Import automation: Critical scenarios

Situation

There is an attribute in the import file that does not (yet) exist in Inxmail.

Consequence

The attribute is ignored during import. The other attributes are imported.

Situation

An e-mail address appears several times in the import file.

Consequence

In Inxmail, the e-mail address plays a central role and may only appear once because it serves to uniquely identify your recipients.

When importing, Inxmail works through your CSV file from top to bottom. If an email address appears more than once, Inxmail handles its other attributes in the same way as you have defined in the import settings for existing recipients.

Example

You have defined the following handling of existing recipients in your import settings:

• Do not make any changes: If the email address does not yet exist in Inxmail, the first entry from your import file will be used. The others are ignored.

• Overwrite completely: Each entry with the same e-mail address overwrites the previous one. In the end, the last entry of the multiple e-mail address wins.

There is no error message.

Situation

The start time for an import falls within an import that has not yet been completed.

Consequence

Imports cannot be executed simultaneously. Inxmail starts the second import as soon as the first one is finished.

Situation

An import contains several import files. An import file is incorrect.

Consequence

The error-free import files are imported. The import of the faulty file fails according to the error pattern.

Situation

The SFTP server fails during the import.

Consequence

The behavior of the system depends on the time of failure.

Background: In a first step, Inxmail creates an internal list of import files that are located on the SFTP server. Inxmail then imports all files that have already been retrieved from the SFTP server.

• If the SFTP server fails after the list has been created, Inxmail starts importing the known files. The import only fails for files that have not yet been imported before the failure.

• If the SFTP server fails before the list of import files can be created, the entire import will fail.

Situation

The list to be imported was deleted before the import.

Consequence

As soon as you delete a list, Inxmail deactivates all import automations that have this list as the import target.

Situation

The destination list is deleted during the import.

Consequence

The import is canceled. All recipients that have already been imported are retained globally, i.e. outside the deleted list.

Situation

A running import is deactivated.

Consequence

The current import is still being completed.

Situation

The import starts before the import file has been fully uploaded to the SFTP server.

Consequence

Inxmail only imports data that is fully available on the SFTP server at the start of the import. If an import file has not yet been completely written, only the part of the file that has already been written to the SFTP server is imported.

You have two options to prevent the partial import of a file:

1. Ensure that there is sufficient time between writing the import file on the SFTP server and the start time of the import. This ensures that the import files are completely available on the SFTP server. Also make sure that your import files are only rewritten once the last import has been completed.
2. Make sure that the import files do not end in .csv or .csv.gz during the write process. Files that do not end in .csv or .csv.gz are ignored during import. Only rename the files to .csv or .csv.gz after the write process has been completed.