File Format Requirements

CSV parsing rules, encoding standards, and formatting specifications

File Format Specification

All data files must be submitted in CSV format using pipe (|) delimiters, following these specifications:

Property	Value	Notes
File Extension	.csv	Required
Encoding	UTF-8	Required
Line Endings	CRLF or LF	Both accepted
Header Row	Required	First row must contain column names

Delimiter and Quoting

Property	Value	Notes
Field Delimiter	Pipe (|)	ASCII 124
Quote Character	Double quote (")	Use when field contains pipe, newline, or quote
Escape Character	Backslash (\)	Use backslash to escape special characters within quoted fields
Multi-value Delimiter	Semicolon + space (; )	Used for Race, Disabilities, and other multi-value fields

Quoting Examples

# Field with pipe - must be quoted
"Smith, Jr."|John|1990-05-15

# Field with quote - escape with backslash
"O\'Brien"|Mary|1985-03-20

# Field with newline - must be quoted
"123 Main St
Apt 4B"|Denver|80202

Data Types

Text Fields

Format Code	Description	Example
x(n)	Fixed/variable text up to n characters	x(50) = up to 50 characters

Date and Time Formats

Format	Pattern	Example	Notes
Date	YYYY-MM-DD	2024-01-15	ISO 8601 format
Timestamp	YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS.FF	2024-01-15 14:30:00.00	24-hour format, Mountain Time, with fractional seconds

All timestamps are interpreted as Mountain Time (MT). Do not include timezone offsets.

Numeric Formats

Format	Description	Example
9(n)	Integer up to n digits	9(5) = 0-99999

Boolean Values

Boolean fields use the bit data type and accept strictly:

Value	Meaning
1	True / Yes
0	False / No

Only 1 and 0 are accepted for boolean (bit) fields. Do not use Y, N, YES, NO, TRUE, or FALSE.

Null and Empty Values

Representation	Interpretation
Empty field (||)	NULL / not provided
Whitespace only (| |)	NULL (trimmed to empty)
NULL (literal text)	Treated as the string “NULL”, not as null

Example

RECORD_TYPE|TRANSACTION_TYPE|CLIENT_ID|MIDDLE_NAME|SUFFIX
CLI|A|CLT-001||Jr.
CLI|A|CLT-002|James|

In this example:

• Row 1: MIDDLE_NAME is null, SUFFIX is “Jr.”
• Row 2: MIDDLE_NAME is “James”, SUFFIX is null

Column Order

Column order must be maintained exactly as defined in each schema specification. All headers must be present and correctly spelled.

Required Headers

Each schema specifies required headers.

File Size Limits

Limit	Value
Maximum file size	100 MB
Maximum rows per file	1,000,000

For large data sets, split files by record type and submit separately. Each file should contain only one record type.

Recommendation — This section contains guidance developed by the documentation team to supplement the CoBHRM specification. Reviewers should evaluate whether to adopt, modify, or remove this content.

Validation Sequence

Files are processed in this order:

1. File Format Validation

   Verify CSV structure, encoding, and header presence

2. Header Validation

   Check that all required headers are present and correctly named

3. Row-Level Validation

   Validate each row against schema rules (data types, required fields, code values)

4. Cross-Field Validation

   Check conditional requirements and field relationships

5. Referential Validation

   Verify foreign key relationships to parent records

Recommendation — This section contains guidance developed by the documentation team to supplement the CoBHRM specification. Reviewers should evaluate whether to adopt, modify, or remove this content.

Common Format Errors

Error	Cause	Resolution
Invalid encoding	File not saved as UTF-8	Re-save file with UTF-8 encoding
Missing header row	File does not start with a header row	Add a header row with all column names
Missing column	Required column not in header row	Add missing column to the header and data rows
Unescaped quote, pipe, or special character	Quote character inside unquoted field	Quote the entire field and escape internal quotes
Invalid date	Date not in YYYY-MM-DD format	Reformat dates to ISO 8601
Trailing delimiter	Extra pipe at end of row	Remove trailing pipe