Auto Importer UI

The Auto Importer User Interface (UI) is a form-based interface to guide you as you build an import specification. It provides instant error messaging and real-time previews, and it builds the underlying XML specifications, eliminating the need to write XML from scratch.

Screen capture of the Auto Import UI form

To access the UI, click the Open in Auto Importer UI link on the Auto Importer Processor screen while viewing a new or existing import spec.

Screen capture with a pointer to the "Open in Auto Importer UI" link

Click Save (frequently) to save changes to the specification. When done, click Go back to the Importers screen; you do not need to also save on that screen.

To create an Auto Importer specification with the UI:

1. Open the Auto Importer UI

For new specifications, change the name, which by default begins with Created on ...
Load a sample feed-file with Choose File to create the data mapping. The file must be in the same format (that is, the same columns and same types of data) as future imports.

Screen capture with callout to the Choose File to upload a sample file

Restriction: The maximum size of the sample file is 5 MB (5,242,880 bytes).

Warning: Avoid using Excel files for production imports because large Excel files can cause large performance problems. Better is to convert the file to CSV first; CSV does not have the same size issues as Excel.

Medallia Experience Cloud analyzes the uploaded sample file and reports the number of columns and rows available for mapping. The columns represent the “input” fields and the rows represent records.

Example of the report for a successfully loaded sample file

2. Choose an Auto Importer processor

The most commonly used Auto Importer processors are:

Survey Processor for creating survey invitation data, importing historical survey data and and updating survey data.
Org Hierarchy Processor for importing org units and unit groups.
Warning: In pretend mode, some units created with the Org hierarchy processor are not available when the Surveys processor makes a reference to them, and the feed-file-processing history report shows an Auto Importer processing error. Process the file in active mode to avoid this error.
Account Processor for importing user account information.

Warning: When a user who is assigned to an alert is deactivated using the Auto Importer Account processor, or with a GDPR purge, the activity log is updated.
Other users subscribed to records associated with the alert may be notified by email that the alert's assignee was deactivated. This applies to alerts that are open, closed, active, and inactive.

When using the Auto Importer Account processor to deactivate users, users subscribed to records associated with the alert are notified by email.

When using a GDPR purge to deactivate users, users subscribed to records associated with the alert are not notified. For information about alerts, see Alerts and Assignees.
Lookup Table Processor for uploading customer reference data Lookup tables.

Screen capture of the processor links

Note: For detailed information about the processors, see Auto Importer Processors. Additionally,

Episode processor is for survey invitation data imports (episode data) used an older Medallia implementations. Do not use this without direction from Medallia; use the Survey Processor instead.
Opt-out processor is not supported in the Auto Importer UI. To use this process, create an XML specification in the Auto Importer Processors screen.
JunkSurvey processor is for junking records and is not supported in the Auto Importer UI. To use this process, create an XML specification in the Auto Importer Processors screen.
UnjunkSurvey processor is for unjunking records and is not supported in the Auto Importer UI. To use this process, create an XML specification in the Auto Importer Processors screen.
ActionPlans is for updating or deleting action plans and is not supported in the Auto Importer UI. To use this process, create an XML specification in the Auto Importer Processors screen.
ActionPlansTasks is for bulk uploading action plan tasks and is not supported in the Auto Importer UI. To use this process, create an XML specification in the Auto Importer Processors screen.

After choosing a processor, the system displays:

Processing statistics about the sample file (top row)
Database update and sampling options (gray box)
Data mapping table (list of fields on the bottom)

Screen capture of the form showing 2 records processed and updated, and the list of input columns and output fields

The processing statistics indicate how the records (rows in feed-file) will be processed, and the changes that will occur to the database once the data are imported. There are three sets of statistics:

Record counts

Records — The total count of records found in the input file (the count of rows)
Duplicates — The total count of duplicated records compared within the input file and with the existing database based on the field that is used for duplicate check

Processing results

Discarded — The count of records to be discarded (not processed). This could be due to duplicate records, missing a required field, error due to invalid email format, error in JavaScript transformation, etc.
Processed — The count of records that are successfully processed and will be imported into the database.

Note: Records (Total Records count) is always equal to Discarded + Processed records.

