If record has already been imported, is there anyway to change the import id?

Chris Li

Once a constituent record is imported in the system, is there anyway change the import id? ? In other words, I want to change the import id of old existing constituent records. Because I don’t want the import id to be a random number that are generated by the system (e.g 00000-000-000000000), I want it to be a specific number that I want to specify (e.g donor number: 12345). The records I want import were supposed to be donor numbers, but instead the record import id was not specified and the system assigned a random number.

Alex Wong

@Chris Li
you cannot change import id once it is created. Import ID can be specified at the time of creating new constituent only.

For a constituent record, there are essentially 3 IDs:

• Constituent System Record ID
  • cannot be specified at creation time
  • cannot be changed
  • can only be queried
• Constituent Import ID
  • can be specified at creation time via RE database view native constituent import
  • cannot be changed afterward
  • can be queried on, can be used in future import to identify existing record
• Constituent ID
  • can be specified at creation time via RE database view native constituent import
  • can be changed afterward (if business rule did not forbid it)
  • can be queried on, can be used in future import to identify existing record

I don't know why you need constituent import id to be the way you want it, you have Constituent ID for that purpose.

Dariel Dixon

I can't agree more to @Alex Wong's post. I don't know if there is a need for this, as it can be exported out if necessary. With Constituent ID being able to be a user defined and changeable ID field, I don't know if it makes sense to be edited after creation.

Christine Robertson

@Chris Li Did you put the number as the Constituent ID or in the field for the SSN instead?

Chris Li

@Christine Robertson No, I haven't put the number into those fields. How would that help?

Christine Robertson

@Chris Li You can't change Import IDs, but those two fields can also be used to identify records when importing. The SSN field is a bit tricky though as it has encryption functionality to protect actual SSNs. So, if you have a specific donor number that you want to use on existing records, one of those fields might be an option.

Alex Wong

@Chris Li
Everything you do in RE goes back to what you are trying to achieve as a business/org.

Is there any particular reason why you are fixated on constituent import id? I do not suggest using SSN field for anything other than SSN. If you want to define “an ID” that conforms to your naming convention, use Constituent ID.