Importing

You can import data from an external source into the currently selected list. There are four accepted sources:

• You can import data from a formatted text file (.csv, .txt), residing on the local machine or the local network, by selecting Import form external text file. “Formatted text” is an exchange format widely used by spreadsheet and database software: most software that falls into this category is able to export data in this format.
   
• You can import data from a web site by choosing Import from a web site via http://. The process is very similar to the formatted text method, besides the fact that the file to be imported does not reside on the local machine or the local network but it is reachable through the HTTP protocol. The data to be imported can also be dynamically generated by a script (for example ASP or PHP). This method will allow you to import the contents of an on-line database that features an exporting script. The web link will be specified as the data source.
   
• You can import data from the Windows Clipboard (after having pasted data from another software), by selecting Import from clipboard.
   
• You can import data from Outlook Express Address Book (aka Windows Address Book), by selecting Import from Outlook Express.

The data loaded from external sources can be used for one of the following operations:

• It can be added to the selected list by choosing the Add to the list and subscribe new addresses.
   
• It can be removed from the selected list by choosing the Remove new addresses from the list option. All the addresses included in the data source will be removed, if present.
   
• It can be unsubscribed from the list (without removing them and therefore preserving the data) by choosing the Unsubscribe new addresses option. This operation is similar to the one described above, but the addresses are not removed form the list, they simply get marked as unsubscribed. This method will let you to maintain the data in the list while avoiding including the addresses in mailing operations.

After having selected the list, the data source and the operation, click on the Import button. A wizard-like window will be shown enabling you to specify a few options needed to complete the importing operation:

• The Import file path, or the Import file URL in the case of a web import (importing form the Clipboard or from Outlook Express do not require any path).
   
• The data Format (not needed to import from Outlook Express): if you choose Delimited you’ll also need to specify the Field delimiter and whether the First row contains field names. By choosing the Free format only e-mail addresses will be imported (automatically detected) and data format specification won’t be needed.
   
• If you’re performing a typical importing operation (meaning data adding, or the Add to list and subscribe new addresses operation), two extra options will be available to indicate the action to take when an external address (present in the data to be imported) is already included in the destination list: by choosing the Don’t add addresses when duplicated or already present in the list option, these addresses will be ignored (otherwise they would be added creating doubles); by choosing the Subscribe addresses already present in list option, if an address is already in the destination list, but not subscribed (see Manage lists), new data won’t be imported but the address will be marked as subscribed.
   
• In the following step you will be finally asked to set the correspondence between the external data source fields and the SendBlaster fields and, by clicking on the Next button, the importing operation will start.

Snapshots are particularly handy when importing: if you successfully imported a file, take a snapshot of your configuration in order to save the settings you used; you will be able to reuse them later with just a couple of clicks.

Warning: the correct indication of the field in the external data source containing e-mail addresses is particularly important because:

1. all the external records that do not contain, in the selected field, a formally valid e-mail address will be ignored. Therefore if the wrong field is specified, no record will include a valid e-mail address and all of the external data will be ignored.
2. the comparison operation between the external data and the data in the list, to verify if an address is already included, is actually performed by comparing the e-mail address found in the specified field.