Generate a csv tool
idea
A tool for creating csv files.
Why we are building this
A number of the data schemas are made up of multiple linked lists, for example the local plans schema. Where these have to be made by hand (as opposed to being generated by software) we believe that we can make a tool that helps remove some of the complexity and makes it a more intuative task.
Hypotheses
- not all the the land and housing data will exist in systems (in a way that can be exported)
- a tool that helps create csv files can remove some of the complexity such as defining links between data and creating unique identifiers
- we can overcome some of the things that have been problematic, such as correctly formatting dates and outputting correctly encoded file types
- providing validation and feedback at the point of creating csv files will lead to better quality data being published
What we've done so far
When creating development plan documents and development policies with Buckinghamshire, Lambeth and Southwark councils we learnt that:
- creating IDs by hand that were unique was not intuative and became problematic
- linking the development policies back to the development plan document was time consuming and error prone
- the use of spreadsheet software introduced formatting and encoding issues
Help improve this page
If you’ve got a question, idea or suggestion share it with the digital land team on github or email us on digitalland@communities.gov.uk