'Data Copy or Import (Import File)' activity in Automation Studio without 'Import Definition'/'Import Activity' using external data as source

break down on each steps

Create new automation with 'Data Copy or Import (formerly Import File)' activity in Automation Studio without 'Import Definition'/'Import Activity' using external data as source

Automation Studio -> click ‘Overview’ tab -> click 'New Automation' button -> on the left drag 'Starting Source' to the 'Workflow' -> drag the 'Data Copy or Import' activity onto the 'Workflow' tab canvas it is on 'Step 1' -> click 'Data Copy or Import' button on 'Step 1'. ->

in ‘Activity Info’ top layout; fill in Property Details:

'Name' - Enter a unique name.

'Description' - Identify the activity so that others using the account know what it is.

'External Key' - Enter a value that uniquely identifies the activity when using the API.

'Notification Settings' - To receive notifications for this activity, enter an email address. ->

in ‘Import File’ top layout; Configure the File Location import settings property:

'File Location' - Choose an ‘existing external public cloud’ or ‘FTP file location’. Source data must be from FTP not desktop!

'File Naming Pattern' - Enter the name of the import data source (file that you want to import). You can use a dynamic file naming pattern based on date and timestamp.

‘Example File Name’ - preview and validation tool for dynamic file naming patterns. As you type dynamic variables into the File Naming Pattern field (e.g., customers_%%Year%%%%Month%%%%Day%%.csv), the Example File Name field instantly translates those wildcards into real numbers using the current date.: It helps you ensure that things like hyphens, underscores, extensions (.csv), or character cases match the exact format of the files your external system or FTP drops into the folder.

'Date Format' - Select the import file’s date format.

'Delimiter' - Select the import file’s delimiter type. If you select Respect double quotes ('') as a text delimiter, a quotation mark is interpreted as a delimiter.

‘Bad Data Behavior’: If you select this option, a file containing bad or invalid data is emailed to the address that receives notifications for this import activity. If the file is larger than 25 MB, it’s added to your FTP folder instead. Checkbox 2 options:

1. ‘Respect double quotes (“) as a text delimiter’ and

2. ‘Skip rows with bad data’.

‘Advance File Option’: checkbox 4 options:

1. ‘Skip if last Import occurred less than the following number of hours ago [ hours ]’ - Select to not import the file if it was imported within the specified time period.

2. ‘Fail Import if file is older than the following number of hours [ hours ]’ - Use when files are frequently added to the file location and you want to always import the most recent file.

3. ‘System buffer (hours) [ hours]’- Add a buffer of 1 or more hours between activities in an automation.

4. ‘Blank File Behavior' - Choose how to handle empty files. ->

1. Fail Import - If the file has 0 records, the import activity stops immediately, next step in Automation is blocked from running, whole automation stops.

2. Skip Empty File - The activity finishes with a successful status, but it skips processing the file entirely. Whole automation does not stop. Best for daily data processing where you know data in file can be blank or zero.

3. Process Empty File - If paired with "Overwrite": The activity clears the targeted Data Extension entirely, reducing its total record count to zero. If paired with "Add Only", "Update Only", or "Add and Update": The import completes successfully but makes zero modifications to your target destination.

in ‘Destination‘ top layout; Select a ‘data extension’ or a subscriber ‘list’ as the destination for the imported data. -> Select how the import writes data to the destination. Unless you choose to overwrite on import, your file must have at least one primary key column.

in ‘Mapping’ top layout; Data Action:

'Add Only' - New data is added to the destination, and existing data isn’t updated. 'Update Only' - Existing data is updated in the destination, and new data is ignored. 'Add and Update' - New data is added to the destination, and existing data is updated.

'Overwrite (Data Extensions Only)' - All data in the destination is replaced with data from the import file. You can’t recover overwritten data. -> Select how the data is mapped to your destination.

‘File Mapping’ section Mapping Option:

'Map by Header Row' - Each column header in the import file must match the column name in the destination.

'Map by Ordinal' - The first column in the destination is updated with the first column in the import file. This pattern continues for each column in the import file until all columns have been parsed. a. When importing into a subscriber ‘list’, column numbers must start at 0. b. When importing into a ‘data extension’, column numbers must start at 1.

