I recently went through a process of importing data to a Data Type  - here is a quick guide 👇 

• Pega is equipped with a handy Data Import wizard allowing easily to import records to a Data Type
• possible Wizard’s transactions include:
  • INSERT or UPDATE rows
  • only INSERT rows
  • TRUNCATE rows (no rollback possible)
• the wizard supports the migration of data
  • there are data migration settings allowing to disable costly transactions in the system (for the time of the migration) 

• to access the Data Import wizard:
  • from the Data types pane select the Data type that you want to import to
  • navigate to the Records tab
• for TRUNCATE you need to provide pyGUIDs of rows to be deleted
• this guide describes the INSERT or UPDATE rows option
  • all activities were performed in the Pega Trail environment in a cloud

Obtain the template

• using a template for an import ensures no additional mapping between source fields and target properties is required
• to export the template:
  • click on the Export link to obtain the CSV file corresponding to the Data Type 

Prepare the import file

• now, you can populate the template with records
• in case you need to match existing records (INSERT or TRUNCATE)
  • ensure that you provide matching records (e.g. pyGUID)
• for INSERT
  • you can leave the pyGUID field blank 
  • system will automatically generate required identifiers

Start the import

• once you have your file ready navigate again to the Records of the Data type
  • click Import and follow instructions the system displays
• Upload file (1/4)
  • select the Purpose of the import from the drop-down list
    • upload the import file 
• Map fields (2/4)
  • specify a matching field for existing records if needed 
  • provide mapping for fields detected by the wizard
    • when using the template you may apply the 1-to-1 mapping 
  • keep in mind you may define the Default values for empty fields 
  • additionally, it is possible to define Mapping options e.g. to utilize  a Decision table when processing rows
• Import options (3/4)
  • you may save current settings as a template 
  • here a validation of records that will be imported takes place (an optional step)
  • in my case the validation of half a million rows took 0:04:29 
• Validate and review (4/4)
  • based on the validation results you can:
    • either proceed with the import
    • or cancel it
  • importing about a half a million rows (80MB CSV file) took about 00:09:57 ​​​
• on the pega/Pega Labs environment validation and import times were noticeable shorter
  • for validation -> 0:00:12
  • for import -> 0:01:17