How-To: Setup a datasource that requires custom data

Overview

Defining your data is necessary whenever there is custom data or columns that Alli is not aware of. For this example, we will use an email datasource that requires us to define our custom data.

Easy Setup Instructions

Defining custom data can be done by dragging and dropping a CSV file onto the large + button.

A tile is automatically created for each column in your CSV file. This allows Alli Data to know how to import your data so you can easily access the information later.

You will need to double-check each of the columns to make sure that the categorizations look correct.

Advanced Setup Instructions

There are multiple parts to a single column tile:

Let's break it down:

• Column Name - This is the name of the header inside the CSV or Excel file.

• Format - The Column Format. 

  • Date - A date timestamp, can be in the format YYYY-MM-DD or MM/DD/YYYY

  • Numbers - Numbers can be both integers as well as decimals. Numbers are stored as decimals inside the database

  • Numbers and Letters -  The default value. This will accept up to 256 characters per column.

  • A True or False Switch - A Boolean value to determine if something is true or false. Valid values are 1 or 'true' for true and 0 and 'false' for false.

• Type - A flag to determine if the field should be considered a dimension or metric.

  • Dimension - This type means the values are considered unique and should not be overwritten with new data. Typically, these are Dates, ID Columns, and/or Names.

  • Attribute / Metric - These values are considered to be updated whenever new data is added. Things like "Status", and "Description" are considered Attributes, and Metrics are numbers such as impressions, clicks, and cost.

Columns are defined and are stored in the same order as the CSV or Excel file you are importing. The order of the columns does matter. The first column should match the first column in the excel file.

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