Exports

Owned by Tibor Tasi
Last updated: Feb 22, 2024 by Klári Németh
11 min read

The Exports module allows accessing the data that is stored in Antavo’s database. Backoffice administrators can generate reports to get an overall view of the data of customers, coupons, or stores – among others – tailored to their current needs. When creating the export file, the module configuration interface provides options to add data fields and apply filters.

Find the configuration page by opening the Modules menu and searching for the ‘Exports’ module in the list. The page opens up to a list of previously created exports with the following information:

This page displays a list of exports created previously including the following information:

  • Name
    Name of the export.

  • Created at
    The date when the export was requested.

  • Created by
    The Backoffice user who created the export linked to their profile page.

  • Model
    This refers to the type of data that the export contains.

  • Target
    File transfer option selected when the export was created (FTP, FTP over SSL, or SFTP). If no target is defined, the export file is only accessible through the Backoffice.

  • Status
    The system works with the following statuses:

    • Pending – the setup of the export is saved, but the export process has not started yet

    • Processing – the export process is in progress

    • Finished – the export process has finished, and the export is ready for download

    • Failed – the export process has failed
      Please contact the Antavo Service Desk for further information if the issue persists.

    • Active - the export configured with repeated scheduling will trigger an export on the next scheduled time

    • Inactive - the export configured with repeated scheduling will not trigger an export on the next scheduled time

  • Filesize
    The size of the export file in bytes.

Creating a new export

  • Click the ‘Create new export’ button on the left sidebar

Data model

First, select the data model to export. The following models are available:

  • Challenges

  • Changes

  • Content approval

  • Coupons

  • Coupon pools

  • Customers

  • Customer fields

  • Events

  • Products

  • Rewards

  • Stores

  • Webhook logs

The list of options might vary based on the modules that are enabled in your loyalty program.

  • Click the ‘Next’ button to continue with the configuration of the export.

Localization

  • Set the name of the export
    The downloadable export file inherits the name of the export.

  • Select the timezone
    Time-related settings will be handled based on the selected timezone.
    The timezones of the brand and the current Backoffice user are highlighted at the top of the dropdown list.

Filters

  • Define the filters to be applied (mandatory)

    • Attribute
      Select the property to include in the export. You can use any built-in and custom attributes that are listed at the bottom of the editor page.

    • Operator
      Select the logical operator of the filter. The list of available operators depends on the type of attribute selected.

    • Value
      Define the filter value. Depending on the type of the attribute field, the input field can be:

      • free-text field - 'date:' expressions can be used and capital letters should be considered when using the ‘Equals’ operator

      • dropdown list

      • date selector(s).

The editor lets you combine the filters. The following options are available:

  • AND – adds new criteria within the same set of filter criteria
    All filter criteria within one set have to be true to have the item added to the export file.

  • OR – adds a new set of criteria
    Any of the added sets of criteria have to be true to have the item added to the export file.

Aggregation

Tick the ‘Aggregation’ checkbox to display a calculated or grouped value of the data in the export file instead of a separate value for each item. The specific aggregation mechanism is to be set up in the next step under Field configuration.

  • in_group (provided by the User groups module)

  • not_in_group (provided by the User groups module)

  • reward_claimed (provided by the Rewards module)

  • reward_not_claimed (provided by the Rewards module)

  • in_date

  • in_segment

  • not_in_segment

  • activity_earned

  • activity_not_earned

  • action_taken

  • action_not_taken

  • item_purchased

  • item_not_purchased

  • anniversary

  • age_range

Field settings

If you’d like to add all the fields of the data model to the export file, tick the ‘All fields’ box.

Please note that the ‘All fields’ option is not applicable if you have enabled aggregation previously.

Otherwise, select one of the available fields to be added to the export through the ‘Field’ dropdown list and click the  icon.

Each field added to the export populates a separate column in the export file.

Field configuration

  • From
    The ‘From’ value is automatically populated from the ID of the field selected and cannot be modified.

  • To
    The name of the field in the column header of the export file.
    If no ‘To’ value is added, the export will add the field to the header with the same name as it is in Antavo.

  • Default
    This value will be added to data cells where the field value of the individual entity is empty.

  • Replace values
    You can decide to overwrite certain data values that are stored in the database with a new value in the export file (eg. replace all ‘female’ values in the Gender customer field with ‘ladies' or replace ‘14’ values in the Age customer field with ‘underage’).
    Use the ‘Value to replace’ and ‘New value’ fields to define which value should be replaced and the target value added to the export.
    To map more than one value, click the ‘Add new field’ button.

  • Aggregation
    This mandatory setting is available if the ‘Aggregation’ option has been enabled in the previous step.
    Please note that computed fields cannot be aggregated. If you’re unsure if the field is a computed field, check the editor interface of the field (Events, Customers) or consult the Antavo Service Desk.
    Use the dropdown field to select one of the available aggregation methods:

    • Group
      At least one field has to be marked as ‘group’, which defines the field that will serve as the base of aggregation. Please note the ‘group’ option cannot be selected for identifier fields (eg. customer ID).

    • Count
      Use this option to retrieve the number of individual entries in the report. This method counts the number of entries, not the fields.
      Please make sure you add only one field with ‘count’ aggregation option.

    • Sum
      Use this option to retrieve the accumulated number of all numeric values of the data fields.
      Please note that this aggregation type is not applicable to non-numeric fields.

    • Average
      Use this option to retrieve the average value calculated from all the values of the items in the report.
      Please note that this aggregation type is not applicable to non-numeric fields.

    • Min
      Use this option to retrieve the lowest value of all the attribute values in the report.
      The Min value of string-type fields is calculated based on alphabetical order. If there’s an empty field, it is always considered the Min aggregated value.

