Connect a data source for custom metadata

A data source keeps a Custom Object’s instances, or a Custom Property’s values, current from a file you do not have to touch again. Connect one when the data lives in a SharePoint file or library.

Before you begin

• Your Rencore role includes the inventory’s Edit permission. See Rencore roles.
• Custom Metadata is included in the Enterprise Plan and available as an add-on to the Premium Plan.
• The Custom Object or Custom Property exists. See Create a custom object and Create a custom property.
• The file follows the format in Format your file.

Steps

1. Go to Inventory > Inventory Options ([…]) > Manage your metadata.
2. Click Metadata Options ([…]) next to the custom metadata.
3. Click Edit.
4. Select either SharePoint file (CSV or Excel) or SharePoint library (folder of CSV/Excel files).
5. Enter the location and file name of the file (e.g. https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/governance/Shared%20Documents/data.csv).
6. For the imported data, select either:
   • Keep only the latest file: the object matches the file exactly, and rows you delete from the file are deleted here too.
   • Add up data from every file: rows are matched by a key property and added or updated, never deleted.
7. Click the dropdown and select the property that identifies the row (e.g. Name).
8. Click Analyze to read the file.
   • The file’s first row needs to hold the name of each property. The columns can be in any order, and upper or lower case does not matter.
   • If a name does not match, an error is shown, and the file is not imported if you save at this point.
9. Make any adjustments until there are no errors, then check again by clicking Analyze again.
10. Click Save and import.

What you see

Every connected data source refreshes at least every four hours on its own. Click Refresh now at any time to pull the latest file immediately.

Each refresh writes one entry to the source’s run log with the trigger, the time, the status, and how many rows were added, updated, and removed. If a scheduled refresh fails, the previous data stays in place and the failure appears as a warning in the scan log.

Policies, Reports, and Segments that reference the refreshed data pick up the change automatically. You do not need to open and re-save them after a refresh.

Limits

• A file over 100 MB is not imported. Rencore Governance states the size and the limit when you try to save or refresh.
• A run already in progress blocks a second one from starting on the same source.

Format your file

Write each value in the format of its property’s data type. An empty cell leaves the property empty for that row.

Data type	Required format	Works	Fails or comes out wrong
Number	A period as the decimal point, no thousands separator. Put a minus sign in front of a negative number.	1234, 1234.56, -3.2	1,5 is saved as 15. 1.234,56 and €12 are left empty.
Date	YYYY-MM-DD. In Excel, format the date cells to show this format.	2026-04-13	None
Yes-No	True or False	True, False	Yes, No, Y, and N are ignored and leave the property empty.
Text	Any text, saved as written. Spaces at the start and end are removed.	Finance team	None
Single select	The choice exactly as it is named in the property, including capitalization and spaces.	High	high is saved but does not match the choice.

For a CSV file:

• Separate the values with a comma.
• Put a value that contains a comma in double quotes (e.g. "Smith, Anna").
• Save the file as UTF-8 without a byte order mark (BOM).

For an Excel file, only the first worksheet is read. A cell that holds a formula is imported empty, so replace formulas with their values before you import.