diff --git a/application/defs/cre_defs.py b/application/defs/cre_defs.py
index 0e9accb0..e8b33d5b 100644
--- a/application/defs/cre_defs.py
+++ b/application/defs/cre_defs.py
@@ -7,9 +7,7 @@
 from application.defs import cre_exceptions
 
 
-class ExportFormat(
-    Enum
-):  # TODO: this can likely be replaced with a method that iterates over an object's vars and formats headers to
+class ExportFormat:  # TODO: this can likely be replaced with a method that iterates over an object's vars and formats headers to
     #  <doctype>:<name>:<varname>
     separator = "|"
     section = "name"
@@ -24,14 +22,8 @@ class ExportFormat(
     tooltype = "ToolType"
     # sectionID = "SectionID"
 
-    @classmethod
-    def attributes():
-        return [
-            "name",
-            "hyperlink",
-            "description",
-            "id",
-            ]
+    def __str__(self):
+        return str(self.value)
 
     @staticmethod
     def get_doctype(header: str) -> Optional["Credoctypes"]:
diff --git a/application/tests/spreadsheet_parsers_test.py b/application/tests/spreadsheet_parsers_test.py
index 324fa481..3b5e2061 100644
--- a/application/tests/spreadsheet_parsers_test.py
+++ b/application/tests/spreadsheet_parsers_test.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import json
+from pprint import pprint
 import unittest
 from application.tests.utils import data_gen
 from application.defs import cre_defs as defs
@@ -8,30 +10,15 @@
 
 
 class TestParsers(unittest.TestCase):
+
     def test_parse_export_format(self) -> None:
-        """Given
-            * CRE "C1" -> Standard "S1" section "SE1"
-            * CRE "C2" -> CRE "C3" linktype contains
-            * CRE "C3" -> "C2" (linktype is part of),  Standard "S3" section "SE3"
-            * CRE "C5" -> Standard "S1" section "SE1" subsection "SBE1"
-            * CRE "C5" -> Standard "S1" section "SE1" subsection "SBE11"
-            * CRE "C6" -> Standard "S1" section "SE11", Standard "S2" section "SE22", CRE "C7"(linktype contains) , CRE "C8" (linktype contains)
-            * Standard "SL"
-            * Standard "SL2" -> Standard "SLL"
-            # * CRE "C9"
-        Expect:
-            9 CRES
-            9 standards
-            appropriate links among them based on the arrows above
-        """
+
         input_data, expected = data_gen.export_format_data()
-        result = parse_export_format(input_data)
+        cres, standards = parse_export_format(input_data)
         self.maxDiff = None
-        for key, val in result.items():
-            # self.assertDictEqual(expected[key].todict(), val.todict())
-            expected[key].links = []
-            val.links = []
-            self.assertDictEqual(val.todict(), expected[key].todict())
+
+        self.assertListEqual(list(cres), list(expected[defs.Credoctypes.CRE]))
+        self.assertListEqual(list(expected[defs.Credoctypes.Standard]), list(standards))
 
