Working with the Export Manager

Exporting Data via the Export Manager

ResidencyCAS allows you to create a rich data file containing selected applicant and data elements. Export files are sometimes called "flat files." Exports are especially useful for integration with Student Information Systems (SIS).

Creating Exports

Using the Menu Bar, open the Reports & Exports panel, then click Export Manager.
Click New Export.
Select an existing list to run the export against, if applicable.
Select an export type (.csv, .xls, .txt, or .zip). See Notes and Considerations below for additional guidance.
Enter a name for your export.
Select whether to include column headings. The names of the fields you select in the export become the column headings in the file.
Select how you want to export fields with more than one result. This includes fields like college names, test scores, evaluations, etc.
- Select as many columns as needed to expand the field to display as many results as needed, based on the applicant pool you have chosen (i.e., if an applicant selected 10 designations (i.e., programs), the program code and all fields in the designation grouping will expand to 10 columns for all applicants).
- Select exactly to set a fixed number of columns allotted for all one-to-many fields (i.e., if you set it to 2 columns, all designation fields will expand to 2 columns each). Warning: when selecting this option for an applicant who has more answers than the number of columns you selected, you can’t control which data points appear in the export. Entering a higher number of fixed columns may help ensure that you export all necessary data.
- Select by field category to specify the number of fixed columns for a category. Selecting this option does not allow you to intermingle fields from different categories. Only sections with one-to-many fields offer the “Many” fields allowed: option.
If applicable, select if you want your export to honor the designation criteria from your list. If this is set to will, and your list filters applicants by any field in the Designations field grouping (e.g., Program Code, Designation Date, etc.), then the export will include only the data that matches that selected designation criteria. See Notes and Considerations below for additional guidance.
Indicate if the export should appear in the Menu Bar under the My Exports and Reports subpanel in the Reports & Exports panel. This option provides you with quick access to run the export.
Under the Export these fields… column, click the field groupings to view and select fields. See Notes and Considerations below for additional guidance.
The fields you select appear in the …in this order. column. If you previously selected .txt for the export type, you can set a fixed width for each field. Depending on the field, you can also select a data transformation or filter option. These options are useful to IT staff when importing data into an SIS. See Notes and Considerations below for additional filter guidance.
If available, enter custom column headings by clicking the default custom column heading in gray and typing in the new column heading. Note that:
- You can enter up to a maximum of 255 characters for your new column heading.
- You can’t use the same column heading for different fields in an export template.
- If you select a "many" field, the export automatically appends "_0, _1, etc." to the end of your column heading.
Use the grip icon to drag and drop your fields into the preferred order; the top field will export first, and the bottom last. If you select a "many" field, you can also group data by field or numerically.
- Group by Field exports the data by field category (e.g., College Name 1, College Name 2, College Name 3, College State 1, College State 2, College State 3).
- Group by Numeric exports the data by value (e.g., College Name 1, College State 1, College Name 2, College State 2, College Name 3, College State 3).
Click Create File to save and run the export, Save Export Settings to save the customized export for future use, or Return to Export Manager to discard the export.

Notes and Considerations

Review our additional notes and best practices when building your export templates.

