File Format Overview
This page describes the standard file formats accepted by RiskScout.
Supported Formats
CSV (Recommended)
Comma-Separated Values is the preferred format for data submission.
Specifications:
- Encoding: UTF-8 (no BOM)
- Delimiter: Comma (
,) - Quote Character: Double quote (
") - Escape Character: Double quote (
""for literal quotes) - Line Ending: LF (
\n) or CRLF (\r\n) - Header Row: Required
Example:
customer_number,first_name,last_name,date_of_birth,city
C001234,John,Smith,1985-03-15,Nashville
C001235,"Smith, Jr.",Robert,1990-07-22,"New York"
C001236,Jane,O'Connor,1978-11-30,Chicago
Fixed-Width
Fixed-width format is supported for legacy systems.
Contact your implementation specialist for field position specifications.
File Naming Convention
{entity}_{YYYYMMDD}.csv
| Entity | File Name Example |
|---|---|
| Customers | customers_20240115.csv |
| Accounts | accounts_20240115.csv |
| Transactions | transactions_20240115.csv |
| Branches | branches_20240115.csv |
| Customer Relationships | customer_relationships_20240115.csv |
For multiple files per day, append a sequence number:
transactions_20240115_001.csv
transactions_20240115_002.csv
Data Type Formatting
Dates
| Format | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|
YYYY-MM-DD | 2024-01-15 | Preferred |
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS | 2024-01-15 14:30:00 | For timestamps |
MM/DD/YYYY | 01/15/2024 | Accepted |
Numbers
| Type | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Integer | No formatting | 12345 |
| Decimal | Period decimal | 123.45 |
| Currency | Cents (no decimal) | 12345 = $123.45 |
| Percentage | Decimal (0-100) | 50.5 = 50.5% |
Currency Values
All monetary amounts should be in cents (smallest currency unit). For $1,234.56, submit 123456.
Boolean
| True Values | False Values |
|---|---|
true, TRUE, 1, Y, yes | false, FALSE, 0, N, no |
Null Values
- Empty string (nothing between delimiters):
field1,,field3 - Explicit null:
NULL(case-insensitive)
Do NOT use:
N/ANone- Whitespace-only values
Text Field Guidelines
Special Characters
| Character | Handling |
|---|---|
| Comma | Enclose field in quotes: "Smith, John" |
| Quote | Double the quote: "He said ""hello""" |
| Newline | Enclose field in quotes or remove |
| Unicode | UTF-8 encoded |
Trimming
- Leading/trailing whitespace is trimmed
- Internal whitespace is preserved
Case Sensitivity
- Field names: Case-sensitive (must match schema exactly)
- Field values: Preserved as submitted
Sensitive Data
Data to Mask
| Field | Masking Example |
|---|---|
tin (SSN) | ***-**-1234 |
id_number | ***1234 |
Data NOT to Submit
- Full unmasked SSN/TIN
- Full credit card numbers (use last 4 only)
- Passwords or PINs
- Internal system credentials
Compression
Large files may be compressed:
| Format | Extension |
|---|---|
| gzip | .csv.gz |
| zip | .csv.zip |
Example: transactions_20240115.csv.gz
Validation
Before submitting, validate:
- Header row matches schema - Field names must be exact
- Required fields present - Check entity documentation
- Data types correct - Dates, numbers, booleans formatted properly
- No binary data - CSV should be text-only
- Consistent encoding - UTF-8 throughout
Error Handling
If files fail validation:
- You receive email notification with error details
- File moves to
quarantine/folder - Correct issues and resubmit to
inbound/
Common errors:
- Missing required fields
- Invalid date format
- Unknown field names
- Encoding issues (non-UTF-8)