The better choice is to respect the default options. If you want to reimport correctly a CSV file exported from xper3 with the default options, we advice to leave the default options and don't check “Advanced options”.

• cell delimiter ⇒ ; (semicolon - by default) or , (comma - by selecting Advanced options and CSV options)
• text delimiter ⇒ “ (double quote). Useful only if a semicolon (;) is present into a cell, usually present for the numerical values, in any case it's better if you leave this double quote.
• Data in rows : Items (by default) or Descriptors (in option)
• Data in columns : Descriptors (by default) or Items (in option)
• Inapplicable state ⇒ As dependencies cannot be applied with a CSV format, inapplicable states cannot be recognized. So you have to understand that an inapplicable states will be see like a not described value. In other words put a not descrided value or an inapplicable states value will come back to the same.
• no cells should be empty

Categoricals values

• Separator between several states ⇒ & eg: {blue}&{green}
• States should be surrounded by a hug ⇒ {} eg : {Dark green} or for two states {blue}&{green}
• Unknown state ⇒ ? (Never leave an empty cell)
• Not described state ⇒ not described
• Inapplicable state : not applicable

Quantitatives values

• all values are formed by [min;max] separate by semi-colon
• the min value is less than or equal to the max value
• min and max values are integer or decimal, eg: [1;8] or [2.46;3] or [0.791;6.24]
• Into your CSV file the quantitatives values must be enclosed in double quote, eg: ”[1;8]“
• Unknown state ⇒ [?;?] (Never leave an empty cell)
• Not described state ⇒ [;]
• Inapplicable state : [not applicable]

Here you have a sample csv file that you can download and test ⇒ download CVS

;"Body colour";"Dorsal lines/stripes";"Lateral lines/stripes";"Pinacula";"Spiracles";"Anal plate";"Head";"Length"
"Agonopterix purpurea";"{Green (yellowish)}";"{Dark green}";"?";"not applicable";"?";"{Concolorous}";"{Black}";"[not applicable]"
"Agonopteri subpropinquella";"{Dull/greyish green}";"{Slightly darker}";"?";"{Black}";"{Pink}";"not applicable";"{Black}";"[2;3]"
"Agonopteri propinquella";"{Apple green}";"not described";"{White}";"{Dark grey}";"{Black}";"{Green}";"{Black}";"[?;?]"
"Agonopteri heracliana";"{Green (yellowish)}";"{Darker green}";"{White}";"{Black}";"{Pink}";"{Concolorous}&{dots}";"{Green (yellowish)}";"[;]"

The same example but with a comma cell delimiter
Note : in this case you need select “Advanced options” and select the comma cell delimiter.

,"Body colour","Dorsal lines/stripes","Lateral lines/stripes","Pinacula","Spiracles","Anal plate","Head","Length"
"Agonopterix purpurea","{Green (yellowish)}","{Dark green}","?","not applicable","?","{Concolorous}","{Black}","[not applicable]"
"Agonopteri subpropinquella","{Dull/greyish green}","{Slightly darker}","?","{Black}","{Pink}","not applicable","{Black}","[2;3]"
"Agonopteri propinquella","{Apple green}","not described","{White}","{Dark grey}","{Black}","{Green}","{Black}","[?;?]"
"Agonopteri heracliana","{Green (yellowish)}","{Darker green}","{White}","{Black}","{Pink}","{Concolorous}&{dots}","{Green (yellowish)}","[;]"

Example with Data in rows : Descriptors and Data in columns : Items

;"Agonopterix purpurea";"Agonopteri subpropinquella";"Agonopteri propinquella";"Agonopteri heracliana"
"Body colour";"{Green (yellowish)}";"{Dull/greyish green}";"{Apple green}";"{Green (yellowish)}"
"Dorsal lines/stripes";"{Dark green}";"{Slightly darker}";"not described";"{Darker green}"
"Lateral lines/stripes";"?";"?";"{White}";"{White}"
"Pinacula";"not applicable";"{Black}";"{Dark grey}";"{Black}"
"Spiracles";"?";"{Pink}";"{Black}";"{Pink}"
"Anal plate";"{Concolorous}";"not applicable";"{Green}";"{Concolorous}&{dots}"
"Head";"{Black}";"{Black}";"{Black}";"{Green (yellowish)}"
"Length";"[not applicable]";"[2;3]";"[?;?]";"[;]"

We suggest using OpenOffice or Libreoffice to build the CSV files, but this should be possible with the Microsoft Suite.

• Save your file as csv
• Select “Edit filter settings” as bellow.

• Select the parameters as below. The UTF8 character set is recommended particularly in the case of accented characters such as French or Spanish