Import Activity

What Is an Import Activity

An import is an activity to use the information from an outside file to update a subscriber list or data extension. If your account is integrated with a Salesforce account, you can use an import activity to create and populate a data extension with the data from a Salesforce object or report.

If you import to a list using the import activity, the system uses the List Detective tool to prevent bad email addresses from being imported.

If the file you are importing is encrypted or compressed, you can create a file transfer activity to prepare the file for import.

When you define an import activity within the system, you provide information that the activity uses each time it runs. The information gives the specifics of the file to import as well as the import activity's behavior while running the import.

Depending on your account configuration, you can select whether you want multiple records with the same primary key appearing in an import file to all be deleted or to retain only one instance of the record to be saved. For example, if subscriber Amy appears five times in an import file to a data extension, you can choose to ignore all five of those records or save only the first or last entry when the system actually imports the file. As the user, you may select optimistic or pessimistic in the import definition:

• Optimistic: Duplicates are treated as a "first one is saved" or "last one is saved" depending on Update Type.
• Pessimistic: Any duplicate entries are invalid.

Contact your ExactTarget representative if you wish to enable this feature on your account.

Why Use an Import Activity

You can start an import activity each time you want to import a file, or you can include the import activity in a scheduled program to cause it to import a file at recurring intervals.

How to Create an Import Activity

If the file to import is encrypted or compressed, you should create a file transfer activity to correspond with this activity. Before you begin this procedure, you must create a subscriber list or data extension into which to import the data. After you complete this procedure, you can start the import activity or include the import activity in a program.

1. Click the Interactions tab on the navigation bar.
2. Click Activities.
3. Click Import.

       The Import workspace appears.

4. Click Create from the toolbar.
5. Complete the information in the Properties section:
   • Name - The name of the activity. You use this name to identify the activity in the application. Subscribers cannot see the name.
   • External Key - A value you choose that uniquely identifies the activity. You use this value to identify the activity when using the API.
   • Description - The description of the activity. You use this description to further help identify the activity within the application. Subscribers cannot see the description.
6. Complete the information in the Source section:
   • File Location - The location where the system can find the file. 

   If you select Salesforce Objects & Reports:

   • Salesforce Data Source Type - The type of Salesforce entity from which you import the data. Valid values include:
     • Object
     • Report
   • Salesforce Object or Report - After you select the Data Source Type, the window shows the objects or reports in your integrated Salesforce account. 
   • Age of Import Data - The scope of the data to import. Valid values include:
     • Import All Data - Imports all data regardless of age.
     • Import Modified Data Since Last Import Date - Imports only data that has been modified since the date you enter in the date field.

   If you do not select Salesforce Objects & Reports:

   • File Naming Pattern - The name or naming pattern of the file. You can enter a static name or you can include placeholders for the date. For example, you could enter subscribers.csv to instruct the system to always look for a field named subscribers.csv or you could enter subscribers%%Month%%.csv to instruct the system to look for a filename where the last two characters are two-digit month.
   • File Type - The type of the file to import. Valid values include:
     • Comma Delimited (CSV) - If you choose this file type, the value that you enter in the File Naming Pattern must have a .CSV extension
     • tab delimited
     • Other - if you choose this file type, you must enter a 1-character delimiter in the Other Delimiter field.
   • Other Delimiter - A 1-character delimiter you choose. You must complete this field if you select Other in the File Type field.
   • Destination Type - The type of object in the system to import the information in to. Valid values include:
     • Subscriber List - If you choose this value, you must select a subscriber list.
     • Data Extensions - If you choose this value, you must select a data extension. Additionally, in the Import Action Settings section, two checkboxes appear.
       • Skip rows with bad data
       • Respect double quotes ('') as a text delimiter - If you select the checkbox, the system treats double quotes as a text delimiter. If you do not select this checkbox, the system ignores double quotes in your import file.
7. Complete the information in the Import Action Settings section:
   • Update Type - Determines how the import uses the content of the import file. Valid values include:
     • Add and update - If the import file contains records with a primary key (or email address) that does not already exist in the subscriber list or data extension, the import create a new record for that information. If the import file contains records with a primary key (or email address) that does already exist in the subscriber list or data extension, the import updates the record to match what's in the import file.
     • Add only - The import creates new records for primary keys that do not already exist in the data extension or subscriber list and ignores records whose primary keys already exist.
     • Update only - The import updates information for records whose primary key already exist in the data extension or subscriber list and ignores records whose primary keys do not already exist.
   • Validation- Select a date format from the dropdown menu in this section to use as part of the import. Choose the date format that most closely matches the region from which you are conducting the import.

   When you import dates into lists or a data extension, the date format used in the file must be in the same format as indicated on your ImportDefinition. If your ImportDefinition date format is different from the dates in the file,you will received Date Field validation errors. For example: if English (United Kingdom) is selected and a date field in the file contains 01/22/2010, the row will fail on validation. For English (United Kingdom), January 22nd, 2010 should be represented as 22/01/2010. The rules in this list will be referenced by the import to validate the dates in the file

   By default, the import activity skips any rows with bad data and imports the rest of the file. Please contact your ExactTarget representative if you have any question as to how your information will be altered during an import activity like this one.

   • Skip import if last import was less than [x] hours checkbox - Determine whether the system does not import the file if the last successful import was more recent than the threshold. If you select this checkbox, you must enter a threshold, in hours, of how recent a successful import of the file must be in order for the activity to skip importing the file.
   • Fail import if file is older than [x] hours. Allow System Buffer of [0] hours. - Determines whether the system returns an error if the file to import is older than the threshold.

   If you select this checkbox, you must enter a threshold, in hours, of how old a file can be and still be imported. You also must enter an offset value, in hours, to be added to the threshold. The offset value accounts for differences in time zone between the application and the system that contains the file to import.

   • File Mapping - Determines how the import identifies the correct destination for each column in the import file. Valid values include:
     • Map using column headings - the import will update the columns in the subscriber list or data extension with the information in the import file by matching the column headings.
     • Map by ordinal - the import will update the first column in the subscriber list or data extension with the first column in the import file, the second column with the second column, and so on. See Import Activity Known Issues.
     • Map manually - if you choose this option, you upload a sample file that maps using column headings and the import uses the same pattern to import your import file.
8. Complete the information in the Import Completion Settings section:
   • Delivery Location - Determines where the system delivers a file with the completion information and exceptions, if applicable. 
   • Has Column Header - Indicates whether the system to interpret the first row of the import file as a header row or as a data row.
   • Send notification email checkbox - Determines whether the system sends a notification emails when the import is complete. If you select this checkbox, you must enter the email address to send the notification.
9. Click Save.

How to View Imported File History

You can see a history of files imported or attempted to be imported by the import activity.

1. From the Imports workspace, select the import to view.
2. Click the File History button. The history screen that appears contains the following information for each instance of a file being imported:
   • Start date
   • File name
   • Status
   • Description