'Map Manually' - Each column header in the import file is mapped according to a sample file that you provide. ->

in ‘Review‘ top layout: review all your information, click ‘Finish’ button to save and schedule automation.

Create new activity with 'Data Copy or Import (formerly Import File)' activity in Automation Studio without 'Import Definition'/'Import Activity' using external data as source

Automation Studio -> click 'Activities' tab -> 'click 'Create Activity' button. -> click 'Data Copy or Import' button. -> click 'Create New Copy or Import Definition', and provide the details. ->

in ‘Activity Info’ top layout; fill in Property Details:

'Name' - Enter a unique name.

'Description' - Identify the activity so that others using the account know what it is.

'External Key' - Enter a value that uniquely identifies the activity when using the API.

'Notification Settings' - To receive notifications for this activity, enter an email address. ->

in ‘Import File’ top layout; Configure the File Location import settings property:

'File Location' - Choose an ‘existing external public cloud’ or ‘FTP file location’. Source data must be from FTP not desktop!

'File Naming Pattern' - Enter the name of the import data source (file that you want to import). You can use a dynamic file naming pattern based on date and timestamp.

‘Example File Name’ - preview and validation tool for dynamic file naming patterns. As you type dynamic variables into the File Naming Pattern field (e.g., customers_%%Year%%%%Month%%%%Day%%.csv), the Example File Name field instantly translates those wildcards into real numbers using the current date.: It helps you ensure that things like hyphens, underscores, extensions (.csv), or character cases match the exact format of the files your external system or FTP drops into the folder.

'Date Format' - Select the import file’s date format.

'Delimiter' - Select the import file’s delimiter type. If you select Respect double quotes ('') as a text delimiter, a quotation mark is interpreted as a delimiter.

‘Bad Data Behavior’: If you select this option, a file containing bad or invalid data is emailed to the address that receives notifications for this import activity. If the file is larger than 25 MB, it’s added to your FTP folder instead. Checkbox 2 options:

1. ‘Respect double quotes (“) as a text delimiter’ and

2. ‘Skip rows with bad data’.

‘Advance File Option’: checkbox 4 options:

1. ‘Skip if last Import occurred less than the following number of hours ago [ hours ]’ - Select to not import the file if it was imported within the specified time period.

2. ‘Fail Import if file is older than the following number of hours [ hours ]’ - Use when files are frequently added to the file location and you want to always import the most recent file.

3. ‘System buffer (hours) [ hours]’- Add a buffer of 1 or more hours between activities in an automation.

4. ‘Blank File Behavior' - Choose how to handle empty files. ->

1. Fail Import - If the file has 0 records, the import activity stops immediately, next step in Automation is blocked from running, whole automation stops.

2. Skip Empty File - The activity finishes with a successful status, but it skips processing the file entirely. Whole automation does not stop. Best for daily data processing where you know data in file can be blank or zero.

3. Process Empty File - If paired with "Overwrite": The activity clears the targeted Data Extension entirely, reducing its total record count to zero. If paired with "Add Only", "Update Only", or "Add and Update": The import completes successfully but makes zero modifications to your target destination.

in ‘Destination‘ top layout; Select a ‘data extension’ or a subscriber ‘list’ as the destination for the imported data. -> Select how the import writes data to the destination. Unless you choose to overwrite on import, your file must have at least one primary key column.

in ‘Mapping’ top layout; Data Action:

'Add Only' - New data is added to the destination, and existing data isn’t updated. 'Update Only' - Existing data is updated in the destination, and new data is ignored. 'Add and Update' - New data is added to the destination, and existing data is updated.

'Overwrite (Data Extensions Only)' - All data in the destination is replaced with data from the import file. You can’t recover overwritten data. -> Select how the data is mapped to your destination.

‘File Mapping’ section Mapping Option:

'Map by Header Row' - Each column header in the import file must match the column name in the destination.

'Map by Ordinal' - The first column in the destination is updated with the first column in the import file. This pattern continues for each column in the import file until all columns have been parsed. a. When importing into a subscriber ‘list’, column numbers must start at 0. b. When importing into a ‘data extension’, column numbers must start at 1.

'Map Manually' - Each column header in the import file is mapped according to a sample file that you provide. ->

in ‘Review‘ top layout: review all your information, click ‘Finish’ button to save and schedule automation.

