Number and Street Name is required, and “Apt or Suite” is optional (You may put or omit "#" in the apartment number - it is not required)

For a P O Box, ONLY PUT THE P O BOX.  Do not put a House Number , Street Name or “Apt or Suite” on the same line with a P O Box
- Don't type "P.O. Box" - just type the number

The Street Name may not contain commas, so don't type "Marilla, 5th floor". Put the "5thFl" or suite information in the “Apt or Suite” field

The “Apt or Suite” field allows only 5 characters

Transaction  amount - it must be a positive number with no more than 2 decimals

City

State - 2 character abbreviation - only the standard codes from the postal service are accepted

Zip Code – This is formatted as text in order to allow a leading zero to be shown

 These Fields are optional:

Title, MI (middle initial) and Suffix of a person's name, and NickName
- Middle Initial must be blank or only 1 character

Apt or Suite

Zip Code Extension

In Kind Description  

ADDITIONAL WARNINGS

If you have a donation from an out-of-state PAC, it must be entered through the web form in order to input the PAC ID number.

Any record that has an apostrophe anywhere in the name fields will upload properly and display properly. But later, if you want to use that name again by clicking on it, or you want to edit that name and address later in the Campaign Finance application, you will not be able to use or edit the address. (Hint: Type "Kinkos" instead of "Kinko's) This applies only to First Name, Last Name, and Contributor Organization.

ERROR MESSAGES WHEN IMPORTING
The system will give you an error message table showing any omitted, required information. It will show the information on the line with the error and state specifically what has to be corrected.

BLANK LINES may attempt to import.. This will cause errors that say you are missing all of the data on a line. There must be no blank lines within the block of your data. If there are any stray blank characters below your data, this will also cause a "blank line" error. It fix this, delete about 100 lines below where the data stops to eliminate any stray blanks.

Field sizes and Rules:

Dallas City Council meeting minutes are prepared under the authority of the City Secretary, Deborah Watkins © City of Dallas, 2005 1500 Marilla Street Dallas, TX 75201 www.dallascityhall.com All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer