Importing Projects
Bring your existing records into DrillerDB instead of retyping them. Upload PDF well reports and DrillerDB reads each one and builds a project for you to review. Contacts, equipment and your price list come in from CSV files.
Importing is free. There is no per-page charge and no page limit.
Quick Start
| You have | Where to go | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Well reports, driller's logs, completion reports | Import in the sidebar | |
| Your customer and vendor list | Contacts > Import | CSV |
| Your fleet and equipment list | Equipment > Import | CSV |
| Your parts and price list | Products & Services > Import | CSV |
Open Import in the sidebar to reach all four.
An import cannot be undone in bulk. There is no rollback button. Review the projects in the review step before you approve them, and start with a small batch the first time.
Step-by-Step: Import well reports from PDF
- Click Import in the sidebar, then New Import
- Add your files. You can pick individual files, a whole folder, or a folder whose files all belong to one project
- The import starts. There is no payment step
- Wait while DrillerDB reads the documents. Large batches take a while and you can leave the page
- Open the review queue and check each project it built
- Approve the ones you want, skip the ones you do not
- Approved projects appear under Projects with the source PDF attached
The wizard shows you where you are: Upload, Processing, Review, Results.
What documents work best
| Document type | How well it reads |
|---|---|
| Well completion reports | Excellent |
| State well forms | Excellent |
| Driller's logs | Good |
| Geological surveys | Good |
| Handwritten or scanned pages | Works, but expect more corrections |
Clear, high-resolution PDFs need the fewest corrections. If you have a mix, import the clean ones first.
What gets read out of the document
DrillerDB looks for the things you would otherwise retype:
The customer and the site
- Well owner name, phone, email and mailing address
- Site address, city, state, ZIP and county
- GPS coordinates and legal description when the document has them
The well log
- Total depth, static water level, pumping water level
- Yield test duration and results
- Formation layers with from and to depths
- Casing, liner and screen rows with diameter, material and depths
- Grout and sealing rows
The pump log
- Install date, pump and pressure tank details
- Water test type, yield, drawdown and test hours
- Bacteria and mineral results when they are on the page
Paperwork
- Drilling start and completion dates
- Permit numbers
- Separation distances where the form asks for them
It also picks up line items and notes it finds, so a report that doubles as an invoice brings its charges across.
Reviewing what it found
Nothing is created until you approve it. In the review queue you can:
- Open each project and correct any field before approving
- Approve projects one at a time, or approve the whole queue
- Skip a project you do not want
Fields carry a confidence indicator. Check the low-confidence ones first, and always check depths and the site address.
Step-by-Step: Import contacts, equipment or your price list
These three come in from CSV files, each from its own page.
- Go to Contacts, Equipment, or Products & Services
- Click Import
- Upload your CSV. It needs a header row and at least one row of data
- Check the column mapping. DrillerDB suggests a match for each of your columns, and you can set any column to Skip
- Review the preview, then import
For contacts, DrillerDB looks for duplicates by business name plus phone or email, and tells you row by row what it skipped and why.
Export from your old system as CSV, not Excel. If your file is .xlsx, open it and use Save As to write a .csv first.
Tracking your imports
The Import page lists your imports with their status. From there you can:
- Watch progress on an import that is still running
- Jump back into the review queue for anything waiting on you
- Open a finished import to see what it created
There is no bulk undo. To remove something an import created, delete those projects individually.
Spreadsheets of past projects
The new console does not read a spreadsheet of projects. It reads PDF well reports, and CSV files for contacts, equipment and products.
If your project history is in a spreadsheet, the practical path is to bring your customer list in through Contacts, then either enter the projects by hand or ask us whether your state's well index already has those wells on file. A spreadsheet project import does exist in the classic app under File Import, which accepts Excel or CSV files up to 25MB and maps your columns for you.
Who can import
Import is available to Admin, Office and Technician users.
Field Supervisor, Accountant and Customer accounts do not have it. If Import is not in your sidebar, check your role with your administrator.
Troubleshooting
A PDF will not upload. Confirm it is a valid PDF and try a different browser. Very large scans are the usual cause.
The extraction missed data. The page may be unclear, or the data may not be on it. Open the project in the review queue and type the missing fields in before you approve.
A CSV import fails. Check that the file is a real CSV with a header row, is not password protected, and has no blank rows at the top.
Customers came in twice. Names have to match for duplicate detection to catch them. Check spelling and punctuation, or bring your customer list in first and let the project import attach to it.
Import is not in my sidebar. Your role does not include it. See "Who can import" above.
Related Topics
- Creating Projects - entering a project by hand
- Well Log - importing one report onto an existing project
- Adding Contacts - the contacts side in more detail
- Search & Filters - finding what you imported
- Users & Access - what each role can do