Earlier this year, we introduced a new tool, Data Importer, to help users easily import their flat file data into Neo4j’s graph database without writing a single line of code.
It works by simply providing your flat file data (CSV or TSV) to the Data Importer web interface, modeling the nodes and relationships visually, and mapping the files to your model.
In this latest release, we’ve added a “Preview” button to help validate your data model before importing the data into Neo4j, saving you time and increasing overall productivity.
Check out this video for a quick demo of how Preview works.
To keep the Preview as performant as possible we’ve made some optimizations you should be aware of so you understand the subtleties of what you see:
- The tool uses the first few rows of the files associated with relationships to preview up to 300 relationships in total. If the most linked parts of your graph aren’t towards the top of each file, you may not see the depth of connections that materialize in the fuller load.
- We don’t currently preview the properties you have mapped. We show the columns mapped to IDs in the relationships as node properties. So don’t worry if you don’t see the properties you have mapped.
- We currently only preview relationships and their linked nodes. You won’t see it in the preview if you have an isolated node in your model or one that doesn’t yet have a fully mapped relationship. But we’re working to fill that gap in a future release.
We hope this new feature helps you iterate more quickly, testing out ideas before committing to a full data load.
Additionally, you’ll notice there have been a few styling changes and minor bug fixes trickling through to make Data Importer tidier and more pleasant.
As always, you can find the latest version of Neo4j Data Importer from the Neo4j AuraDB console, and it comes with every Free and Professional instance of Neo4j.
Looking to get started with Neo4j? AuraDB is totally FREE — check it out here.
For feedback regarding Neo4j Data Importer, leave your thoughts here, where you can also upvote other ideas from the community.
Goodbye for now! We look forward to delivering you the next DevTools update soon!
Importing Your Data Into Neo4j Just Got Even Easier was originally published in Neo4j Developer Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