     def test_parse_hierarchical_export_format(self) -> None:
         #  TODO(northdpole): add a tags linking test
diff --git a/application/tests/utils/data_gen.py b/application/tests/utils/data_gen.py
index c4222c1c..172d95db 100644
--- a/application/tests/utils/data_gen.py
+++ b/application/tests/utils/data_gen.py
@@ -516,290 +516,252 @@ def root_csv_minimum_data():
 def export_format_data():
     input_data = [
         {
-            "CRE 0": "111-111|C1",
-            "S1:hyperlink": "https://example.com/S1",
-            "S1:name": "SE1",
-            "S1:id": "id1",
-            "SL:hyperlink": "",
-            "SL:name": "",
-            "SL:id": "",
-            "SL2:hyperlink": "",
-            "SL2:name": "",
-            "SL2:id": "",
-            "SLL:hyperlink": "",
-            "SLL:name": "",
-            "SLL:id": "",
+            "CRE 0": "000-001|C0",
+            "CRE 1": "",
+            "CRE 2": "",
+            "CRE 3": "",
+            "CRE 4": "",
+            "CRE 5": "",
+            "S1|hyperlink": "https://example.com/S1",
+            "S1|name": "SE1",
+            "S1|id": "id1",
+            "S1|description": "SE1 description",
+            "S2|hyperlink": "https://example.com/S1",
+            "S2|name": "",
+            "S2|id": "",
+            "S2|description": "",
+            "S3|hyperlink": "",
+            "S3|name": "",
+            "S3|id": "",
+            "S3|description": "",
+            "S4|hyperlink": "",
+            "S4|name": "",
+            "S4|id": "",
+            "S4|description": "",
+            "S5|hyperlink": "",
+            "S5|name": "",
+            "S5|id": "",
+            "S5|description": "",
+            "SL|hyperlink": "",
+            "SL|name": "",
+            "SL|id": "",
+            "SL2|hyperlink": "",
+            "SL2|name": "",
+            "SL2|id": "",
+            "SLL|hyperlink": "",
+            "SLL|name": "",
+            "SLL|id": "",
         },
         {
             "CRE 1": "222-222|C2",
         },
         {
             "CRE 3": "333-333|C3",
-            "S3:hyperlink": "https://example.com/S3",
-            "S3:description": "SE3",
-            "S3:name": "SE3 section",
+            "S3|hyperlink": "https://example.com/S3",
+            "S3|description": "SE3",
+            "S3|name": "SE3",
+            "S3|id": "5.3",
         },
         {
-            "CRE 4": "555-555|C5",
-            "S1:hyperlink": "https://example.com/S1",
-            "S1:name": "SE1",
+            "CRE 4": "444-444|C4",
+            "S1|hyperlink": "https://example.com/S1",
+            "S1|name": "SE1",
+            "S1|id": "id1",
         },
         {
-            "CRE:description": "C6 description",
-            "CRE:id": "666-666",
-            "CRE:name": "C6",
-            "Standard:S1:hyperlink": "https://example.com/S1",
-            "Standard:S1:link_type": "Linked To",
-            "Standard:S1:section": "SE1",
-            "Standard:S1:subsection": "SBE11",
-            "Tool:S2:hyperlink": "https://example.com/S2",
-            "Tool:S2:link_type": "Linked To",
-            "Tool:S2:description": "SE2",
-            "Tool:S2:ToolType": "Offensive",
-            "Tool:S2:SectionID": "0",
-            "Tool:S2:section": "rule-0",
-            "Code:S3:hyperlink": "",
-            "Code:S3:link_type": "",
-            "Code:S3:description": "",
-            "Linked_CRE_0:id": "777-777",
-            "Linked_CRE_0:link_type": "Contains",
-            "Linked_CRE_0:name": "C7",
-            "Linked_CRE_1:id": "888-888",
-            "Linked_CRE_1:link_type": "Contains",
-            "Linked_CRE_1:name": "C8",
-            "SL:hyperlink": "",
-            "SL:link_type": "",
-            "SL:section": "",
-            "SL:subsection": "",
-            "SL2:hyperlink": "",
-            "SL2:link_type": "",
-            "SL2:section": "",
-            "SL2:subsection": "",
-            "SLL:hyperlink": "",
-            "SLL:link_type": "",
-            "SLL:section": "",
-            "SLL:subsection": "",
+            "CRE 5": "555-555|C5",
+            "S1|hyperlink": "https://example.com/S1",
+            "S1|name": "SE1",
+            "S1|id": "id1",
         },
         {
-            "CRE:description": "",
-            "CRE:id": "",
-            "CRE:name": "",
-            "Standard:S1:hyperlink": "",
-            "Standard:S1:link_type": "",
-            "Standard:S1:section": "",
-            "Standard:S1:subsection": "",
-            "S2:hyperlink": "",
-            "S2:link_type": "",
-            "S2:section": "",
-            "S2:subsection": "",
-            "Code:S3:hyperlink": "",
-            "Code:S3:link_type": "",
-            "Code:S3:description": "",
-            "Linked_CRE_0:id": "",
-            "Linked_CRE_0:link_type": "",
-            "Linked_CRE_0:name": "",
-            "Linked_CRE_1:id": "",
-            "Linked_CRE_1:link_type": "",
-            "Linked_CRE_1:name": "",
-            "SL:hyperlink": "https://example.com/SL",
-            "SL:link_type": "",
-            "SL:section": "SSL",
-            "SL:subsection": "SBESL",
-            "SL2:hyperlink": "",
-            "SL2:link_type": "",
-            "SL2:section": "",
-            "SL2:subsection": "",
-            "SLL:hyperlink": "",
-            "SLL:link_type": "",
-            "SLL:section": "",
-            "SLL:subsection": "",
+            "CRE 0": "666-666|C6",
         },
         {
-            "CRE:description": "",
-            "CRE:id": "",
-            "CRE:name": "",
-            "Standard:S1:hyperlink": "",
-            "Standard:S1:link_type": "",
-            "Standard:S1:section": "",
-            "Standard:S1:subsection": "",
-            "S2:hyperlink": "",
-            "S2:link_type": "",
-            "S2:section": "",
-            "S2:subsection": "",
-            "Code:S3:hyperlink": "",
-            "Code:S3:link_type": "",
-            "Code:S3:description": "",
-            "Linked_CRE_0:id": "",
-            "Linked_CRE_0:link_type": "",
-            "Linked_CRE_0:name": "",
-            "Linked_CRE_1:id": "",
-            "Linked_CRE_1:link_type": "",
-            "Linked_CRE_1:name": "",
-            "SL:hyperlink": "",
-            "SL:link_type": "",
-            "SL:section": "",
-            "SL:subsection": "SESL",
-            "SL2:hyperlink": "https://example.com/SL2",
-            "SL2:link_type": "",
-            "SL2:section": "SSL2",
-            "SL2:subsection": "SBESL2",
-            "SLL:hyperlink": "https://example.com/SLL",
-            "SLL:link_type": "SAM",
-            "SLL:section": "SSLL",
-            "SLL:subsection": "SBESLL",
+            "CRE 0": "777-777|C7",
+        },
+        {
+            "CRE 0": "888-888|C8",
+        },
+        {
+            "S1|hyperlink": "",
+            "S1|name": "",
+            "S2|hyperlink": "",
+            "S2|name": "",
+            "SL|hyperlink": "https://example.com/SL",
+            "SL|name": "SSL",
+            "SL|id": "slid",
+            "SL2|hyperlink": "",
+            "SL2|name": "",
+            "SLL|hyperlink": "",
+            "SLL|name": "",
+        },
+        {
+            "SL2|hyperlink": "https://example.com/SL2",
+            "SL2|id": "sl2id",
+            "SL2|name": "SSL2",
+            "SLL|hyperlink": "https://example.com/SLL",
+            "SLL|name": "SSLL",
+            "SLL|id": "SBESLL",
+            "SLL|hyperlink": "",
         },
     ]
 
