Creating Output Files From Scratch

A File Output is a file of fields that is output to an FTP site. Use File Output elements to define the output file's location, format and the fields that are mapped to it.

This topic describes how to create new export definitions from scratch in a File Output element.

In the campaign flow, the audience that passes through a File Output element will be output to the defined file.

Prerequisites

• You need to set up the Audience for the output file using an Audience element in the campaign flow.
• If the source data includes variables, you need to specify the values for the variables using a Variable element.

A simple campaign flow to create an output file that contains variables would look like this:

Procedure

1. Open an existing editable campaign in Campaign View, or create a new campaign by clicking New Campaign in Campaign View.
2. To add a File Output element to the campaign flow, click the plus button on the edge of the element you want to add the new element to (plus buttons can be blue , red or green ). Click the File Output option in the drop-down list.
3. Click the File Output element, the Campaign Designer screen opens.
4. Optionally, enter a name for the File Output element in the Name field, or leave the name as the default, for example, 'File Output - 1'.
5. Output Definition: Select New (local) from the drop-down list.
   
6. FTP Site: Select an FTP site from the list of pre-configured sites.
7. FTP Folder: Select an FTP folder from the list of configured folders. If the drop-down list is blank, no FTP folder has been configured by your Administrator.
8. File Name: Enter the name of the output file.
9. File Name Suffix: You can have no suffix, or you can add a date, or date and time, to the file name. This is useful if, for example, you are running the campaign every day and new audience members are passing through the campaign. You can easily identify the date the file was created.
10. Include Header: Select this check box if you want to include a header row at the top of the file. The header row's values will be taken from the field names specified in the output definition.
11. Fixed Width: Overrides the default settings to produce a fixed width file. Select the Fixed Width check box and enter the width value in the Width field on the right of the screen.
12. Qualifier: If you select a qualifier, each field in the output file will be enclosed by that qualifier.

13. Delimiter: You can specify the character that will separate the fields in the output file.

14. Click the add button to map the fields that will be included in the output file.
15. Optionally, enter the name of the field. If you have selected the Include Header check box, the field names will appear as the first row in the output file.
16. Select the source data that will be output. For example, the data source could be database columns such as names, addresses, and reference numbers , or free text fields that can be edited each time the tactic is used, such as a landing page URL that may need to be changed for different campaigns.
    

    	A free text field where anything can be entered.
    	Browse for and select a database column to provide the value for the field.
    	Variable - select the variable you want to use from the drop-down list. Add the value to the variable using a Variable element, which must be situated before the File Input element in the campaign flow.
    	Campaign Attribute - attributes can be used to configure a field that is based on a fixed campaign attribute. For example, creative instance key, creative name, campaign document id.

17. If you want to change the order of the mapped fields, click and hold your mouse on the gray area on the left side of the field and drag it to its new position.
    

18. Click Done to close the File Output element and return to the Campaign Designer screen.

• File Output Elements
  • Create Output Files Using Tactic Templates
  • Creating Output Files From Scratch