If/Else Builder

The If / Else Builder lets you add conditional logic to an importer without writing JavaScript. You describe a rule in plain terms (IF these conditions are true, THEN do this, ELSE IF …, ELSE …) and CSVbox converts it into a validation or a data transformation that runs on every imported file. Use it to:

Fill in or standardize values based on other columns (“If Country is US, set Currency to USD”)
Remove rows you don’t want imported (“If Email is empty, delete the row”)
Show users a clear error on the exact cell that is wrong (“If Age is less than 18, flag an error on Age”)

The builder is available in two features:

Feature	Purpose	Actions available in the builder
Data Transforms	Changes values in the file	Set, Clear, Delete row
Validation Functions	Checks values and reports problems	Flag error on

How to use it

Open the section

Go to the edit sheet page and open the Validation Functions or Data Transforms section.

Add or edit a function

Add a new function, or edit an existing one, and give it a name.

Switch to Visual mode

Switch the editor from Code to Visual.

Build your rule

Build your rule.

Save the function

Click Save.

Code mode remains available for anything the builder cannot express. See Visual vs. Code mode.

How a rule is structured

A rule is a list of branches, checked from top to bottom. Only the first branch whose conditions are true runs. The remaining branches are skipped.

IF       <conditions>    THEN  <actions>
ELSE IF  <conditions>    THEN  <actions>      (optional, can repeat)
ELSE                     THEN  <actions>      (optional, must be last)

Branch	Conditions	How many	Position
IF	Required	Exactly one	Always first
ELSE IF	Required	Any number	After IF, before ELSE
ELSE	None. Runs when nothing above matched	At most one	Always last

A rule can have a maximum of 10 branches (IF + ELSE IFs + ELSE). A counter above the builder shows n / 10 branches.
Once an ELSE exists, both Add Else If and Add Else are disabled, because nothing can follow ELSE.
Branches other than the first can be removed with the × at the top-right of the branch. The first IF branch cannot be removed.
Every branch needs at least one action. Every IF / ELSE IF branch needs at least one condition. Removing the last condition or action simply leaves a fresh blank one.

Conditions

A condition compares a column to a value:

[ Column ]  [ Operator ]  [ Value ]

Click Add Condition to add more conditions to a branch. Extra conditions have an × to remove them.

Operators

Operator	Is true when	Needs a value?
`equals`	The cell exactly equals the value	Yes
`not equals`	The cell does not equal the value	Yes
`>`	The cell, read as a number, is greater than the value	Yes
`<`	The cell, read as a number, is less than the value	Yes
`>=`	The cell, read as a number, is greater than or equal to the value	Yes
`<=`	The cell, read as a number, is less than or equal to the value	Yes
`contains`	The cell contains the value anywhere in the text	Yes
`does not contain`	The cell does not contain the value	Yes
`starts with`	The cell begins with the value	Yes
`ends with`	The cell ends with the value	Yes
`is empty`	The cell is blank (or only spaces)	No
`is not empty`	The cell has some content	No

Text comparisons and Match case

For equals, not equals, contains, does not contain, starts with, and ends with:

By default the comparison is not case-sensitive and leading/trailing spaces in the cell are ignored. " us ", "US", and "us" all equal us.
Tick Match case on a condition to compare exactly as typed, including capitalization and spaces.
The Match case checkbox only appears for these operators, because it has no effect on the others.

Number comparisons

For >, <, >=, and <=:

The cell and the value are both read as numbers.
Plain numbers (42, 3.5, -7) work as expected.
Text that does not start with a number (for example, n/a or $1,200) is not a number, so the condition is false.
Text that starts with digits is read up to the first non-numeric character (12abc is read as 12, 1,200 is read as 1).

If your data contains thousands separators or currency symbols, clean those values first with a Data Transform before comparing them as numbers.

Blank checks

is empty and is not empty ignore surrounding spaces, so a cell containing only spaces counts as empty. They do not need a value.

A comparison value cannot be left blank on the other operators. To test for blanks, use is empty or is not empty.

