Salesforce object export via Data Loader / Weekly Data Export (raw record shape)
A raw per-object CSV (Account, Opportunity, etc.) from Data Loader, the Bulk API or the Weekly/Bulk "Data Export," assumed to be interchangeable with a report export. It is the opposite kind of file, no subtotals or formatting, but full of raw IDs, UTC timestamps, API-name picklists and unconverted currency.
The shape, how the file is really laid out
One clean header row, one row per record, no preamble and no totals. Reference
fields are 18-character record IDs, not names (OwnerId, AccountId), so the export
is only meaningful joined to the parent object's export. Datetimes are ISO-8601
in UTC with a trailing Z (2026-08-09T14:30:00.000Z); date-only fields carry no
time. Picklists export their stored API values, which can differ from the labels
users see. In a multi-currency org each row carries CurrencyIsoCode and Amount is
the raw value in that record's currency, Data Loader does not convert, unlike a
report. There is no 2,000-row display cap; the file is the full object.
The traps
Every reference is an opaque Id, a human reading "0065f00000AbCdEfGHI" learns nothing, and joining on the 15-character case-sensitive form to an 18-char case-safe form silently mismatches records.
- Every trap in this export, worked through
- The reconciliation anchor, the total the file asserts about itself
- The refusal cases, when to stop and ask instead of guess
Reference: Salesforce Help "Data Loader export" · Salesforce "Weekly/Bulk Data Export" · Salesforce 15- vs 18-character record ID and multi-currency (CurrencyIsoCode) documentation