Quoting

Learn how quoting works in import files and how it affects field parsing.

Quoting settings specify how your text fields are encapsulated. It's an important part of correctly handling data that includes delimiters.

In this article, we explain your quoting options when importing product data, and why quoting is important.

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Quoting options in Channable

When importing product data from a data file, you'll be prompted to select your Quoting type.

• Automatically detect: Channable will attempt to automatically identify your quoting method.
• Yes: Select this if the text fields in your data file are enclosed in quotation marks (e.g. "product name", "description"). This tells Channable to treat everything within the quotes as a single field.
• No: Select this if your data fields aren't enclosed in quotation marks.

Why selecting the right quoting is important

If quoting is determined incorrectly, it can affect how Channable interprets your data.

Example:

• Delimiter chosen: comma (,)
• Description without quotes:

  100% cotton, breathable, and stylish shirt

  The comma in the description may be misinterpreted as a field separator, causing the row to be parsed incorrectly.
• Description with quotes:

  "100% cotton, breathable, and stylish shirt"

  The entire quoted text will be treated as a single field, preventing commas inside the text from splitting the row.

If your text fields can contain delimiter characters (commas, semicolons, tabs, etc.), ensure quoting is enabled or your file uses a quoting convention so those characters are not treated as field separators.