This article is for Flatfile's Portal 2.0, Portal 3.0, and Workspaces. If you'd like to check out the latest version of the Flatfile Data Exchange Platform, click here!

An application programming interface, or API, is a piece of software that allows two computers or software applications to interface with one another. APIs allow radically different pieces of software to communicate with one another in order to share data, instructions, or resources without revealing their internal structures to one another.

An access key is used to control access to an API. Who gets to access an API and send, retrieve, or edit your data is controlled by access keys.

A batch is an upload session initiated by an end-user, with the purpose of importing data. Each batch will contain one file and one set of data from that file.

The Custom Fields feature allows users to add new fields during the matching step that were not accounted for in the data template they are uploading to.

You can think of a column in Flatfile the same way as you think of a column in a spreadsheet—it is the group of cells in any given vertical.

A credit allows you to host a workspace with a user company for one month.

A comma-separated value (CSV) file is a type of text file that uses commas as a delimiter, or a character that is used to separate values. Most common spreadsheet software can parse CSV file formats, and, contrary to the name, many CSV files may use other delimiters, such as semi-colons, tab characters, or even empty spaces. To see what delimiters we support click here.

Flatfile Customers are those who have chosen to use Flatfile to simplify the validation of data coming into their product or process via their Users.

The Flatfile Dashboard is the main working area of Flatfile. When you open app.flatfile.com and log in, you are looking at the Dashboard.

A Data Hook® is a short snippet of JavaScript that allows you to validate, manipulate, and format data as it is being uploaded.

A Data Template is how you tell Flatfile what you expect your data to look like, so when data is uploaded Flatfile has something to check and validate the incoming data against.

A dataset is a collection of data that shares the same data model. In Flatfile, you define what your dataset contains using a sheet.

In the simplest terms, a dependency is something that is required for something else to work properly. In the context of software, a dependency is (usually) an NPM package that is required to be installed for certain code to execute properly.

Developer Mode enables you to explore and configure your account without affecting any of your active projects. It can be turned on in the Flatfile Dashboard.

At Flatfile, egress, or data egress is the act of taking your cleaned, revised, pristine data out of Flatfile and using it for its intended purpose.

Embedded is a way of referring to the method with which Flatfile is incorporated into one of your existing software applications. This method keeps you from relying on local hardware to do the intensive tasks of data validation and processing.

At Flatfile, a field is a place where data can be stored. You can think of it as a text field on a form, except it can accept more than just text strings. It is an empty placeholder, waiting to be filled.

A computer file is a collection of data of a certain type. Files come in different formats that can be read or interpreted by different programs.

A JSON Web Token (JWT) is a small payload of JSON code that can be signed with secure access keys and can be used to identify and verify users who are uploading data.

A software license is an official permission to use a piece of software. Depending on the licensing agreement, what you are able to do with the software may be limited or unlimited, and obtaining a license may require payment, may be free with restrictions, or may even be completely free and open source.

Matching is a step in your Flatfile workflow in which the fields of an uploaded file are paired with the fields of the corresponding data template.

Parallel Processing is a method of dividing a computation and performing those divided calculations at the same time (in parallel) with one another. Parallel processing can increase processing speeds and more efficiently use processing resources than sequentially processing the same data.

At Flatfile, we often use the word record to refer to a discrete chunk of data within a batch. Records can be accessed by Data Hooks, and can even be assigned statuses that can be tracked.

At its core, relational data is a new type of data field designation available when you set up a data template that indicates a link between two different data templates.

A row is a horizontal collection of fields in a spreadsheet.

An SDK, or software development kit, is a library of interactions available to developers that can be used to implement, customize, or use a piece of software.

A Team is the lowest level at which permissions and access can be managed for users.

Adobe Fonts allows users to subscribe to various fonts through Adobe. Your Typekit ID allows you to identify yourself as an Adobe Fonts user and use your fonts on any of your web projects.

A User is the individual using Flatfile’s importer to prepare data for a system or product that they use (usually run by the Flatfile customer).

A webhook is a type of API that allows you to listen for specific events and then trigger responses based on a change in status. Flatfile supports REST Webhooks.

A Flatfile Workspace is a central hub for interacting with the data your users upload. In a Workspace, you can invite customer collaborators, upload data, view uploaded files, and review any attached data templates.

Data validation is the process of ensuring that data is accurate, correctly formatted, and usable. Validated data is free of errors that would cause processing difficulties and can be freely transformed, interpreted, used, and transmitted.

A value is the intersection of a specific record and field.