Answers.Body: <p>If you import contacts with an 'is_deceased' column, then as well as having a 1 for everyone who is deceased, i recommend you use 0 instead of blank/empty for everyone else.</p>
  
  <p>The reason is that some civi code checks whether someone is deceased or not, and a value of NULL creates problems.</p>
  
  <p>This hit us with Scheduled Reminders. Seemed they were not going out to most folks, and jitendra tracked it down to the fact that Scheduled reminders only load contact with "is_deceased" is set to 0 - and therefore ignores NULL ones.</p>
  
  <p>I expect we will get this patched for this scenario but chances are that other functions might do the same - so best to ensure you have a 0 in your living contacts when you import.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-12-07T22:56:20.587Z
Answers.Text: Eileen thinks that newer installs will ensure is_deceased defaults to 0
Answers.UserDisplayName: petednz - fuzion
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-12-08T09:44:48.470Z
Answers.Text: See also https://issues.civicrm.org/jira/browse/CRM-17147 and https://issues.civicrm.org/jira/browse/CRM-16681
Answers.UserDisplayName: Aidan
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-12-08T09:47:25.320Z
Answers.Text: A related issue: setting deceased_date in an import is not sufficient - you also need to include is_deceased=1.  At least, that was the case before 4.7.23 - https://issues.civicrm.org/jira/browse/CRM-20953
Answers.UserDisplayName: Aidan
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-12-07T22:21:59.810Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2017-12-07T22:21:59.810Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: petednz - fuzion
Body: <p>Are there any tricks to importing contact data if you include a column for 'is_deceased'?</p>
  
  <p>I am asking primarily so I can answer and give others a warning!</p>
  
Tags: <import>
Title: Are there any tricks to importing contact data if you include a column for 'is_deceased'
ThreadText: # Are there any tricks to importing contact data if you include a column for 'is_deceased'
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-07)
  
  Are there any tricks to importing contact data if you include a column for 'is\_deceased'?
  
  I am asking primarily so I can answer and give others a warning!
  
  **Tags:** import
  
  
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  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_0 on 2017-12-07. Score: 4
  
  If you import contacts with an 'is\_deceased' column, then as well as having a 1 for everyone who is deceased, i recommend you use 0 instead of blank/empty for everyone else.
  
  The reason is that some civi code checks whether someone is deceased or not, and a value of NULL creates problems.
  
  This hit us with Scheduled Reminders. Seemed they were not going out to most folks, and jitendra tracked it down to the fact that Scheduled reminders only load contact with "is\_deceased" is set to 0 - and therefore ignores NULL ones.
  
  I expect we will get this patched for this scenario but chances are that other functions might do the same - so best to ensure you have a 0 in your living contacts when you import.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Eileen thinks that newer installs will ensure is_deceased defaults to 0  
  > **username_1**: See also https://issues.civicrm.org/jira/browse/CRM-17147 and https://issues.civicrm.org/jira/browse/CRM-16681  
  > **username_1**: A related issue: setting deceased_date in an import is not sufficient - you also need to include is_deceased=1.  At least, that was the case before 4.7.23 - https://issues.civicrm.org/jira/browse/CRM-20953  
  
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