Problem with date/time data from CSV to MySQL

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1

Hi. I have a date/time field coming in via CSV and ultimately being put into a MySQL database date/time field. However, with Parabola only null values end up in the MySql date/time field (i.e. somewhere along the way, it’s probably not recognized as a date/time format either by Parabola or by MySql from Parabola’s transmission).

One row of data from the CSV looks like this where the date/time data is the last CSV field:

“1154”,“Small PDQ Display”,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,12/11/2021 11:34:10AM

I have tried replacing using Parabola’s find/replace tool to replace the double space with a single space but that that doesn’t work either. Meanwhile, another service imports the date/time from the same CSV and inserts it into the MySql date/time field without any issue.

Do you know what I need to do to have Parabola recognize the date/time from the CSV such that it can go into a MySql date/time field?

I’m currently inserting a Date/Time stamp using Parabola current date/time module as a work-around, but I would prefer to keep the date/time data that is actually in the CSV file.

2

Hey @Kenton_Phillips –

Sorry to hear that you’re running into trouble here. I’d recommend working with our Format Dates step to transform this data into an ingestible format for your database. Date/ time values can be transformed into virtually any format by referencing the table at the bottom of the Format Dates documentation. As you’ve already discovered, Find and Replace can also be helpful with date formatting along with Split Column and Clean Data occasionally.

Do you have any additional information on the format that your database is expecting to receive? Does seem strange that the same CSV works through another service.

One thought is to use the Clean Data step to remove all spaces, then replace ‘2021’ with '2021 ’ to standardize 1 space in between date and time.

If you’ve confirmed that the format from the Insert Date and Time Column works, you can use the Format Dates Step to transform the data into that same format.

If you continue to run into issues here, feel free to send us a link to your flow at help@parabola.io! Let us know how it goes.