Combining conditions with AND / OR

When a branch has two or more conditions, choose how to combine them with the Match with dropdown:

Choice	The branch matches when
AND	All conditions are true
OR	At least one condition is true

The choice applies to every condition in that branch. The dropdown appears once, before the second condition, and later separators just show the chosen word. You cannot mix AND and OR inside one branch. To express something like (A AND B) OR C, split it into two branches with the same action:

IF       A AND B     THEN  Set Tier = "Gold"
ELSE IF  C           THEN  Set Tier = "Gold"

Actions

Actions are the THEN part of a branch. Click Add Action to perform several actions when a branch matches. Extra actions have an × to remove them.

In a Data Transform

Action	What it does	Fields
Set	Writes a value into a column	Column, value
Clear	Empties a column’s cell	Column
Delete row	Removes the whole row from the import	None

Set requires a value. To blank a cell, use Clear instead.
Delete row removes the row regardless of any other actions in the same branch. It applies to Row rules only. See Scope.
If two actions in the same matching branch set the same column, the later one wins.

In a Validation Function

Action	What it does	Fields
Flag error on	Marks a cell as invalid and shows your message to the user	Column, error message

The error message is required and is shown exactly as you type it, so make it clear and actionable.
A branch can flag several columns at once by adding more actions.
Flagged cells are reported to the user during the review step so they can fix the data.

Scope: Row vs. Column

Each rule has a scope, chosen with the Row / Column selector next to the builder.

Scope	Behavior	Typical use
Row	The rule runs once for each row and sees that row’s cells	Almost everything: defaults, standardizing values, removing rows, cell-level errors
Column	The rule runs down the data row by row, with the full set of columns available, and returns results per column. Validation errors include the row number	Rules that are applied uniformly across a column

Delete row is only meaningful in Row scope. It does nothing in Column scope.
Switching scope after building a rule keeps your rule and just changes how it is applied.
If you are unsure, use Row.

How conditions read data

Conditions always look at the original values of the row, not values that earlier actions have set.
Within a single rule, a Set in one branch never affects the conditions of another branch. Because only one branch runs anyway, this rarely matters, but it does mean you cannot write “set A, then check A” in one rule.
To act on a changed value, create a second transform function. Functions run in sequence.

Example rules

Data Transform examples

Fill in a value when the cell is blank.

IF   Currency is empty
THEN Set Currency = "USD"

Because comparisons ignore case by default, both Y and y are matched by the first branch.

IF       Status equals "Y"
THEN     Set Status = "Active"
ELSE IF  Status equals "N"
THEN     Set Status = "Inactive"
ELSE
THEN     Set Status = "Unknown"

Set Match with to OR.

IF   Email is empty   OR   Email contains "test@"
THEN Delete row

Run several actions when all conditions are true.

IF   Country equals "US"   AND   Order Total >= 1000
THEN Set Shipping = "Free"
     Set Priority = "High"
ELSE
THEN Set Shipping = "Standard"

Empty a cell that no longer applies.

IF   Subscribed equals "No"
THEN Clear Subscription Plan

Order matters: put the most specific (highest) threshold first, because only the first match runs.

IF       Order Total >= 5000
THEN     Set Tier = "Platinum"
ELSE IF  Order Total >= 1000
THEN     Set Tier = "Gold"
ELSE IF  Order Total >= 100
THEN     Set Tier = "Silver"
ELSE
THEN     Set Tier = "Standard"

Validation Function examples

Basic validation
Cross-column validation
Several errors from one condition

Flag a cell that fails a simple check.

IF   Age < 18
THEN Flag error on Age: "Customer must be 18 or older"

Make a column mandatory based on the value in another column.

IF   Payment Method equals "Card"   AND   Card Number is empty
THEN Flag error on Card Number: "Card number is required for card payments"

Flag more than one column from the same branch.

