Onit provides three different mechanisms for creating and updating Records from data files. While each efficiently translates rows of data in external files into Onit Records, their use cases vary slightly.

1. Synchronize Transactions from List can be used when you have an Excel file of data you need to create or update Records from. It is executed from a corporation's Administration page, not from an Action; it is, therefore, a good option when you need to make a one-time upload of data to Onit.
   
   See the Creating and Updating Transactions from a List tutorial for more information.
   
    
2. The Update Related Atoms from Spreadsheet Action is typically used with a Generate Spreadsheet Action. After users generate and update an Excel spreadsheet of Record data, this Action provides a mechanism for pushing those changes back to Onit.
   
   See the Keeping Transactions Updated with a Generated Spreadsheet tutorial for more information.
   
    
3. Finally, the Sync Data to Transactions Action creates, updates, and optionally deletes Records from a delimited flat file (e.g., a CSV file) rather than an Excel file. This Action is typically used for data migrations and, in conjunction with an SFTP Server, data integrations between an external system and Onit. It provides the fastest way to upload data to Onit.
   
   See the Sync CSV Data to Transactions tutorial for more information.

The table below outlines the main differences between these mechanisms: