What should be used for blank entries in imports?

Using an underscore for blank entries in imports is an effective way to maintain data integrity and clarity. In many data management and import situations, including those within Workday Adaptive Planning, reserved symbols or specific markers can represent empty or missing information in a standardized manner. An underscore is often chosen because it avoids confusion with other characters, such as spaces or hyphens, which may be interpreted differently by the system.

In contexts where the system needs to differentiate between an intentional blank entry and a valid value, the underscore serves clearly as a placeholder without implying any value or data type. This practice helps streamline the data import process, enabling seamless integration and avoiding potential errors or data misinterpretation during uploads. Moreover, it adheres to various data-handling practices where blank entries need a recognizable and consistent symbol for processing.

Other symbols such as asterisks, dashes, or null values might create ambiguity or conflicting interpretations in certain systems and could lead to unintended consequences during the data import, making the underscore the most suitable choice for representing blank entries.