Data Extensions import file

Data Extensions files must contain the fields that are listed in the Data Extensions import configuration for this primary key. The field order in the file must match the configuration.

Your Data Extensions import file must include all the data extension records that you want to use for this primary key. You must include even records that you imported previously. Importing a Data Extensions file deletes all data that you previously imported by using the same template. The data that you previously imported by using the same template is removed and replaced with the most recent data.

The following primary keys involve values in a hierarchy:

Content Category
Product Category
Element Category
Vendor/Category
Vendor/Category/Placement
Vendor/Category/Placement/Item

You must use " > " (space character + greater-than symbol + space character) to separate values at different levels. For example, a Product Category value of Furniture > Desks indicates two levels of the category hierarchy. Yahoo > Email > Marketer is a correctly formatted value for the Vendor/Category/Placement key. Values without " > " are assigned to the top level of the hierarchy.

Note: When Import matches imported data with data in the database, case is ignored. For example, if the primary key of the import file is Country, and a row in the import file has GeRmAnY as the value of the primary key field and EMEA as one of the attribute values, any records in the database with a country value of germany, regardless of case, would have EMEA as an attribute.

The following are some common mistakes in Data Extensions files that cause files to fail validation.

Duplicate Record: Multiple rows have identical values for the primary key. Email notification indicates the number of records that failed.
Saved Import Configuration Mismatch: The import file does not match the import configuration that you saved.
Invalid Import File Name: You cannot upload a file with an invalid file name through the Import user interface or through a manual SFTP process.
Template Field Number Does Not Match Import File Field Number: The number of fields in the import file must match the number of fields in the actual import file.
Attribute Character Limit Exceeded: The value of a single non-key field exceeds 256 characters. The row that contains that field is skipped. The rest of the file is imported.
Key Field Character Limit Exceeded: The value of a key field exceeds 4096 characters. The row that contains that field is skipped. The rest of the file is imported.