In this tutorial, we demonstrate how to import data from your existing Word or Excel ITPs into CivilPro Desktop App.
Two key ways to add ITPs into CivilPro:
- Format ITPs then bulk import data (as per this video); or
- Create each line item within the ITP in CivilPro (using '+ New Inspection Item') and copy and paste data into relevant fields
Pros / cons of each:
- By bulk importing, the formatting (lists, font bolding etc.) can be affected and require tweaking in CivilPro, however you can avoid a lot of copy pasting.
- By creating each line item within CivilPro, formatting is usually preserved. However, for longer ITPs there is a bit of copy pasting of each field.
Create an ITP guide here (for Web App, but same principles apply), providing further explanation of the above options
SAVE TIME: we have had success in getting ChatGPT / Gemini to do the majority of our formatting from an Excel / Word document into a CSV format. We can then import this CSV file directly into CivilPro. This saves having to do all of the formatting in Excel (2:02mins - 4:10mins in the video), but is a more advanced workflow and requires careful review of content reproduced by ChatGPT / Gemini.
Example of prompt (copy entirety of the below, and attach ITP file into ChatGPT / Gemini):
Hello, Please act as an expert data processor. Your task is to convert the content of the attached document, which is an Inspection and Test Plan (ITP), into a clean Comma Separated Values (CSV) format suitable for import into other software. The primary challenge to solve is that the source document contains cells with multiple lines of text. When this is copied manually, it creates unwanted extra rows. Your output must correct this. Please follow these instructions precisely: 1. Identify Logical Rows: A new row in the output CSV must correspond to a single logical row in the source ITP. A new logical row begins whenever there is content in the first column. Subsequent lines that are part of the same logical activity (which often have the first column blank in the source document) should be consolidated into the single logical row identified by the content in that first column. 2. Consolidate Cell Content: For each logical row, you must combine all text within a single cell into one continuous line. If a cell in the document has multiple lines or paragraphs, these must be concatenated into a single string with a space character separating the original lines. 3. Output Format: The final output must be in Comma Separated Values (CSV) format. * The first line of the output must be the header row, with column names separated by commas. * Each subsequent line must represent one complete logical row from the ITP. * Crucially, enclose every field in double quotes (`"`) to ensure that commas or other special characters within the cell content do not break the CSV structure. 4. Strict Output: Provide ONLY the raw CSV data. Do not include any introductory text, explanations, summaries, or markdown formatting (like ` ```csv ... ```) in your response. Please process the attached ITP document now.
General process:
1. Copy prompt as below, and paste within ChatGPT / Gemini
2. Within ChatGPT / Gemini, attach the source ITP in Word / Excel format, and initiate prompt
3. Copy entire output (use 'Copy' button at base of response)
4. Open Notepad application in Windows, paste output
5. Click Save As, type in suitable File Name followed by '.csv' - e.g. Clear and Grub.csv
6. Change 'Save as type:' to 'All Files' and save
7. Use Import from CSV functionality in Desktop App as per above video and article below: https://civilpro.zendesk.com/hc/en-us...
This process removes lists and formatting, so following import, you'll need to open each line item and redo lists OR copy / paste in the source 'Description' that includes the correct formatting. This is still time effective, as all other columns are populated.