     expected = {
-        "C1": defs.CRE(
-            id="111-111",
-            description="C1 description",
-            name="C1",
-            links=[
-                defs.Link(
-                    ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
-                    document=defs.Standard(
-                        name="S1",
-                        section="SE1",
-                        subsection="SBE1",
-                        hyperlink="https://example.com/S1",
+        defs.Credoctypes.CRE.value: [
+            defs.CRE(
+                id="000-001",
+                name="C0",
+                links=[
+                    defs.Link(
+                        ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
+                        document=defs.Standard(
+                            name="S1",
+                            section="SE1",
+                            sectionID="id1",
+                            hyperlink="https://example.com/S1",
+                        ),
+                    ),
+                    defs.Link(
+                        ltype=defs.LinkTypes.Contains,
+                        document=defs.CRE(
+                            id="222-222",
+                            name="C2",
+                        ),
+                    ),
+                ],
+            ),
+            defs.CRE(
+                id="222-222",
+                name="C2",
+                links=[
+                    defs.Link(
+                        ltype=defs.LinkTypes.Contains,
+                        document=defs.CRE(id="333-333", name="C3"),
+                    )
+                ],
+            ),
+            defs.CRE(
+                id="333-333",
+                name="C3",
+                links=[
+                    defs.Link(
+                        ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
+                        document=defs.Standard(
+                            name="S3",
+                            section="SE3",
+                            sectionID="5.3",
+                            hyperlink="https://example.com/S3",
+                            description="SE3",
+                        ),
                     ),
-                )
-            ],
-        ),
-        "C2": defs.CRE(
-            id="222-222",
-            description="C2 description",
-            name="C2",
-            links=[
-                defs.Link(
-                    ltype=defs.LinkTypes.Contains,
-                    document=defs.CRE(id="333-333", name="C3"),
-                )
-            ],
-        ),
-        "C3": defs.CRE(
-            id="333-333",
-            description="C3 description",
-            name="C3",
-            links=[
-                defs.Link(
-                    ltype=defs.LinkTypes.PartOf,
-                    document=defs.CRE(
-                        id="222-222", description="C2 description", name="C2"
+                    defs.Link(
+                        ltype=defs.LinkTypes.Contains,
+                        document=defs.CRE(id="444-444", name="C4"),
                     ),
-                ),
-                defs.Link(
-                    ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
-                    document=defs.Code(
-                        name="S3",
-                        description="SE3",
-                        hyperlink="https://example.com/S3",
+                ],
+            ),
+            defs.CRE(
+                id="444-444",
+                name="C4",
+                links=[
+                    defs.Link(
+                        ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
+                        document=defs.Standard(
+                            name="S1",
+                            section="SE1",
+                            sectionID="id1",
+                            hyperlink="https://example.com/S1",
+                        ),
                     ),
-                ),
-            ],
-        ),
-        "C5": defs.CRE(
-            id="555-555",
-            description="C5 description",
-            name="C5",
-            links=[
-                defs.Link(
-                    ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
-                    document=defs.Standard(
-                        name="S1",
-                        section="SE1",
-                        subsection="SBE1",
-                        hyperlink="https://example.com/S1",
+                    defs.Link(
+                        ltype=defs.LinkTypes.Contains,
+                        document=defs.CRE(id="555-555", name="C5"),
                     ),
-                ),
-                defs.Link(
-                    ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
-                    document=defs.Standard(
-                        name="S1",
-                        section="SE1",
-                        subsection="SBE11",
-                        hyperlink="https://example.com/S1",
+                ],
+            ),
+            defs.CRE(
+                id="555-555",
+                name="C5",
+                links=[
+                    defs.Link(
+                        ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
+                        document=defs.Standard(
+                            name="S1",
+                            section="SE1",
+                            sectionID="id1",
+                            hyperlink="https://example.com/S1",
+                        ),
                     ),
-                ),
-            ],
-        ),
-        "C6": defs.CRE(
-            id="666-666",
-            description="C6 description",
-            name="C6",
-            links=[
-                defs.Link(
-                    ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
-                    document=defs.Tool(
-                        name="S2",
-                        section="rule-0",
-                        sectionID="0",
-                        tooltype=defs.ToolTypes.Offensive,
-                        description="SE2",
-                        hyperlink="https://example.com/S2",
+                ],
+            ),
+            defs.CRE(
+                id="666-666",
+                name="C6",
+            ),
+            defs.CRE(
+                id="777-777",
+                name="C7",
+            ),
+            defs.CRE(
+                id="888-888",
+                name="C8",
+            ),
+        ],
+        defs.Credoctypes.Standard.value: [
+            defs.Standard(
+                name="S1",
+                section="SE1",
+                description="",
+                sectionID="id1",
+                hyperlink="https://example.com/S1",
+                links=[
+                    defs.Link(
+                        ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
+                        document=defs.CRE(id="000-001", name="C0"),
                     ),
-                ),
-                defs.Link(
-                    ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
-                    document=defs.Standard(
-                        name="S1",
-                        section="SE1",
-                        subsection="SBE11",
-                        hyperlink="https://example.com/S1",
+                    defs.Link(
+                        ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
+                        document=defs.CRE(id="444-444", name="C4"),
                     ),
-                ),
-                defs.Link(
-                    ltype=defs.LinkTypes.Contains,
-                    document=defs.CRE(id="777-777", name="C7"),
-                ),
-                defs.Link(
-                    ltype=defs.LinkTypes.Contains,
-                    document=defs.CRE(id="888-888", name="C8"),
-                ),
-            ],
-        ),
-        "C7": defs.CRE(
-            id="777-777",
-            name="C7",
-            links=[
-                defs.Link(
-                    ltype=defs.LinkTypes.PartOf,
-                    document=defs.CRE(
-                        id="666-666", description="C6 description", name="C6"
+                    defs.Link(
+                        ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
+                        document=defs.CRE(id="555-555", name="C5"),
                     ),
-                )
-            ],
-        ),
-        "C8": defs.CRE(
-            id="888-888",
-            name="C8",
-            links=[
-                defs.Link(
-                    ltype=defs.LinkTypes.PartOf,
-                    document=defs.CRE(
-                        id="666-666", description="C6 description", name="C6"
+                ],
+            ),
+            defs.Standard(
+                name="S3",
+                section="SE3",
+                description="SE3",
+                sectionID="5.3",
+                hyperlink="https://example.com/S3",
+                links=[
+                    defs.Link(
+                        ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
+                        document=defs.CRE(id="333-333", name="C3"),
                     ),
-                )
-            ],
-        ),
-        "SL2:SSL2": defs.Standard(
-            name="SL2",
-            section="SSL2",
-            subsection="SBESL2",
-            hyperlink="https://example.com/SL2",
-        ),
-        "SL:SSL": defs.Standard(
-            name="SL",
-            section="SSL",
-            subsection="SBESL",
-            hyperlink="https://example.com/SL",
-        ),
-        "SLL:SSLL": defs.Standard(
-            name="SLL",
-            section="SSLL",
-            subsection="SBESLL",
-            hyperlink="https://example.com/SLL",
-        ),
+                ],
+            ),
+            defs.Standard(
+                name="SL",
+                section="SSL",
+                description="",
+                sectionID="slid",
+                hyperlink="https://example.com/SL",
+            ),
+            defs.Standard(
+                name="SL2",
+                section="SSL2",
+                sectionID="sl2id",
+                hyperlink="https://example.com/SL2",
+            ),
+            defs.Standard(
+                name="SLL",
+                description="",
+                section="SSLL",
+                sectionID="SBESLL",
+            ),
+        ],
     }
     return input_data, expected
diff --git a/application/utils/spreadsheet_parsers.py b/application/utils/spreadsheet_parsers.py
index f31a24a7..df501f18 100644
--- a/application/utils/spreadsheet_parsers.py
+++ b/application/utils/spreadsheet_parsers.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from pprint import pprint
 import logging
 import re
 from copy import copy
@@ -139,41 +140,87 @@ def parse_export_format(lfile: List[Dict[str, Any]]) -> Dict[str, defs.Document]
     Given: a spreadsheet written by prepare_spreadsheet()
     return a list of CRE docs
     """
-
-    cres: Dict[str,defs.CRE]
+    cres: Dict[str, defs.CRE] = {}
     standards: Dict[str, defs.Standard] = {}
     max_internal_cre_links = len(
         set([k for k in lfile[0].keys() if k.startswith("CRE")])
     )
     standard_names = set(
-        [k.split("|") for k in lfile[0].keys() if not k.startswith("CRE")]
+        [k.split("|")[0] for k in lfile[0].keys() if not k.startswith("CRE")]
     )
+    highest_cre = None
+    highest_index = max_internal_cre_links + 1
+
+    previous_cre = None
+    previous_index = max_internal_cre_links + 1
 
