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Incoming File Specifications for Clients

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File Naming

Each file we receive must be named properly using a client-specific structure. This naming allows LiftEngine to validate your data, confirm your client preferences, and append the specific package of fields to your data. The file naming convention is:

LEAP_V1_<Package Code>_<Package Version?>_#_<File Name?>_<File ID?>.<Format>.<Compression?>
  • Package Code: A code provided by your Account Representative that indicates the elements that will be appended to a submitted file.
  • Package Version: An optional parameter that would represent a subset of Package Code. This would also be provided by your Account Representative, if applicable. When the package version is omitted (not recommended), the default is the latest version. Using a package version prevents unexpected changes in the returned data when enhancements to the data package are made. If omitted, insert a # as the filename component placeholder.
  • #: This is a required placeholder for the fifth position in the file name if you wish to use the optional Client Defined or File ID parameters.
  • File name: (Optional) – This is an optional parameter that you can use to provide details in your file naming. It could be anything that allows you to identify a file more easily by name (Campaign Name, Data Origin, etc.).
  • File ID: (Optional) – This parameter is a component to prevent a file from being processed twice. If the system detects a previously processed File ID, the new submission will not be processed. Typically, a File ID is created using a timestamp, a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID), or some other identifier that can be linked back to the receiving system.
  • Format: The file extension that identifies the data’s format. Acceptable values are:
    • .csv (comma-separated text)
    • .tab (tab-separated text)
    • .pipe (pipe-separated text)
  • Compression: The file extension that identifies the compression method applied to the file, if applicable. Accepted values are:
    • .zip (ZIP compression)
    • .pgp (PGP compression and encryption)
    • .gpg (GPG compression and encryption)

The simplest file name we can accept is:

LEAP_V1_PK1.CSV

Where:

  • “PK1” is the Package Code
  • Note: Package Version is omitted since it’s optional, but it’s highly recommended to include it.

Additional Points

  • All values must be alphanumeric with no whitespace.
  • If an optional field is omitted, the underscores must still be included, separated by a #. For example:
LEAP_V1_PK1_43SDF_#_#_123456.CSV
  • Once our process is complete, we will post the output file as:
<INPUT FILE NAME>.YYYYMMDDHHMMSSS.TAG.CSV

Field Naming

The append program is looking for specific field names to engage the matching process. Therefore, a header row must be provided, and the field names must be consistent. If you have additional data elements you would like to provide, they will be carried through the tagging process and passed back in the return file. All input fields will be passed through to the return file but prefixed as INPUT.<INPUT FIELD NAME>.

The specific field names are (required are in bold):

  • ID (optional but strongly recommended)
  • Full_Name
  • First_Name (only required if Full_Name is not provided)
  • Last_Name (only required if Full_Name is not provided)
  • Address_Line_1
  • Address_Line_2 (only required if Address_Line_1 does not contain all necessary street address information)
  • City
  • State (standard two-letter US state and territory abbreviations, only)
  • Zip_Code (five digits with leading zero, where applicable)
  • Email (only required for specific services and/or certain onboarding programs)

File Formatting

We recommend data be provided as a comma-separated values (CSV) format with a header record identifying the fields. It is strongly encouraged that you enclose all alphanumeric and date fields in quotes. Quoting of numeric fields is optional. For example:

"First_Name","Last_Name","Address_Line_1","Address_Line_2","City","State","Zip_Code"
"John", "Smith","123 Main Street","","Pearl River","NY",10965

Legitimate quotes that appear in alphanumeric data should be doubled so they are not interpreted as delimiters:

"Full_Name","Address_Line_1","Address_Line_2","City","State","Zip_Code"
"Dwayne ""The Rock"" Johnson",123 Main Street","","Pearl River","NY",10965

Character Encoding

The file should be character encoded using any of the following:

  • UTF-8
  • Plain ASCII

Windows-1252 or CP-1252 (Windows code page 1252) is not accepted.

Compression

Files may be compressed before sending using standard zip compression. The compressed file should only contain one file (.CSV).

The file name of the zip file must be the same as the base file with the .ZIP file extension at the end. For example,

LEAP_V1_PK1_43SDF_#_#_123456.CSV.ZIP

Files must not be password protected but can be encrypted as described below.

Encryption

Files may be encrypted using PGP encryption. The encrypted file should only contain one file (.CSV). The LaunchPad public PGP key can be found here: https://help.launchpadasap.com/PublicPGPKey.txt

The file name of the PGP file must be the same as the base file with the .PGP file extension at the end. For example:

LEAP_V1_PK1_43SDF_#_#_123456.CSV.PGP

NOTE: if encryption is used, additional compression must not be used since the encryption process will automatically compress the file.