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CSV export (backup)

Export to CSV (backup) on the Import/Export screen (Settings › Export & Backup, or the share icon on History) writes every glucose reading and insulin dose — for the active cat, or for all cats if you choose that — to one CSV file and hands it to the iOS share sheet. It is the app’s only backup: SugarPaws has no cloud sync, so a CSV kept somewhere safe is what you would import after a lost phone or a Delete All Data. It also opens cleanly in Excel, Numbers or Sheets for a vet who wants the raw numbers.

The screen shows Current Data for Name with the counts of glucose readings and insulin doses. With more than one profile a CSV backup covers switch offers This cat / All N cats. Tap Export to CSV (backup) — the button reads Exporting… while the file is written on a background thread — and the share sheet opens with the file. The share subject is SugarPaws data backup for Mochi (or for all cats).

If the write fails: Export FailedSugarPaws couldn’t write the export file. Make sure your device has free storage and try again. If the data cannot be read: SugarPaws couldn’t read your data to export it: …. If the share sheet cannot present: Couldn’t Open Share Sheet.

Name: SugarPaws_Export_2026-08-16_09-15-02.csv (time of export). UTF-8, RFC 4180 (fields containing commas, quotes or line breaks are quoted; quotes are doubled).

It starts with comment lines, each beginning #, which the importer skips:

# SugarPaws Data Export
# Export Date: 2026-08-16T13:15:02Z
# Total Glucose Readings: 62
# Total Insulin Doses: 60
# Canonical glucose unit (Value column): mg/dL
# Owner's display unit (DisplayValue column): mmol/L
# App version: 1.0 (3)
# Format: Type,Date,Time,Value,Unit,InsulinType,Notes,Cat,DisplayValue,DisplayUnit
#
Type,Date,Time,Value,Unit,InsulinType,Notes,Cat,DisplayValue,DisplayUnit
Glucose,2026-08-16,07:30,268.0,mg/dL,,Pre-shot,Mochi,14.9,mmol/L
Insulin,2026-08-16,07:40,2.00,units,Lantus (Glargine),Morning dose,Mochi,2.00,units

All glucose rows come first, oldest to newest, then all insulin rows, oldest to newest.

ColumnGlucose rowInsulin row
TypeGlucoseInsulin
Dateyyyy-MM-dd, in the device’s local time zonesame
TimeHH:mm, 24-hour, local — seconds are not writtensame
ValueAlways mg/dL, one decimal (268.0) — whatever unit you use in the appUnits, two decimals (2.00, 0.25)
Unitmg/dLunits
InsulinTypeemptyThe type recorded on the dose, e.g. Lantus (Glargine) or your custom name
NotesThe note, or emptyThe note, or empty
CatThe cat’s namesame
DisplayValueThe same reading in your display unit: identical to Value for mg/dL users, one decimal in mmol/L (14.9)Same as Value
DisplayUnitmg/dL or mmol/Lunits

Why Value is not converted. The file is both the vet artefact and the backup. mmol/L displays to one decimal, so 100 mg/dL would export as 5.6 and re-import as 100.8 — and because import recognises a duplicate by its value, re-importing your own backup would then double an mmol/L user’s whole history instead of being recognised as already present. So Value stays canonical and DisplayValue carries the number you actually see; a vet reads whichever pair suits them.

Time zone. No offset is stored. Move the file to a device in another zone and each entry keeps its wall-clock time — intended for a personal single- device log.

Precision. Glucose to one decimal, insulin to two: an imported 0.25-unit dose must not become 0.3, a 20 % error, in a file a vet reads.

Spreadsheet safety. A note beginning with =, +, -, @, a tab or a carriage return is written with a leading apostrophe ('=…), the standard “literal text” marker, so a hostile or accidental note cannot run as a formula when the file is opened in Excel or Sheets. Import strips it again, so your own round trip is lossless.