Export extensions are optional components that you can use to modify InterAction data after you export it. For example, by using export extensions, you can do either of the following:
- Remove records from the export that do not have a mailing address defined. This can reduce costs and eliminate mistakes in bulk mailings.
- Fill in a blank phone number field with a value from another field. If a contact does not have a Business phone defined, you can fill that spot with the Business2 phone number for the contact.
By using the provided export extensions, you can accomplish almost any additional processing you will need to perform on your InterAction data.
If you use InterAction’s robust reporting features to customize the data you are including in your reports/exports, you will most likely not use export extensions.
This article covers the following topics:
- Selecting Export Extensions
- Setting the Order of Export Extensions
- Using Export Extensions to Create New Fields
Selecting Export Extensions
The most difficult and important step of using export extensions is determining which extension will complete the task you need.
For example, you may use an additional field to track family salutation information such as ‘Mr. and Mrs. Jones’ in addition to the User-specific and Global Salutations stored by InterAction. You want to create a form letter that is addressed to a contact’s family, if a family salutation is specified. If a family salutation is not specified, you want to use your user-specific salutations for contacts.
First you would review the supplied export extensions to determine which extension would best meet your needs. In this example, the If/Then/Else export extension would provide the necessary functionality. After you have determined which export extension will meet your needs, you can configure it.
Instructions for configuring each export extension are explained in Supplied Export Extensions.
Setting the Order of Export Extensions
Several export extensions can be configured for an automated export to meet your needs. In addition, the order in which the extensions process data can make a difference in your data output. Because of this, you can change the order in which export extensions are executed.
For example, assume you set up two export extensions for an automated export you are creating. One export extension finds records with blank Home address field and fills in that field with the information from the Business address field. The other export extension finds all records with blank Business address fields and deletes those records from the export. If you run the export extension that deletes records with blank Business addresses first, the extension that fills the blank Home address field with information from the Business address field becomes pointless. However, if you arrange the extensions so that the extension that fills the blank fields occurs first, then the deleting extension will only delete records with no business addresses.
To rearrange the order of configured export extensions, select the extension you want to move and choose Move Up or Move Down to rearrange them.
Using Export Extensions to Create New Fields
Some export extensions can be configured to create new fields in your export data file. Other extensions might create a new field based on data in another field. For example, you can configure the If/Then/Else extension to add a value to a new field based on the data in an existing field.
When you create new fields using export extensions, the export data file changes. Because of this, you will have to configure your export instructions before you create your merge document because the merge fields in your document use the fields in the export data file. For more information, see Setting up a Data Source for the Mail Merge Document.