     for mapping_line in lfile:
         working_cre = None
         working_standard = None
         # get highest numbered CRE entry
-        for i in range(max_internal_cre_links - 1, 0, -1):
+        for i in range(max_internal_cre_links - 1, -1, -1):
             if not is_empty(mapping_line.get(f"CRE {i}")):
-                entry = mapping_line.get(f"CRE {i}").split("|")
-                working_cre = defs.CRE(name=entry[1],id=entry[0])
+                entry = mapping_line.get(f"CRE {i}").split(defs.ExportFormat.separator)
+                working_cre = defs.CRE(name=entry[1], id=entry[0])
+
+                if previous_index < i:  # we found a higher hierarchy CRE
+                    previous_index = i
+                    highest_cre = previous_cre
+                    cres[highest_cre.id] = highest_cre.add_link(
+                        defs.Link(
+                            document=working_cre.shallow_copy(),
+                            ltype=defs.LinkTypes.Contains,
+                        )
+                    )
+                elif highest_index < i:  # we found a higher hierarchy CRE
+                    cres[highest_cre.id] = highest_cre.add_link(
+                        defs.Link(
+                            document=working_cre.shallow_copy(),
+                            ltype=defs.LinkTypes.Contains,
+                        )
+                    )
+                elif highest_cre == None:
+                    highest_cre = working_cre
+                    highest_index = i
+
+                previous_index = i
+                previous_cre = working_cre
                 break
 