2 ways to add 'Data Copy or Import' activity into Automation Studio

Automation Studio -> click 'Activities' tab -> 'click 'Create Activity' button. -> click 'Data Copy or Import' button. -> click 'Create New Copy or Import Definition', and provide the details. ->

Automation Studio -> click ‘Overview’ tab -> click 'New Automation' button -> on the left drag 'Starting Source' to the 'Workflow' -> drag the 'Data Copy or Import' activity onto the 'Workflow' tab canvas it is on 'Step 1' -> click 'Data Copy or Import' button on 'Step 1'. ->

Property Details

'Name' - Enter a unique name.

'Description' - Identify the activity so that others using the account know what it is.

'External Key' - Enter a value that uniquely identifies the activity when using the API.

'Notification Settings' - To receive notifications for this activity, enter an email address.

‘Import File’ Import settings property

'File Location' - Choose an ‘existing external public cloud’ or ‘FTP file location’. Source data must be from FTP not desktop!

'File Naming Pattern' - Enter the name of the import data source (file that you want to import). You can use a dynamic file naming pattern based on date and timestamp.

‘Example File Name’ - preview and validation tool for dynamic file naming patterns. As you type dynamic variables into the File Naming Pattern field (e.g., customers_%%Year%%%%Month%%%%Day%%.csv), the Example File Name field instantly translates those wildcards into real numbers using the current date.: It helps you ensure that things like hyphens, underscores, extensions (.csv), or character cases match the exact format of the files your external system or FTP drops into the folder.

'Date Format' - Select the import file’s date format.

'Delimiter' - Select the import file’s delimiter type. If you select Respect double quotes ('') as a text delimiter, a quotation mark is interpreted as a delimiter.

Error Handing part:

‘Bad Data Behavior’: If you select this option, a file containing bad or invalid data is emailed to the address that receives notifications for this import activity. If the file is larger than 25 MB, it’s added to your FTP folder instead. Checkbox 2 options:

1. ‘Respect double quotes (“) as a text delimiter’ and

2. ‘Skip rows with bad data’.

‘Advance File Option’: checkbox 4 options:

1. ‘Skip if last Import occurred less than the following number of hours ago [ hours ]’ - Select to not import the file if it was imported within the specified time period.

2. ‘Fail Import if file is older than the following number of hours [ hours ]’ - Use when files are frequently added to the file location and you want to always import the most recent file.

3. ‘System buffer (hours) [ hours]’- Add a buffer of 1 or more hours between activities in an automation.

4. ‘Blank File Behavior' - Choose how to handle empty files. ->

1. Fail Import - If the file has 0 records, the import activity stops immediately, next step in Automation is blocked from running, whole automation stops.

2. Skip Empty File - The activity finishes with a successful status, but it skips processing the file entirely. Whole automation does not stop. Best for daily data processing where you know data in file can be blank or zero.

3. Process Empty File - If paired with "Overwrite": The activity clears the targeted Data Extension entirely, reducing its total record count to zero. If paired with "Add Only", "Update Only", or "Add and Update": The import completes successfully but makes zero modifications to your target destination.

in ‘Mapping’ top layout; Data Action

'Add Only' - New data is added to the destination, and existing data isn’t updated.

'Update Only' - Existing data is updated in the destination, and new data is ignored.

'Add and Update' - New data is added to the destination, and existing data is updated.

'Overwrite (Data Extensions Only)' - All data in the destination is replaced with data from the import file. You can’t recover overwritten data. -> Select how the data is mapped to your destination.

‘File Mapping’ section Mapping Option

'Map by Header Row' - Each column header in the import file must match the column name in the destination.

'Map by Ordinal' - The first column in the destination is updated with the first column in the import file. This pattern continues for each column in the import file until all columns have been parsed. a. When importing into a subscriber ‘list’, column numbers must start at 0. b. When importing into a ‘data extension’, column numbers must start at 1.

'Map Manually' - Each column header in the import file is mapped according to a sample file that you provide. -> Review and save your activity.

in ‘Destination‘ top layout;

Select a ‘data extension’ or a subscriber ‘list’ as the destination for the imported data. -> Select how the import writes data to the destination. Unless you choose to overwrite on import, your file must have at least one primary key column.