Siebel Marketing Guide > Generating and Maintaining Snapshot Files >

Generating a Snapshot File

In Siebel Marketing, the first time you generate a snapshot or the first time data retrieval occurs, the following snapshot directories are created:

The first time you generate a snapshot file for a stage, a temporary snapshot file is created in the \\filesystem\marketing\snapshots directory. Each time you regenerate a snapshot for that stage, the data in that stage's snapshot file is overwritten. Snapshot files for all stages accumulate in the snapshots directory and can be deleted, if necessary.

When you generate a snapshot, any constraint on that table is applied, then filters, and then segment criteria. Snapshot files contain the information needed to bring in contact data from an external data source. Therefore, they are only created when you request a snapshot for a campaign that contains a segment. If you only want data that exists in an internal list, no snapshot file is needed and none is created. In addition, because there is no segment, you do not need to allocate segment counts to campaign offers. Generating a snapshot for a stage that has a list and no segment creates a campaign but no snapshot file. For example, when you generate a snapshot for a program that contains a single stage, a single list, and a single campaign, the following occurs:

A snapshot file can be generated automatically during the launch of a scheduled program or requested manually in the Program Flow workspace or using menus in the Program Explorer.

To generate and maintain a snapshot file, perform the following tasks:


 Siebel Marketing Guide 
 Published: 23 June 2003