Importing cardholders and credentials

To accelerate the setup of your system, you can import cardholders and credentials from a CSV file instead of creating them manually in Security Center.

To import a cardholder or credential:

1. From the Config Tool home page, click Tools > Import tool.
2. Enter the file path to the CSV file you want to import, and click Next.
   The Settings page opens.

   

3. In the Settings page, configure the import settings:
   1. Select the character encoding type from the Encoding list.
   2. Set the CSV field delimiters for columns, decimals, and thousand separators.
   3. (Optional) In the Start at line field, set a value of 2 or greater to reserve lines for column headings or comment lines.
   4. (Optional) Set the Maximum picture file size to minimize storage usage.
      The default value is taken from your access control system settings. Changing its value in the Import tool also changes your system settings.
   5. If the CSV file has both cardholder and credential information, select Add credential to cardholder key.
      NOTE: This option is only applicable when cardholders and credentials are imported from the same CSV file. When this solution is not applicable, other cardholder information can be used to strengthen the cardholder identification.
   6. Select the default Card format to use when a card format is not specified in the CSV file.
   7. Select one of the following Credential operation options:
      • Add:

        This is the default option. All credentials read from the CSV file are added as entities to your system. If a credential already exists in your database, it will be updated.
      • Replace:

        With this option, you can replace old credentials with new ones. On the Bindings page, you will find additional options to specify old (previous) and new credential values.
   8. Select one of the following Cardholder group operation options:
      • Add:

        This is the default option. All cardholder groups from the CSV file are added to your system as entities. If a cardholder group already exists, the cardholder will be added to the group.
      • Replace:

        With this option, you can change a preexisting cardholder's group membership. To reassign a cardholder to a new group, change their group value in the CSV file, then set the cardholder group column to Cardholder group on the Bindings page.
   9. (Optional) Set the background transparency of the imported cardholder pictures.
      If the cardholder pictures you are importing were taken in front of a chroma key screen, you can make the picture background transparent. This is helpful if you created a badge template with a background image.

      1. Set the Transparency color option to ON.
      2. Select the color of the chroma key screen the cardholder pictures were taken in front of (usually green or blue).
      3. Set transparency percentage.
   10. (Optional) Set a default Badge template for the imported cardholders.
       The badge templates must be created in Config Tool.
   11. Click Next.
       The Bindings page opens.

       

   12. For each sample value, select a corresponding database field in the Binding column.
       If you need to skip a column in your CSV file, leave the Binding column blank.

       NOTE: For entities like cardholders and credentials, a minimum amount of information is required to complete the import.
   13. (Optional) Add more fields to the cardholder key.
       If you need to differentiate cardholders, you can add additional information by selecting the Key check box net to each field you want to add to the cardholder key. The check box is disabled for ineligible fields.

       TIP: The other method to strengthen the cardholder identification is to add the credential data to the cardholder key.
4. Click Next.
   The Import tool imports the contents of your CSV file into the database. A summary window opens, confirming the number of entities imported and the number of errors encountered.
5. Click to copy and paste the contents of the report.
6. Click Close.