Managing Content Attachments

Content sent to targeted customers is able to have attachments sent with it, such as forms, letters, etc. Like content files, attachments are stored on the content server and accessed by the message using a URL for the attachment's location. This centralizes the content and attachments into one place, allowing multiple messages to access the same content if need be. For more information, please see Creating Content Attachments.

Attachments are also able to access parameters to further tailor messaging to customers. Parameters can be used to target specific attachments to specific clients. Parameters are also able to withhold attachments from customers that do not meet the criteria for the specific attachment. Once the attachment is created, the parameter is able to be added to the attachment. For more information, please see Editing Content Attachments.

Dynamic URL Attachments

If the selected message type is 'Dynamic Content', Connect includes message parameters when fetching the URL for the attachment. Examples of content URLs with parameters are:

Message content url is http://server/message.
Attachment content url is http://server/attachment.
Dynamic content parameter is cid=[alt_customer_id],
Message content is generated using http://server/message?cid=[alt_customer_id].
Attachment content is generated using http://server/attachment?cid=[alt_customer_id].

Multiple URL Attachments

Connect permits multiple attachment URLs in message.

Note: Multiple attachments are already supported in the data model. The MESSAGE_ATTACHMENTS table allows multiple records for each MESSAGE_MASTER.

Event-Triggered Messages

Connect also provides support for dynamic attachments in event-triggered messages:

Define an event-triggered campaign with dynamic url attachments
Submit a KCXML message for the event-triggered campaign.

An event-triggered message is generated with dynamic attachments as defined in the message definition.

Embedded Attachments in KCXML Messages

KCXML message can support embedded attachments. Following is an example of a KCXML message with embedded attachments. Note that the EventAttachments element after the ExternalXML element is new.

                    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
                    <kanaRoot>
                    <EventRequest Id=”12345” CompanyName=”Default”>
                    <Customer KeyField=”EmailAddress” EmailAddress=”[email protected]” BirthDate=”111”>
                    <CustomerAttribute Name="First Name">John</ CustomerAttribute >
                    <CustomerAttribute Name="Last Name">Smith</ CustomerAttribute >
                    <CustomerPreference Name="Favorite River">
                    <CustomerPreferenceValue>Amazon</CustomerPreferenceValue >
                    <CustomerPreferenceValue>Yangtze</CustomerPreferenceValue >
                    </CustomerPreference>
                    </Customer>
                    <Event CampaignName="EToy Event">
                    < EventAttribute Name="Product">Dell Computer</ EventAttribute >
                    < EventAttribute Name="Price">300</ EventAttribute >
                    < EventAttribute Name="Date Of Purchase">802390</ EventAttribute >
                    <ExternalXML>
                    <ORDER NO="1" >
                    <SHIPPING TYPE="UPGRADE" CARRIER="FEDEX" TRACKNUMBER="8201280912">
                    <DATE DAY="15" MONTH="05" YEAR="2000" />
                    </SHIPPING>
                    <ITEMLIST>
                    <ITEM NUMBER="1" QTY="2" PRODUCTDESC="Tele Tubby pink" 
                    STATUS="CA" WEBSITEID="2" FUNDS="100" />
                    <ITEM NUMBER="2" QTY="4" PRODUCTDESC="Tele Tubby blue" 
                    STATUS="NONFINAL" WEBSITEID="1" FUNDS="200" />
                    <ITEM NUMBER="3" QTY="1" PRODUCTDESC="GI Joe" 
                    STATUS="SH" WEBSITEID="1" FUNDS="0" />
                    <ITEM NUMBER="4" QTY="1" PRODUCTDESC="Bennie Baby" 
                    STATUS="CA" WEBSITEID="2" FUNDS="0" />
                    <ITEM NUMBER="5" QTY="5" PRODUCTDESC="Bennie Baby" 
                    STATUS="NONFINAL" WEBSITEID="2" FUNDS="150" /> 
                    </ITEMLIST>
                    </ORDER>
                    </ExternalXML>
                    <EventAttachments>
                    <EventAttachment Name=”statement.pdf” url=http://contentserver/stmt?c=xcdsd=dec2008 />
                    <EventAttachment Name=”privacy-policy.pdf” Purge="yes" Encoding=”base64”>
                    Asjdfhififwdd923849238swedlkwajed0293802
                    </EventAttachment>				
                    < /EventAttachments>
                    </Event>
                    </EventRequest>
                    </kanaRoot>

Purge Attachments after Message Execution

Binary attachments stored in Connect while the message is executed (emails are sent out) can optionally be purged after the message is executed. This is indicated by a Purge attribute in the binary attachment definition in KCXML.