         for s in standard_names:
-            if mapping_line.get(f"{s}{defs.ExportFormat.separator}name"):
+            if not is_empty(mapping_line.get(f"{s}{defs.ExportFormat.separator}name")):
+
                 working_standard = defs.Standard(
                     name=s,
                     sectionID=mapping_line.get(f"{s}{defs.ExportFormat.separator}id"),
                     section=mapping_line.get(f"{s}{defs.ExportFormat.separator}name"),
-                    hyperlink=mapping_line.get(f"{s}{defs.ExportFormat.separator}hyperlink"),
-                    description=mapping_line.get(f"{s}{defs.ExportFormat.separator}description")
+                    hyperlink=mapping_line.get(
+                        f"{s}{defs.ExportFormat.separator}hyperlink", ""
+                    ),
+                    description=mapping_line.get(
+                        f"{s}{defs.ExportFormat.separator}description", ""
+                    ),
                 )
+                if standards.get(working_standard.id):
+                    working_standard = standards[working_standard.id]
+
                 if working_cre:
-                    working_cre.add_link(defs.Link(document=working_standard))
+                    working_cre.add_link(
+                        defs.Link(
+                            document=working_standard.shallow_copy(),
+                            ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
+                        )
+                    )
+                    working_standard.add_link(
+                        defs.Link(
+                            document=working_cre.shallow_copy(),
+                            ltype=defs.LinkTypes.LinkedTo,
+                        )
+                    )
                 standards[working_standard.id] = working_standard
         if working_cre:
             cres[working_cre.id] = working_cre
-    return cres.values(),standards.values()
+    return cres.values(), standards.values()
 
 
 @dataclass