Top > How to import data > Creating and configuring objects > Configuring Criteria
The Criteria page provides search criteria during an import. It can also identify a particular instance of an object when working with relationships, e.g., the T510 laptop computer whose serial number is 11178430.
During an import, instances that meet the criteria are updated (when the Update Only Object Processing option is chosen). If you have chosen the Create or Update Object Processing option on the General page, then instances that do not meet the criteria are instead created. In this case, you may use criteria to prevent duplicate instances from being created.
In a relationship, an object instance that meets the criteria is either added to the relationship or removed from the relationship. No changes are performed on the instance itself. If no instance meets the criteria, then nothing is added or removed from the relationship.
To configure the options on the Criteria page:
Import the source data as described in To import data from a csv file: or To import data from a SQL Server query:.
Map the source data to the destination objects as described in Configuring map properties.
Go to the Criteria page, select a property and click Add. The property is added to the criteria field. Select as many properties as necessary to narrow the scope of the search.
From the drop down adjacent to each property, select the corresponding column in the source data. These properties and their matching columns define which object instances are updated or created and which instances are added to a relationship or removed from one, depending on the Object Processing Options selected on the General page.
Click OK. The object is now configured.
The next step is to create relationships between your objects. See Creating relationships between objects. If you are ready to create the objects, see Completing the import wizard.