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Creating the Keyword import file

You can import Keywords contained in a delimited file format, such as a CSV file, and add these Keywords to Contacts (note the import does not create Contacts or Categories). This section describes the requirements for the import file used to import Keywords:

  • The data in the file must be delimited using the supported formatting
  • The file must be encoded using UTF-8, if it contains unicode characters
  • The first row of data in the file must contain the names of the various data columns:
    • At least one column must contain an identifier to uniquely identify Contacts (see Contact identification below)
    • A Keyword column the values of which may or may not map to an existing Keyword, depending on whether you want to create new Keywords or just add them to Contacts
    • Optionally, a Category column the values of which map to an existing Category
    • Optionally, a Publication column the values of which map to an existing Publication
  • Configure logging for import in the OutboundEmail.xml configuration file.

Contact identification

Contacts come with a default set of extended detail fields in which the combination IDENTIFICATION_KEY and IMPORT_SOURCE are used to uniquely identify individual Contacts. The procedure for changing and configuring contact identification fields and adding Contact Extended Details (executed by a Database Administrator) is described in the implementation documentation.

File formatting

The following table describes how the data may be formatted in your Keyword import files:

Format optionDescriptionSupported Values
Field separatorSpecifies how fields/columns are separated.
  • , (comma)
  • ; (semicolon)
  • : (colon)
  • (Tab) (tab)
  • | (vertical bar)
String delimiterSpecifies how fields that contain commas, double-quotes, or line-breaks are delimited.
  • " (double quotation marks)
  • ' (single quotation marks)
Row separatorSpecifies how rows are separated
  • carriage return
  • line feed
  • carriage return/line feed pair