Recognized Column Names
Overview
Valsight reads the header row of every uploaded sheet and tries to link each column to something in the project. The general rule is the one worth remembering: a column whose header matches the name of a level in the project is linked to that level. No configuration is needed, and this is what makes a well-named sheet load without any manual mapping.
On top of that rule, Valsight recognizes the fixed header names listed below, which link to levels a project may not have named that way. Matching ignores case and surrounding spaces, so Year, YEAR and year all behave identically.
For guidance on naming your own columns and levels, see Naming Guidelines.
Columns that become measures
A column with one of these headers is treated as a measure rather than a level:
AMOUNT, MEASURE, VALUE, MEASURE_DISTRIBUTIONThis only applies while the column’s type is still undetermined, so a column you have already mapped in the upload wizard is never overridden.
Columns that link to the time dimension
These headers link a column to a time level, provided the project has that level. The level value in the cells has to match the shape shown, otherwise the upload reports an invalid value.
| Column header | Time level | Level value shape | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| YEAR | Year | four-digit year | 2025 |
| QUARTER | Quarter | year, hyphen, Q, quarter number | 2025-Q4 |
| MONTH | Month | year, hyphen, two-digit month | 2025-01 |
| ISOMONTH | Month | year, hyphen, two-digit month | 2025-01 |
| DATE | Day | eight digits, no separators | 20250101 |
| SAPDATE | Day | eight digits, no separators | 20250101 |
| BLDAT | Day | eight digits, no separators | 20250101 |
| CALWEEK | Week | year, hyphen, W, two-digit ISO week | 2025-W04 |
Which of these levels exist depends on the project. A week-based project has no Quarter and no Month level, and its top level holds the ISO week-based year, so a YEAR column links there instead. See The time dimension for both structures.
Columns that link to the Sequence dimension
The headers SEQ and SEQUENCE link a column to the Sequence level.
Sequence level values are fixed-width and padded with leading spaces, and the padding depends on the configured maximum, so they need care in Excel. See Configure the Sequence Dimension.
Related documentation
- The time dimension: how the time levels above come to exist
- Naming Guidelines: naming your own sheets, columns and levels
- Data Source Upload: structuring the Excel file as a whole