Process of How the XML Import Works

The import utility uses the business component’s primary user key sequence to match the record in the XML file and the record in database. For example, for the business component Personalization Rule Set, the user key is Name. The following table lists the consequences if the user key is change or the sequence number is changed.

Note: You can find out the user key column from the table definition. For the Personalization Rule Set business component, the associated table, S_CT_RULE_SET has a single user key column NAME.

If...	Then...
The value for the user key itself (Name field) is changed.	The import utility does not find an existing record matching the Name field in the XML file, thus considering it being a new record. A new record is created.
The sequence number is changed.	It is an update, not an insert, since Sequence number is not part of the user key, and the import utility finds the record matching field Name in the database.

Note: The import utility has an implicit rule, that is, a record is updated only if the LAST_UPD timestamp in the XML file is newer than in the database. This prevents an old XML file from flushing all the newer configurations.

See also About Exporting and Importing Personalization Data and Exporting Personalization Data as an XML File.