Step Number	Step Description	Notes and Considerations
#4	Export types	Review additional information by clicking each link below: Export type definitions You can select the following export types: Comma-Separated Values (.csv): a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values. Microsoft Excel (.xls): Microsoft's proprietary binary file format. Fixed Width Report (.txt): columns have ;a fixed width, specified in characters, which determines the maximum amount of data the column can contain. No delimiters are used to separate the fields in the file. Multi-row Designation file (.csv): a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values. If an applicant applied to more than one designation, then each designation is listed on its own row. See examples below. Multi-row Designation file (.xls): Microsoft's proprietary binary file format. If an applicant applied to more than one designation, then each designation is listed on its own row. See examples below. Best practices and scenarios when using Multi-row Designation files If an applicant applies to more than one program at your school (i.e., organization), you can choose if an applicant’s Designation field grouping data will be listed on one or multiple rows. For example, if Aimee Applicant applied to program A and B at your program, you can choose: Comma-Separated Values (.csv) or Microsoft Excel (.xls). In this scenario, the applicant’s information will populate on one row and all fields under the Designation field grouping (e.g., designation complete date, program code, etc.) will be repeated (e.g., application_complete_date_01, application_complete_date_02, etc.). This is the standard behavior in ResidencyCAS. Multi-row Designation file (.csv) or Multi-row Designation file (.xls). In this scenario, the applicant’s information will populate on two rows, one for each program they applied to, and all fields under the Designation field grouping will be listed as one column. Note the following details for multi-row designation files: Exports are limited to which programs you have access to. For example, if Aimee Applicant applied to program A and B, but you only have access to program A, you can only export data related to her program A application. If you select Multi-row Designation file (.csv) or Multi-row Designation file (.xls), only the data in the Designation field grouping are separated on each row. Program-specific questions, evaluations, etc., are repeated on each row. If you select Multi-row Designation file (.csv) or Multi-row Designation file (.xls) but do not include any fields from the Designations field grouping, then the applicant’s data will populate on one row. Office and MS Excel versions prior to 2007 common issues and solutions An Office 2007 security feature may prevent you from opening an export or report in .xls format. Adjust your export type to .csv to avoid this issue. Additionally, versions of MS Excel before 2007 limit data to 255 columns, including data points that may generate more than one column, such as Colleges Attended. For larger exports, use .csv format. These files can be opened in MS Excel 2007 and later, even if they exceed 255 columns. Exceeding the export fields limit will result in an "Internal Server Error" message. To export all fields, try dividing the fields into two or more separate exports. Understanding how .csv files address data values written as sentences Some fields in ResidencyCAS include data values written as sentences. For example, this can be custom fields, reviewer comments, or interviewer remarks you enter in ResidencyCAS, or it can be an applicant's essay or personal statement they enter in the application. When exporting these fields in .csv format, the values appear with quotes. This is how .csv files are created as a standard. Any values containing a comma or a line break will be wrapped in quotes to signify the included data makes up one value in the field. This prevents your software from misinterpreting typed commas as commas used as separators to start new values. If you're viewing the same .csv file in Excel, you'll notice the quotation marks don't appear, because Excel recognizes their purpose. You can learn more about .csv standards here: https://techterms.com/definition/csv.
#8	Exports honoring designation criteria in lists	If you create a list that searches for applicants based on any field in the Designations field grouping (e.g., Program Code, Complete Date, etc.), you can export applicant data that adheres to your list's criteria. For example, suppose an applicant applied to both Program A and B, and you create a list that searches for applicants in Program B. In that case, when you export the list, only the applicant's Program B information will populate in the Designation field grouping fields (e.g., Program Code, Complete Date, etc.) you select in the export. The data you export from the Designation field grouping matches the data you filtered by in your list. For example, if your list searches for applicants who applied to Program B, then all Designation field grouping data in your export will be for Program B. This feature only affects exports with fields in the Designation field grouping.
#10	Selecting fields	Be aware that the export data order for "many" fields is arbitrary; it does not follow the order from the application, least important to most important, chronological, alphabetical, etc.
#11	Selecting filters and transformations	Certain fields have a filter or transformation option. For example, when selecting a date field, you can choose to export just the years (e.g., 2025) dates without separators (e.g., 10092025), or dates without days and separators (e.g., 102025).

Downloading an Export from Recent Files

Once you run an export, you'll automatically be sent to the Recent Files page. You can also retrieve exports, reports, and PDF templates run within the past seven days from this page.

If your export has a large number of fields or includes recalculations to Scoring Models, Local GPAs, or Prerequisite GPAs, it may need additional time to produce.

To download an export:

Using the Menu Bar, open the Reports & Exports panel, then click Recent Files.
Click the file link in the Download column. Once you download your export file, you can use your system's software to sort, reorder, and filter the data.