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When users upload files that contain more columns than are defined in your schema, you might want to access those unmapped columns for additional processing. Dromo provides a straightforward way to capture this data.

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Setup Required

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1. Enable passthrough in settings

First, enable the passThroughUnmappedColumns setting in your Dromo configuration: 
const settings = {
  passThroughUnmappedColumns: true,
  // ... other settings
};
When enabled, each row in your results will include a special $unmapped property containing the unmapped column data.

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2. Update your resultsCallback

Modify your results callback to process both mapped and unmapped data: 
const config = {
  // ... other config
  resultsCallback: (data, metadata) => {
    // Process your normal mapped data
    console.table(data);

    // Extract unmapped columns with proper header names
    const unmappedData = data.map(row => {
      if (row.$unmapped && metadata.rawHeaders) {
        const unmappedWithHeaders = {};
        Object.entries(row.$unmapped).forEach(([index, value]) => {
          const headerName = metadata.rawHeaders[parseInt(index)];
          if (headerName) {
            unmappedWithHeaders[headerName] = value;
          }
        });
        return unmappedWithHeaders;
      }
      return {};
    });

    console.log("Unmapped columns:", unmappedData);

    // Process both datasets as needed
    processMainData(data);
    processUnmappedData(unmappedData);
  }
};

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How It Works

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Data Structure

When passThroughUnmappedColumns is enabled:
  • $unmapped property: Added to each row containing unmapped column values
  • Format: { "0": "value1", "2": "value2" } (column index → value)
  • metadata.rawHeaders: Array containing original file headers in order
  • Header mapping: Convert column indexes to actual column names using rawHeaders[index]

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Example Walkthrough

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Original CSV File

Name,Email,Phone,Department,Notes,Start Date
John Doe,john@example.com,555-1234,Engineering,New hire,2024-01-15
Jane Smith,jane@example.com,555-5678,Marketing,Manager,2024-02-01

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Schema Definition

Let’s say your schema only maps two fields: 
const schema = [
  { key: "name", label: "Full Name" },
  { key: "email", label: "Email Address" }
];

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Processed Results

With passThroughUnmappedColumns: true, you’ll receive: 
// Main data (mapped columns)
[
  {
    name: "John Doe",
    email: "john@example.com",
    $unmapped: { "2": "555-1234", "3": "Engineering", "4": "New hire", "5": "2024-01-15" }
  },
  {
    name: "Jane Smith",
    email: "jane@example.com",
    $unmapped: { "2": "555-5678", "3": "Marketing", "4": "Manager", "5": "2024-02-01" }
  }
]

// metadata.rawHeaders
["Name", "Email", "Phone", "Department", "Notes", "Start Date"]

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Converted Unmapped Data

After processing with header names: 
[
  {
    "Phone": "555-1234",
    "Department": "Engineering",
    "Notes": "New hire",
    "Start Date": "2024-01-15"
  },
  {
    "Phone": "555-5678",
    "Department": "Marketing",
    "Notes": "Manager",
    "Start Date": "2024-02-01"
  }
]

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Common Use Cases

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Audit Trail

Store unmapped columns for compliance or auditing purposes: 
function storeAuditData(mainData, unmappedData) {
  mainData.forEach((row, index) => {
    const auditRecord = {
      processedData: row,
      additionalColumns: unmappedData[index],
      timestamp: new Date(),
      uploadId: getCurrentUploadId()
    };

    saveToAuditLog(auditRecord);
  });
}

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Dynamic Field Processing

Process specific unmapped columns based on their header names: 
function processUnmappedColumns(unmappedData) {
  return unmappedData.map(row => {
    const processed = {};

    Object.entries(row).forEach(([header, value]) => {
      // Handle phone numbers
      if (header.toLowerCase().includes('phone')) {
        processed.phoneNumber = formatPhoneNumber(value);
      }

      // Handle dates
      if (header.toLowerCase().includes('date')) {
        processed.dates = processed.dates || [];
        processed.dates.push({
          field: header,
          value: parseDate(value)
        });
      }

      // Store everything else as metadata
      processed.metadata = processed.metadata || {};
      processed.metadata[header] = value;
    });

    return processed;
  });
}

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Flexible Schema Extension

Allow users to map additional fields in a second pass: 
function enableSecondaryMapping(unmappedData) {
  const availableColumns = Object.keys(unmappedData[0] || {});

  // Present UI for mapping additional fields
  const secondaryMappingOptions = availableColumns.map(header => ({
    original: header,
    suggested: suggestFieldMapping(header),
    values: unmappedData.slice(0, 3).map(row => row[header]) // Preview values
  }));

  return secondaryMappingOptions;
}

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Best Practices

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Performance Considerations

For large datasets, consider processing unmapped data asynchronously, since you can’t know how many unmapped columns there will be: 
resultsCallback: async (data, metadata) => {
  // Process main data immediately
  await processMainData(data);

  // Queue unmapped data processing
  if (hasUnmappedColumns(data, metadata)) {
    queueUnmappedProcessing(data, metadata);
  }
}

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Data Validation

Validate unmapped data before processing: 
function validateUnmappedData(unmappedData) {
  return unmappedData.filter(row => {
    return Object.values(row).some(value =>
      value !== null &&
      value !== undefined &&
      value.toString().trim() !== ''
    );
  });
}
This feature gives you complete flexibility to handle any data structure your users might upload, while maintaining a clean separation between your core schema and additional data capture.
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