How to import a list of users from a text file

This article will show you how to import a list of users from a text file to automate the user definition.

Text file definition

The comma separated value file used in this article contains 6 fields and each field is separated by a semicolon “;”

• The user name
• The password
• The full name
• The e-mail address
• A flag which indicates if the user is a content contributor or a simple user
• The name of a group to which the user will belong.

Example:

mmathy;password;Michael Mathy;support@quickelsoft.com;1;Marketing
einstein;password;Albert Einstein;einstein@quickelsoft.com;1;HR
jdoe;password;John Doe;jdoe@quickelsoft.com;0;Readers
rdoe;password;Richard Doe;rdoe@quickelsoft.com;1;Marketing

In the sample file above, Richard Doe will be defined as a content contributor and will be added to the Marketing group.

Code

using System;
using System.Web;
using QuickelSoft.CMS.API;
using System.IO;

namespace ImportUsers
{
 class Program
 {
  static void Main(string[] args)
  {
   Context context = new Context();
   String line;
   String[] token;
   String userName;
   String password;
   String fullName;
   String eMailAddress;
   String groupName;
   bool isContentContributor;
   User user;
   Group group;
   if (args.Length != 1)
   {
    Console.WriteLine("Usage: importusers filename");
    return;
   }
   try
   {
    context.Login("MyUserId", "MyPassword");
    SiteCollection sites = context.GetSites();
    UserCollection users = context.GetUsers();
    GroupCollection groups = context.GetGroups();
    StreamReader reader = System.IO.File.OpenText(args[0]);
    while (!reader.EndOfStream)
    {
     line = reader.ReadLine();
     token = line.Split(';');
     userName = token[0];
     password = token[1];
     fullName = token[2];
     eMailAddress = token[3];
     isContentContributor = token[4].Equals("1");
     groupName = token[5];
     user = users.FromUserName(userName);
     if (user == null)
     {
      user = users.Create();
      user.UserName = userName;
     }
     user.FullName = fullName;
     user.EMail = eMailAddress;
     user.Password = password;
     if (isContentContributor)
      user.UserType = UserType.ContentContributor;
     else
      user.UserType = UserType.SimpleUser;
     user.Save();
     group = groups.FromName(groupName);
     if (group == null)
     {
      group = groups.Create();
      group.Name = groupName;
     }

     group.Add(user);
     group.Save();
     Console.WriteLine("Users imported");
    }
   }
   catch (QuickelSoft.CMS.API.Exceptions.CMSException)
   {
    Console.WriteLine(context.LastErrorDescription + " [" + context.LastError + "]");
   }
   catch (QuickelSoft.CMS.API.Exceptions.TooManyUsersException)
   {
    Console.WriteLine("Too many content contributors created");
   }
   catch (Exception ex)
   {
    Console.WriteLine(ex.Message + "\n" + ex.StackTrace);
   }
  }
 }
}

Code explanation

1. The code creates a Context object and login as an administrator.

Context context = new Context();
context.Login(“MyUserId”, “MyPassword”);

2. A UserCollection object and a GroupCollection object are created. These two objects are used to create or find users or groups in the QuickelSoft CMS domain.

GroupCollection groups = context.GetGroups();
UserCollection users = context.GetUsers();

3. The CSV file is opened and each line is split using a semicolon as token separator.

4. The program first tries to find the user in the domain. If it does not exist, it creates one.

 user = users.FromUserName(userName);
 if (user == null)
 {
  user = users.Create();
  user.UserName = userName;
 }

5. The properties are set and the user is saved.

 user.FullName = fullName;
 user.EMail = eMailAddress;
 user.Password = password;
 if (isContentContributor)
  user.UserType = UserType.ContentContributor;
 else
  user.UserType = UserType.SimpleUser;

6. Then the group to which the user belongs is created or updated.

 group = groups.FromName(groupName);
 if (group == null)
 {
  group = groups.Create();
  group.Name = groupName;
 }
 group.Add(user);
 group.Save();