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Applying List Import Formats

Before you import a file, you must save the List Import Format (the sequence of columns that correspond to your file). The list format name consists of the list name followed by the saved date/time stamp. For example, My Target List 09/1/2004 12:30:15pm. For more information, see Mapping External List Columns to Database Columns.

To apply an existing List Import Format to your list

1. Navigate to the List Management screen.
2. Click the list name.
3. Click the List Import view tab.
4. In the List Import Formats field, click the select button.
5. In the List Import Formats dialog box, select a format to use. If necessary, perform a query to locate the format.

NOTE:  You may not be able to apply an existing format to a fixed-width file if the data was originally created for comma separated or tab delimited file. For CSV or tab delimited files, the column width value defaults to 20, and this value may not match the width of the fixed width file that is being used.

List Import Format Settings

You can administer the precise settings associated with your list import format. If the Import Format is to be used in Overwrite Existing Record match resolution, you can specify which columns are allowed to be overwritten in the database. The Allow Field Updates column in the lower list indicates which columns are set to be overwritten. If the column is checked, that field is overwritten in any existing prospect record that matches the incoming record. By default, all columns are unchecked, so that no existing information can be overwritten without the administrator's consent.

If you are using Exact Match or Exact and Intelligent Match as the matching approach, you need to specify the columns that will used to perform the exact match query. In the List Import Mappings list, check the box in the Exact Match Column column for each list field to be used in the exact match query.

For files with a fixed width file type, the server detects the column width and displays the width in the List Import Formats view. To display the column width settings, from the visibility filter, select List Import Formats and in the List Import Formats list, select the list that relates to your list. If the List Import Format was originally created from a comma separated or tab delimited file, the value defaults to 20, although the width does not have any effect during the import task.

NOTE:  Columns mapped to Additional Attributes cannot be updated in Update Mode. If you check Allow Field Updates for this column in the List Import Formats view, the application ignores the setting.

List Import can load a text file in one of three types: comma separated, fixed width, and tab delimited. For files with a fixed-width data type, you can specify the width of each column. The default width is 20. The bottom list displays the column sequence that you have defined in the List Import list. Enter the width in the Width field.