Changes to be applied to the database once the data are imported into the system

Updated — The count of records within Experience Cloud that will be updated with information being imported.
Deleted — The count of records within Experience Cloud that will be deleted.
Created — The count of new records that are created within Experience Cloud with information from the imported file.
Created Related — The count of related entities that are created when a new entity is being created during the import.

When using the Org Hierarchy processor to create new Units, Created is the count of units created, while Created Related represents the number of Unit Groups.

3. Choose the database update option

The processing options (light gray box) affect changes to the database and trigger other actions during data imports.

Screen capture showing the processing options on the form

Processing options


Processor	Option	Description
All	Creating only	New entities are created; existing entities are ignored.
	Creating and updating only	New entities are created; existing entities (with matching keys) are updated.
	Creating, updating, and deleting	New entities are created; existing entities (with matching keys) are updated; existing entities without a match in the feed-file are deleted. This option is not available for all all entities or processors.
	Updating only	Existing entities (with matching keys) are updated. No new entities will be created.
	Update mode: Update only if a single record is matched	If a single entity matches, it is updated; if multiple entities match, none are updated.
	Update mode: Update all matched records	All of the matched entities are updated
Survey processor	Primary Unit Field	The field to use as the primary unit ID for the created episodes/surveys. Some companies have more than one unit field in the record. This option identifies the field that identifies the Unit associated with the record. The unit ID is necessary for several reasons, including but not limited to: Identifying unit data and unit group data to associate with the invitation Sampling steps, especially quota and quarantine Design (look and feel) to apply to the invitation and survey Alert assignments Org hierarchy filtering
Survey processor	Sampling Operation	Determines how the records that are sampled will be treated. None. Push to survey engine, do not generate invites. Push to survey engine, then generate invites. Do not push to survey engine. Warning: While Experience Cloud builds personalized invitations using the Default version of a survey specification, here you can select a different version for sampling operations. For more information, see Survey versions. For more information, see Sampling operation. Use Survey Spec: Auto-Detect: uses the default Survey Program Sampling for Quotas Select from a list of quota rules Restriction: Avoid using this processor for junking or unjunking records, instead use the JunkSurvey and UnjunkSurvey processors. For more details, see Junk survey records.
Account processor	Import as an Account	The import is run using the permissions (visible Accounts and Units) from the Account with this username.
	Restrict permissions based on primary role of account being processed	When setting the access for a role, the unit group visibility check will only use the role's permissions in the importing account instead of all its roles.
	Send new account emails	A post-processing action that indicates that new Account e-mails need to be sent after an Account import finishes.
Lookup Table processor	Lookup Table Name	If the name is not specified, then a new lookup table is created using the imported file’s name.

4. Data mapping

After choosing a processor, Auto Importer automatically:

maps input fields to data fields in the system, and
suggests new fields to be created in the system to accommodate the mappings.

When Experience Cloud cannot automatically map a field, it reports a Failure for that input column. Otherwise, when all mappings are valid, Experience Cloud shows All Valid in the upper-left.

Important: Review the details of each mapping to verify the automatic choices are correct.

Screen capture showing failure messages on various fields, one is expanded to show the details

Click a mapping entry to expand the field and show the details:

Expanded input column details

The mapping details include:

The Input is the column in the incoming file, while the Output is the field in the system to which the data will imported.
Transforms alter the Input data to the format required for the Output. For example, an transform might be a JavaScript that converts state names to the state's abbreviation (e.g., California to CA). Transform formulas used in import specifications are the same as used in K-fields.
The grid on the right shows some examples from the sample feed-file and how they will be transformed into the database.
Validation Options provide additional control and conditions to apply to the data import.


