GuardPoint Pro - How do you import CSV cardholder files?

GuardPoint Pro has the facility to import cardholders from CSV files.
To do this we need to setup & configure ODBC data sources through windows and then create an import profile in GuardPointPro. However, before we start with the ODBC configuration, download the test.zip from here and extract the test.csv to your GuardPoint Pro folder.

Setup & Configure ODBC data sources

1. In Windows go to Control Panel\System and Security\Administrative Tools Double click on to the ODBC Data Sources (32-bit)

2. The ODBC data source administrator window will open

At the User DSN tab click Add

The add data source window will open.
Select Microsoft text driver and click finish

The ODBC Text setup window will open. Give the configuration a memorable Name and description in the Data Source Name field

From the Tables list select the test.csv
Click into the Column Name Header
From the Format drop down list select Custom Delimited
For the Delimter field use the ; symbol

Rows to Scan can be left at 25 [if using your own test with more than 25 rows, expand this number to the rows of your sheet]
Characters should have the OEM selected

The Columns should now self populate with the columns from the test.csv sheet. 
If this does not happen then click the Guess button
Click the OK button

Back at the ODBC data Source Administration Window click OK, the window will close.

Configuration of GuardPoint Pro import profile
At the GuardPointPro main menu click Tools then Cardholders Import Profile:

The Cardholders Import profile will now open.

Select New from the General tab, name the new import profile something memorable and Save

Now select the Connection Settings Tab:

Give the settings profile a name in the ODBC Database Source Name (DSN) field.
Select the SQL statement radio button and paste this statement into the box:

SELECT [Index] AS [Number], [LastName] AS [Last Name], [FirstName] AS [First Name], [CardNumber] AS [Badge] FROM test.csv

Note:
If your row names in the CSV are the same as those of which GPP is expecting you cannot use "AS" in the statement.
SELECT [Number] AS [Number] FROM cards.csv - will not work
it must be
SELECT [Number] FROM cards.csv - which will work

Click Save
Click the Import Now button
Once the import is complete you will see notification on the GuardPointPro log screen.

There is also a log of the import available in txt format in the guardPointPro folder called:
Import_[date]log
Its output will inform you if the import has been successful and what was imported

Once we have a successful import we can then synchronise the GPP database with CSV file.
This feature can be configured to import on a time schedule using the ACM module in GuardPoint Pro

Synchronise the GuardPoint Pro database with the CSV file when importing
At the main GuardPoint Pro menu go to Tools> Cardholder import profile

At the cardholder import profile window select your test CSV profile you made earlier, click into the synchronise and delete check box and save

Click the Import now button.
GuardPoint Pro will now synchronise its cardholder database with the contents of the CSV file including deleting any cardholders not currently in the CSV file.

This can be particularly usefull if a 3rd party database like active directory or an ERP is able to export its users to CSV.

Configuring GuardPoint Pro CSV import on a schedule.
After you have configured GuardPointPro to import CSV files we can then set GuardPointPro to import the CSV file on a schedule.

Note: To use this feature GuardPointPro needs the ACM module
At the GuardPointPro main menu click Event Handling> Action

At the Action screen click New.

Give the new action a memorable name.
For Action type select Import Cardholder from the drop down list.
For Select a profile select the CSV profile you made earlier.
Save the action.
Click Make it a process button—You will receive an on screen message saying the process has been successfully created

At the GuardPoint Pro main menu select Event handling> Global Reflex

The Global Reflex screen will open.

Click New to create a new Global Reflex.
Give the new Global Reflex a memorable name
Ensure Executed by has PC software selected [This means that the Global reflex will only be triggered if GuardPointPro is open & running]

Click onto the Global reflex screen properties tab

For Event Type select Scheduler - we have to now select when the import will happen.
In my example I want the import to happen everyday at 00.01, choosing any day, any month, 00 hour & 01 minutes.

The scheduler will now run every day of the year at 00.01.
For Process select the process you made earlier
Click save