    • Max
      Use this option to retrieve the highest value of all the attributes value in the report.
      The Max value of string-type fields is calculated based on alphabetical order.

File extensions

You can select between .csv and .psv file extensions.

For challenge exports, only the .json file format is available.

File format options

  • Delimiter*
    Select the character that separates data in the export file.

  • Enclosure*
    Select the character to group certain values into one data field.

  • Newline*
    Select an option to determine how to add a new line.

  • No header
    Tick the checkbox to exclude the header row from the export file.

* not applicable to .psv and .json files

Scheduling

By default, the files are exported at the time of the request, however, the export can be scheduled based on UTC timezone by selecting the ‘On-date’ or ‘Repeated values’ in the dropdown list.

  • On-date
    The export will start on a predefined date and time.
    It is possible to enter the date and time schedule manually, but you can also use the date and time selectors by clicking the and icons.

  • Repeated
    Select this option to set the data export to be triggered periodically. Each time the new export will be added to the list on the Exports page.

    • Daily
      Set the time of the day when the export should be created.
      You can define multiple values in both fields by using a comma (,) to separate the values (eg. configuring the ‘Hour’ field with ‘1,13’ value would run the job twice a day, at 1 am and 1 pm).

      Adding * will trigger the execution of the job at every minute/hour.

    • Weekly
      Select the day(s) of the week and set the time of the day.

    • Monthly
      Select the day(s) of the month and set the time of the day.
      You can use the ‘Last’ value to make sure the export is started on the last day of the month, regardless of the number of days in a given month.

Scheduling of previously configured exports may be modifiable after being created, please find detailed information below.

Upload target

You have the option to download the export file from the Backoffice or to select a transfer option to get the file uploaded to a server directly.

Use the ‘Type’ field to decide how you’d like to access the file.

  • None
    Select this option to download your export file from the Backoffice through your browser.

  • FTP

  • FTP over Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

  • SFTP
    Please note that currently, Antavo supports password-based authentication only.

After selecting one of the file transfer options, you need to populate the following fields:

  • Host

  • Port

  • Username

  • Password

  • Path (contains the file name)
    You can have multiple export files generated with unique file names by using placeholder values. Find the placeholder values that you can use listed under the configuration field.
    eg. If you add /upload/exports/Antavo_EventCounts_%Y%m%d path name, the ' %Y%m%d' placeholder is replaced with the current date, generating file names according to the date when the export runs (eg. Antavo_EventCounts_20230623.csv or Antavo_EventCounts_20230714.csv).

  • Create archive
    You have the option to request a compressed archive of the output file by ticking the ‘Create archive’ checkbox.

Don’t forget to click ‘Create’ after setting each required field to start the export process. Also, you are automatically navigated to the View tab after clicking the ‘Create’ button when adding a new export.

Fields

The list of exportable fields varies for each data model. The following table provides the name of each field, along with its data type, possible values, whether it is mandatory, and a brief description.

Export details

On the Export module page, you can find the list of previously created exports. By clicking the 'Details” button next to any export item, you can follow up with your exports and manage them under the subtabs of the page.

View

The View tab opens up first after clicking the ‘Details’ button on the export listing page.

Status

You can track the status of the export in the upper right corner. You can find the descriptions of statuses here.

Fields

The ‘Fields' section of the View tab displays the fields included in the export with the ‘From’, ‘To’, 'Default’ (if any) values of the fields.

Download one-time export files

Non-scheduled and On-date scheduled export can be downloaded when the status of the export changes to ‘Finished’. The ‘Download’ hyperlink appears on the View tab under the summary of the export criteria. Click this link to download the compressed file to your device.

When the export process has finished, the user who created the export will also receive an automatic email with the link to download the export file.

Inactivate and reactivate repeated exports

You can inactivate repeated scheduled exports anytime by following these steps:

  • Click the ‘Set inactive' action button on the upper right corner

  • Confirm your choice in the dialog that appears.

Once the export is inactivated, the button is replaced by a ‘Set active’ action button that you can use when you decide to reactive the export again.

Clone an export

Cloning allows repeating an existing export without having to create a new configuration from scratch. This feature is helpful for comparing the latest results with the data of a previous export to identify differences.

  • Click the ‘Clone' button in the upper right corner
    You’ll be directed to the export configuration page automatically.

  • Modify any setting of the export as necessary.

  • Click the ‘Create’ button to start the new export process

The new export will be created as a new item on the Exports list.

Log

A Logs tab is automatically added to the Export page of exports created with ‘Repeated’ scheduling, which lists all the runnings of the configured export with the following information:

  • Created at
    The date when the export started running.

  • Status

    • Processing – the export process is in progress

    • Success – the export process has finished, and the export is ready for download or has been uploaded to a server

    • Failed – the export process has failed
      Please contact the Antavo Service Desk for further information if the issue persists.

  • Filesize
    The size of the export file in bytes.

  • Error
    The reason why the export process failed (if any).

Download repeated export

Export files with repeated scheduling can be downloaded from the Log page when the status of the export changes to ‘success’. Use the ‘Download’ button that appears in each row to download the compressed file to your device.

Each time a scheduled export process has finished, the user who created the export will also receive an automatic email with the link to download the export file.

Change export schedule

The scheduling of previously created scheduled exports can be updated through the Export page by following these steps:

  • Navigate to the Exports module page

  • Click the ‘Details’ button in the corresponding row

  • Navigate to the Change Schedule tab

  • Modify scheduling settings as needed
    Switching between On-date and Repeated schedule types is not possible.

  • Click ‘Update’ to save your changes

Sorting and searching for exports

Use the search bar on the top of the module page to search for specific files in your brand’s export history.

Click the ‘Name’ and 'Create at' column header to sort the exports based on the export name or creation date.

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