IF   Shipping Type equals "Express"   AND   Phone is empty
THEN Flag error on Phone: "Phone number is required for express shipping"
     Flag error on Shipping Type: "Express shipping needs a contact number"

Saving and error checking

Required fields are checked when you click Save. Anything missing is outlined in red with a message under that row, and the first problem is scrolled into view. After the first save attempt the checks update live as you type.
The rule is verified again on the server before it is stored. If something invalid gets through (for example, an unsupported combination), you see a message listing what is wrong.
Function names are required. The builder checks this at the same time.
In the list of functions, each visual rule is shown as a one-line summary, for example, IF Country == 'US' → Set Currency = 'USD'; ELSE → Set Currency = 'EUR'. Long summaries and long values are shortened with … (80 characters overall).

Visual vs. Code mode

Every function has a builder mode:

Mode	When to use it
Visual	Rules that fit IF / ELSE IF / ELSE with the operators above. Easiest to read and maintain
Code	Anything more advanced: loops, regular expressions, string manipulation, lookups, calling helper logic

When you save a visual rule, CSVbox generates JavaScript from it automatically and stores both the visual definition and the generated code.
The generated code is marked with a comment: “Generated by the If/Then builder — edits here will be overwritten.”
If you need to customize the logic beyond the builder, copy the generated code into a new function in Code mode and keep it separate from the visual rule.

Changes made to the generated code are replaced the next time the visual rule is saved.

Best practices

Start with the most specific rule. Only the first matching branch runs, so order branches from narrowest to broadest.
Always consider an ELSE. It catches everything the other branches did not, which is useful for defaults and for flagging unexpected values.
Use a Validation Function for “should be” and a Data Transform for “make it”. Do not silently rewrite data that a user should correct themselves.
Keep each rule focused. Several small functions are easier to understand than one rule with ten branches.
Use clear error messages. Say what is wrong and what a valid value looks like.
Test with a small file containing a row for each branch, including edge cases (empty cells, extra spaces, different capitalization).

Troubleshooting

What you see	Cause	Fix
`Select a column.`	A condition or action has no column chosen	Choose a column in the highlighted row
`Enter a value, or choose "is empty" to check for blanks.`	A comparison value was left blank	Type a value, or switch the operator to `is empty` or `is not empty`
`Enter a value, or choose "Clear" to blank the cell.`	A Set action has no value	Type a value, or change the action to Clear
`Error message is required.`	A Flag error on action has no message	Write the message users should see
`The … field is required.`	The function name is empty	Enter a name
Add Else If / Add Else are grayed out	An ELSE already exists, or the 10-branch limit is reached	Remove a branch, or merge rules
A branch never runs	An earlier branch matches the same rows	Reorder branches so the more specific rule is first
A Match case rule does not match	Different capitalization or stray spaces in the data	Untick Match case, or clean the data first
A number comparison is never true	The cell is not numeric (`$1,200`, `n/a`)	Clean the value with a Data Transform before comparing
Edits to the generated code disappeared	The visual rule was saved again	Move custom logic to a Code mode function

Getting Started

Dashboard Settings

Sheet Settings

Advanced Installation

Data Destinations

Account

Resources

Legal

How to use it

How a rule is structured

Conditions

Operators

Text comparisons and Match case

Number comparisons

Blank checks

Combining conditions with AND / OR

Actions

In a Data Transform

In a Validation Function

Scope: Row vs. Column

How conditions read data

Example rules

Data Transform examples

Validation Function examples

Saving and error checking

Visual vs. Code mode

Best practices

Troubleshooting

​How to use it

​How a rule is structured

​Conditions

​Operators

​Text comparisons and Match case

​Number comparisons

​Blank checks

​Combining conditions with AND / OR

​Actions

​In a Data Transform

​In a Validation Function

​Scope: Row vs. Column

​How conditions read data

​Example rules

​Data Transform examples

​Validation Function examples

​Saving and error checking

​Visual vs. Code mode

​Best practices

​Troubleshooting

How to use it

How a rule is structured

Conditions

Operators

Text comparisons and Match case

Number comparisons

Blank checks

Combining conditions with AND / OR

Actions

In a Data Transform

In a Validation Function

Scope: Row vs. Column

How conditions read data

Example rules

Data Transform examples

Validation Function examples

Saving and error checking

Visual vs. Code mode

Best practices

Troubleshooting