Is "Upload from XML" valid in English?

Imagine an example.xml file that contains some data.

Then there's a website where you can type or upload this data, so there are a few links such as "Manual Input" or "Upload from XML".

Which one of these options is the best, do they all seem valid to you?

  • "Upload from XML"
  • "Upload from list of values"
  • "Upload from CSV"
  • "Upload from comma-separated values" (aren't they both horribly wrong?)

And this looks valid to me:

  • "Upload XML"
  • "Uload list of values"

Unfortunately lots of pages uses "Upload from XML/CSV" so I'm a bit confused. It's basically "Upload from Extensible Markup Language", I might be wrong but it just feels awful.


Solution 1:

"Upload XML" is direct, to the point, and hard to misunderstand. It's also grammatical, if we understand the elided "file" (i.e., "Upload XML file").

"Upload CSV" is similarly non-grating.

"Upload XML/CSV" and "Upload XML or CSV" would be likewise fine, if the server is smart enough to handle both properly without being told which it is.

Spelling out XML or CSV, while (excruciatingly) correct, will confuse some (many?) people.

Edit: I'm not arguing that "from" is incorrect, just unnecessary, and not even helpful. And it's a very good rule to avoid any UI element that is not helpful.

Solution 2:

You are right that "Upload from (X)" where X is a file type is not quite correct. However, what would be correct, and is possibly what the original authors of the web page intended, is something similar to "Import from (X)."

In that case, since the word "import" implies some kind of data format conversion, the preposition "from" is appropriate.