If you have looked at any of the CSV import articles, you have seen how each import uses system IDs to identify the thing you are working with. And you may have asked yourself the question...

Where do I get those IDs?

There are two answers to that question:

• Use the External ID for the object that either you or your external SIS/ServiceNow system has established
• Generate Exports from EchoVideo that contain the EchoVideo object IDs

If you are using an external system such as an SIS or ServiceNow or other similar system to set up your EchoVideo courses, sections, and schedules, it is rather inconvenient to have to get the internal IDs for objects from EchoVideo. Your external system already has unique IDs for these objects.

In this case, you can use the External ID as the system ID for any or all of your exports. All you have to do is establish, for us, that this External ID is to be used for that object. 

Every Create and Update import in EchoVideo has an External ID field. When the external system creates an object in EchoVideo, it likely populates this field. From that time on, that External ID can be used in place of the System ID in any import. 

Every Update import in EchoVideo has an External ID field. If EchoVideo objects already exist that do NOT have an External ID, you can run an Update import to establish that association. In many cases, the External system has already done this, in which case you can run an object export to see if they all have External IDs associated with them.

Once the association between the External ID used and the EchoVideo object is established, you (or the external system) can use that ID instead of the EchoVideo system ID. As long as the identifier is unique, everything will work as expected.

Getting EchoVideo System IDs for Objects

If you prefer to use EchoVideo IDs in your CSV imports, OR you need to establish External IDs for existing objects, you will need to GET the existing IDs to make any changes to those objects in the system.

This is done by generating CSV Exports from EchoVideo. You can do this in conjunction with creating a Pivot table for the export to easily obtain the object IDs for the items you want to update to associate an External ID or use in an import to create or update a different object.

But there are a LOT of Exports available. Which one(s) do you need? Of course that depends on the IDs you need, but the below list may help you be more efficient about it.

Getting Object IDs for Update or Delete Imports

Each TYPE of item you want to update has a corresponding Export. Generating that Export gives you ALL of the fields and data necessary to make any updates to those objects, or to delete them if necessary. 

As an Administrator or Scheduler, select Imports/Exports from the top menu, then select Exports from the right side of the page.

Select Version 1 then the type of export you want, then click Start Export Job. Only Schedules have a Version 2 export, so if you are planning to use that, refer to Imports: Schedules V2.

The export file is generated in the background (and may take some time depending on how big it is). When it is ready, it appears in the list with an active Download link.

The Version 1 export for any given object type should contain all the fields you need AND the data structure is IDENTICAL to the data structure needed for the Import. Simply find and extract the rows for each item you want to change, make the changes, then import those extracted (and updated) rows.

Because this direct correlation is reasonably easy to describe, the sections below discuss primarily how to get Object IDs for CREATE imports, though they still apply for updates. Furthermore, if you are using a External system which has its own unique identifiers, you (or the system) can use THOSE in place of the EchoVideo system IDs.

Getting Object IDs for Imports

The following is a list of IDs most commonly used and needed for CSV Imports Once again, you can establish External IDs for everything in the system, and use those instead. This is the preferred method for institutions who use an external system or SIS to establish and update objects in EchoVideo.

Term ID - unique identifier for the term during which the sections are being taught.
Available from:

• Term Export - lists all Terms in the system with their identifiers, both EchoVideo IDs as well as External IDs if established
• Section Export - contains Term IDs for every section (sections must have a term). Will NOT list any terms for which there are no sections.

Course ID - unique identifier for a course; courses contain sections and can exist in an organization and/or department (if your institution uses those subdivisions). Available from:

• Course Export - lists all courses in the system with their identifiers, both EchoVideo IDs as well as External IDs if established; also contains Organization and Department IDs for courses already resident in the system
• Section Export - contains Course IDs for every section (sections must have a course). Will NOT list any courses that do not have sections.

Section ID - unique identifier for a section. Available from:

• Section Export - lists all sections in the system with their identifiers, both EchoVideo IDs as well as External IDs if established
• Schedule Export - Not all sections have schedules; not all schedules have sections. However, the version 1 schedule export can be used if the schedule for a section is to be re-used or copied for a different section
• Enrollments Export - contains all sections in the system with all the users enrolled in each section.

User ID - unique identifier for a user, and most commonly used for Instructor ID fields and/or for Enrollment imports, adding users to one or more sections. Available from:

• User Export - lists all users in the system with their identifiers, both EchoVideo IDs as well as External IDs if established
• Enrollments Export - contains all users in the system who have existing enrollments in at least one section, along with the section(s) in which they are enrolled and the role they occupy in the section.
• Section Export - contains all sections in the system with the user IDs for all instructors enrolled in those sections

Room ID - unique identifier for a room; rooms also identify capture devices, as each room can contain only one capture appliance, and each capture appliance can reside in only one room. Available from:

• Room Export - lists all rooms in the system, along with Building ID, Campus ID, and Device ID (if a device is assigned to the room).
• Schedule Export - lists all capture schedules in the system including the Room ID for the room (and device) where the lecture capture is/was to occur. Not all rooms have schedules but all schedules have rooms.