Automation Studio – Data Extract Activity

5.1 Data Extract Activity – Data Extension Extracts

In this video, we shall see how to configure Data Extract Activity to export data from a Data Extension – either as a CSV file using the Data Extension Extract type or as a Zip file using the Custom DE Extract as Zip option.

5.2 Data Extract Activity – Tracking Data Extracts

Ever wondered how to export details about your subscribers and email sends / jobs – what if you wanted to get an automated feed of all folks who unsubscribe on a weekly basis? Well that’s why you have the Tracking Data Extract type within Data Extract Activity – there’s lots of options that you can configure and each extract option chosen shall generate a separate csv file – all consolidated within a single Zip file.

For more details about each of the different tracking options that you can choose and configure, please refer to the Salesforce Marketing Cloud documentation here.

5.3 Data Extract Activity – Audit Trail Logs

Audit Trails are always an important asset for administrators – and we have options to automate the export of Audit Trails using Data Extract Activity. There are 2 types of Audit Trail Logs available – Activity and Access. This video explains how you can configure both these options within Automation Studio.

5.4 Data Extract Activity – Zip Compression

If you ever have a scenario where you end up with a file on your FTP folder but need to have it compressed as a Zip file, then look no further. We can use the Zip extract type within Data Extract Activity to convert the file to a compressed Zip file – this also gives you the option to delete the original source file.

5.5 Data Extract Activity – File Convert

The File Convert extract type is useful if you wish to convert Safehouse files into UTF-7, UTF-8, UTF-16, Unicode or ASCII formats. Quite often, the Data Extracts from Data Extensions are generated in Unicode format – this means that even though we specify comma delimiters, each row in the resulting csv file gets pushed into a single cell rather than individual columns as you would expect in a CSV file. The way to resolve this is to convert the generated Unicode csv file to the UTF-8 format prior to transferring it to FTP folders.