Validation option	Description
Value is required	The value must be provided and must be successfully parsed, otherwise the whole row is discarded. For multi-valued fields, the entire record is dropped, if a single part is incorrect. For example, when parsing e-mails with `\|` as delimiter and the input is `a@example.com\|foo\|b@example.com` the record/row is dropped because `foo` is not a valid email format.
Use for duplicate checking	Same as Value is required, but the value is also used as a key to identify duplicates by comparing the input value against the values for the output field already in the database. If the Processing Option is: Creating only and there is no duplicate, the record is created; otherwise (duplicate exists), the record is dropped. Updating only and there is a duplicate, the record is updated; otherwise (no duplicate), the record is dropped. The Survey processor looks in the Survey table, while the Episode processor looks in the Episode table. For the Account processor only one field can be used, and it must be either Username or Company Account ID. Note that neither of these fields are updatable, and attempting to update one when the other is the required duplicate check just ignores the new value.
Convert invalid to null	The value must be provided and must be (at least partially) successfully parsed, otherwise the whole row is discarded. For multi-valued fields, the parts that are not correct are dropped, while the good data are kept. For example, when parsing e-mails with `\|` as delimiter and the input is `a@example.com\|foo\|b@example.com`, the `a@example.com` and `b@example.com` are kept but the invalid `foo` address is dropped. The Detailed Processing Report notes the dropped value, but the record is still processed.
Ignore missing values	If selected and the value is not provided on a record, the missing value is ignored during an update. For example, when updating an account and the input record is missing a value for an email field: When this option is selected, the existing email address in the database remains untouched. When this option is omitted, the existing value is replaced by a blank value. This option cannot be used on fields that are used for duplicate checking. Important: Fields might shown as modified on the detailed processing report even if they are not modified by Experience Cloud.
Default Value	Value to use when this field is missing a value in the input. Furthermore, when Convert invalid to null is selected, this value is used if the one in the input data fails to be properly parsed.
Date Format	Available for Date/Time fields. Date format you are planning to import within this field.
Time Zone	Available for Date/Time fields. Set time zone for incoming data.
Map by	Available for Multi-valued fields, which can store multiple values. When using multi-valued fields you can reference: The field name. The sequence number of enumerated fields. The field's numeric value.
Handle multi-values by	Available for Multi-valued fields. When using multi-valued fields you can: Replace existing values — The values specified in the input are set as the current ones, discarding the previous values. If a field is mapped multiple times (even from different rows with the same duplicate checking key), then the last mapping from the last row is stored. Remove from the existing values — The values specified in the input are removed from the ones currently stored in Experience Cloud. Those values to be removed, which are not currently stored in Experience Cloud, are skipped. Append to existing values — The values specified in the input are added together from multiple mappings even from different rows (as long as the duplicate checking key is the same), and then added to the ones currently stored in Experience Cloud. Sync — The values specified in the input are added together from multiple mappings even from different rows (as long as the duplicate checking key is the same), and then stored in the system. Notice that, unlike the append option, the values currently stored in Experience Cloud are discarded and not included. Note: By default, Experience Cloud discards the values stored in Experience Cloud and sets the ones from the input file.

Warning: Experience Cloud supports field names that contain multiple underscores and it treats them as different fields. The field validation process does not support this: if you use multiple underscores in the middle of an output target field, they are replaced by a single underscore when the specification is validated. This mismatching in how field names are used causes unexpected issues that are difficult to detect. For example, if there is an existing Event field by the name of e_email (with one underscore) and, by mistake, in the definition you use e__mail ( with two underscores) without noticing it, there is no validation exception; the validation process treats both fields as the same field. This is only an issue when there are different fields whose only difference is the number of underscores, because when updated on an importer, only the field with a single underscore is updated.

Use the Notes field to describe mapping.

Example of the Notes field

5. Create and syncing new fields

During data mapping, you have the option to map an input to a new field by clicking Create a new Field on the Output field.

Screen capture highlighting the Create a new Field button

When creating a new field you provide the Name, Field ID, and select the Data type (AltSet).

Example of the Create a New Field form, with a new field named 'Code Number' of type String

After mapping to a new field, a blue bar indicates the need to Sync fields now to add the new fields to Experience Cloud database.

Screen capture highlighting the message saying the fields must be mapped, and including the Sync Fields Now link.

Click Sync fields now to see the new fields and AltSets that need to be created to support the imported data.

Example of the Sync Fields dialog creating two fields: "storename2" which is a String and "disctrictasf" which is an Enumeration with two value: JAPAN and DIS2

Click Sync Fields to confirm the creation of these fields.

Warning: Be careful when creating fields from this page. A new AltSet is created for each new field even if the AltSet already matches an AltSet already in Experience Cloud and even when more than one field being synced has the same AltSet.

6. Save the specification

Click Save (frequently) to save changes to the specification. When done, click Go back to the Importers screen; you do not need to also save on that screen.