Import / Export

VeySur supports importing and exporting survey data in several formats. This lets you back up surveys, transfer them between projects, and move response or participant data in and out of the system.

Export formats

Format	Extension	Contents
VeySur Survey Template	.vsst	Survey structure, questions, answer options, language translations, custom participant attribute definitions, and email templates. Includes asset file attachments. Does not include publications, responses, or participant records.
VeySur Survey Archive	.vssa	A complete backup of the survey, including language translations, custom participant attribute definitions, email templates, all publications and their language snapshots, and responses.
VeySur Survey Publication	.vssp	A single publication, including its snapshot, language snapshots, responses, and asset file attachments.
CSV	.csv	Tabular data, used primarily for responses and participants.

What can be exported

Entity	Available formats
Survey (template only)	VSST
Survey (full, with publications)	VSSA
Publication	VSSP
Responses	CSV
Participants	CSV
Custom attribute definitions	VSST, VSSA
Email templates	VSST, VSSA

Export actions (indicated by the download icon) are available from the relevant section of the survey editor:

• Survey export: available from the survey-level actions
• Publication export: available from the Publications tab
• Response export: available from the Responses tab toolbar
• Participant export: available from the Participants tab toolbar

Importing

Import buttons (indicated by the upload icon) are available in the same sections. To import:

1. Click Import in the relevant section.
2. Select or drag in the file you wish to upload.
3. The system validates the file and reports any errors before processing.
4. If the file is valid, it is imported and the new records appear in the list.

If the file contains errors or is incompatible with the current survey, an error list is shown. No partial data is imported; the file must be corrected and re-uploaded.

Imported survey files are also validated for reserved entity codes. Groups, questions, answer options, and subquestions with a code of OTHER, OTHER_TEXT, or ORDER will cause the import to fail. Correct these codes in the file before re-importing.

Format compatibility

VSST, VSSA, and VSSP files are specific to VeySur and should only be used with VeySur imports. CSV files for responses and participants follow a fixed column layout; refer to an existing export to understand the expected column order when preparing a CSV for import.

VSSP and VSSA exports stream responses in batches and impose no limit on response count.

Archive file structure

For reference, the internal layout of each archive format is shown below.

VSSP (.vssp), single publication:

publication.vssp (tar+gz)
├── surveyPublication.json
├── surveySnapshot.json
├── surveySnapshotData.json
├── surveyLanguageSnapshots/
│   └── {languageCode}.json
├── responses/
│   ├── batch-000001.json   (up to 1 000 responses per file)
│   └── batch-000002.json
└── files/
    ├── manifest.json
    └── {imageSetId}/
        ├── original.jpg
        ├── edited.jpg
        └── thumb.jpg

VSSA (.vssa), full survey with all publications:

survey-full.vssa (flat tar+gz)
├── survey.json
├── surveyLanguages/
│   └── {languageCode}.json
├── participantAttributes/
│   └── {name}.json
├── templates/
│   └── {type}-{lang}.json
├── snapshots/
│   └── {snapshotId}.json
├── snapshotData/
│   └── {snapshotId}.json
├── surveyLanguageSnapshots/
│   └── {snapshotId}/
│       └── {languageCode}.json
├── publications/
│   └── {pubId}.json
├── responses/
│   └── {pubId}/
│       ├── batch-000001.json
│       └── batch-000002.json
└── files/
    ├── manifest.json
    └── {imageSetId}/
        ├── original.jpg
        ├── edited.jpg
        └── thumb.jpg

Response batch files each contain an array of up to 1 000 response records. There is no upper limit on the number of batch files.