Mastering Data Seeding - using CSV and CSVIM in Rhea by codbex

Introduction

In the fast-paced world of cloud-native development, the most expensive resource isn't your server—it's your time. Why spend hours writing custom boilerplate scripts to parse and upload data when you could do it in seconds? Rhea by codbex is redefining the Low-Code experience by turning tedious database seeding into a simple, declarative process. By leveraging the power of CSVIM (CSV Import Model), you can transform flat files into fully functional database records with zero manual coding. In this post, we’ll show you how to move away from Pro-Code bottlenecks and embrace a streamlined, configuration-first approach that gets your data-driven apps live in record time.

Sample project

Entities

Create a New Project

• Create a new project and name it sample-csvim.
• Right-click on Project → New → Entity Data Model and name it sample-csvim.edm.

Country Entity

• Add Perspective for Country

• Create an entity and set its name to Country

• Right-click on the entity and open Properties
• In the User Interface section:
  • Set Layout type to Manage Master Entities
  • Choose the already defined perspective: Country

• Add text field for Name

City Entity

• Add Perspective for City

• Create an entity and set its name to City

• Right-click on the entity and open Properties

• In the User Interface section:

  • Set Layout type to Manage Master Entities
  • Choose the already defined perspective: City

• Add text field for Name

• Add relationship to Country

Configuration for Country field

• From User Interface view, choose:
  • Dropdown for widget type
  • Id for dropdown key
  • Name for dropdown value

Final EDM

1. Right-click on EDM file Generate and choose Entity Data to JSON Transformer Model.

2. Right-click on .model file, choose Application - UI (Angular JS), fill fields in the next window with your details, and click Generate.

CSV and CSVIM files

Cities

• Create folder and name it cities
  • Create file cities.csv and add the following content in it

CITY_ID,CITY_NAME,CITY_COUNTRY 
1,Sofia,1
2,Plovdiv,1
3,Varna,1
4,Burgas,1
5,Ruse,1
6,Rome,2
7,Milan,2
8,Naples,2
9,Florence,2
10,Venice,2
11,Paris,3
12,Lyon,3
13,Marseille,3
14,Toulouse,3
15,Nice,3
16,Madrid,4
17,Barcelona,4 
18,Valencia,4
19,Seville,4
20,Zaragoza,4
21,Vienna,5
22,Salzburg,5
23,Innsbruck,5
24,Graz,5
25,Linz,5

• Create file cities-lang.table and configure the table this way

• Create file cities-lang.csv and add the following content in it

GUID,Id,Name,Language
1,1,София,bg
2,2,Пловдив,bg
3,3,Варна,bg
4,4,Бургас,bg
5,5,Русе,bg
6,6,Рим,bg
7,7,Милано,bg
8,8,Неапол,bg
9,9,Флоренция,bg
10,10,Венеция,bg
11,11,Париж,bg
12,12,Лион,bg
13,13,Марсилия,bg
14,14,Тулуза,bg
15,15,Ница,bg
16,16,Мадрид,bg
17,17,Барселона,bg
18,18,Валенсия,bg
19,19,Севиля,bg
20,20,Сарагоса,bg
21,21,Виена,bg
22,22,Залцбург,bg
23,23,Инсбрук,bg
24,24,Грац,bg
25,25,Линц,bg
26,1,Sofia,de
27,2,Plowdiw,de
28,3,Warna,de
29,4,Burgas,de
30,5,Russe,de
31,6,Rom,de
32,7,Mailand,de
33,8,Neapel,de
34,9,Florenz,de
35,10,Venedig,de
36,11,Paris,de
37,12,Lyon,de
38,13,Marseille,de
39,14,Toulouse,de
40,15,Nizza,de
41,16,Madrid,de
42,17,Barcelona,de
43,18,Valencia,de
44,19,Sevilla,de
45,20,Saragossa,de
46,21,Wien,de
47,22,Salzburg,de
48,23,Innsbruck,de
49,24,Graz,de
50,25,Linz,de
51,1,Sofia,fr
52,2,Plovdiv,fr
53,3,Varna,fr
54,4,Bourgas,fr
55,5,Roussé,fr
56,6,Rome,fr
57,7,Milan,fr
58,8,Naples,fr
59,9,Florence,fr
60,10,Venise,fr
61,11,Paris,fr
62,12,Lyon,fr
63,13,Marseille,fr
64,14,Toulouse,fr
65,15,Nice,fr
66,16,Madrid,fr
67,17,Barcelone,fr
68,18,Valence,fr
69,19,Séville,fr
70,20,Saragosse,fr
71,21,Vienne,fr
72,22,Salzbourg,fr
73,23,Innsbruck,fr
74,24,Graz,fr
75,25,Linz,fr

Countries

• Create folder and name it countries
  • Create file countries.csv and add the following content in it

COUNTRY_ID,COUNTRY_NAME
1,Bulgaria
2,Italy
3,France
4,Spain
5,Austria

• Create file countries-lang.table and configure the table this way

• Create file countries-lang.csv and add the following content in it

GUID,Id,Name,Language
1,1,България,bg
2,2,Италия,bg
3,3,Франция,bg
4,4,Испания,bg
5,5,Австрия,bg
6,1,Bulgarien,de
7,2,Italien,de
8,3,Frankreich,de
9,4,Spanien,de
10,5,Österreich,de
11,1,Bulgarie,fr
12,2,Italie,fr
13,3,France,fr
14,4,Espagne,fr
15,5,Autriche,fr

• Create sample-csvim.csvim and add each of the .csv files this way

• Save all and publish

• Go to database perspective and check if there is data seeded in the database

Conclusion

In this guide, we’ve shown how Rhea by codbex revolutionizes data seeding. With just a few configuration files and zero lines of custom boilerplate code, we have built a fully functional, multi-language data structure. Rhea doesn't just import rows; it allows you to maintain a clean, model-driven architecture while keeping your development process agile.

Ready to build your own? Click here to learn more or access the Sample App code.