An example Django command (through the django-admin.py or manage.py interface) for loading in generic CSV data; a design pattern that should apply well to just about any delimited data.

Django_CSV_Loader.py

import csv
from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand, CommandError
from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError, ObjectDoesNotExist
from django.db.models.fields import FieldDoesNotExist
from scour_server.nbi.models import Bridge

class Command(BaseCommand):
    args = '<path>'
    help = ''

    def handle(self, *args, **options):
        '''
        <path>  {String}    The path to the CSV file
        '''
        path = args[0]
        reader = csv.reader(open(path, 'rb'), delimiter=',', quotechar="'")
        for line in reader:
            l = reader.line_num # Lines start numbering at 1, not 0
            if line == []:
                line = reader.next() # Check for empty lines

            if l == 1:
                header = line # Get field names
                line = reader.next() # Move on to the first line of data

            data_dict = {}
            for field in header:
                # Reformat the column names for personal preference/system requirements
                model_field = field.lower()

                value = line[header.index(field)] # The value for that field

                try:
                    Bridge._meta.get_field(model_field)

                except FieldDoesNotExist:
                    # Skip fields that aren't specified in the model
                    continue

                # Catch empty values that should be null
                if len(value) == 0 or value == '_':
                    if Bridge._meta.get_field(model_field).null:
                        data_dict[model_field] = None

                else:
                    data_dict[model_field] = value

            inst = Bridge(**data_dict) # Create a model instance
            try:
                # Check to see if the record already exists
                Bridge.objects.get(structure_number_008=inst.structure_number_008)

            except ObjectDoesNotExist:
                inst.save() # Save the record to the database only if it doesn't already exist

The example is that of a National Bridge Inventory dataset that needs to be loaded, where the unique identifier is Item #8, structure_number_008.