Creating a Mailing List
Before you create a direct mail campaign, the List Manager module must contain a valid mailing list. A valid mailing list must contain a column of e-mail addresses, which is named rcp_email, and includes one or more rows of recipients. Mailing lists are used by Direct Mailer to send pieces of mail to selected recipients in a list.
You can create a mailing list using a text editor. You can also import a list that you create using another application, such as SQL Server (to create a SQL table), Notepad (to create an ASCII text file), Microsoft Excel (to create a spreadsheet), or Microsoft Outlook (to export information from a personal folder file (.pst file)) into List Manager. If you have Commerce Server 2002 Service Pack 1, List Manager can import from any OLEDB data source.
List Manager requires the field names in the following table when importing lists from SQL Server. Each row in the list contains a single recipient and is comprised of the following elements in comma-delimited format:
| Field name | Parameter | Description |
|---|---|---|
| rcp_email | Email address | Required. Name or a name@domain. |
| rcp_guid | GUID | Optional. Globally unique identifier. The unique user ID that is used to provide content in a personalized e-mail message. |
| rcp_fmt | Message format | Optional. Controls the message format type that the Collaboration Data Object (CDO) translates the results into. The supported values are:
For information about message formats, see Message Formats. |
| rcp_locale | Language | Optional. The codepage values that are used in Direct Mail lists, such as US-ASCII, and ISO-8859-1. |
| rcp_url | URL | Optional. Provides the ability to pass individual URLs per user to CDO. |
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Notes
- The field names are restricted to the order listed in the table. You must supply the delimiter if an optional parameter is omitted in order to line up the subsequent optional parameters.
The following example shows a mailing list (ASCII text file) that was created using a text editor, such as Notepad:
BettyUser@Microsoft.com, BettyUser,1,,www.Microsoft.com
JoeUser@Microsoft.com, JoeUser,1,,www.Microsoft.com
JaneUser@VigorAirLines.com, JaneUser,2,,www.VigorAirlines.com
JackUser@ArborShoes.com, JackUser,3,,www.ArborShoes.com
To export information from Microsoft Outlook as a mailing list into List Manager, you must perform the following steps:
- In Microsoft Outlook, in the Contacts screen, on the File menu, click Import and Export.
- Click Export to a file, and then click Next.
- Select either the Tab Separated Values or the Comma Separated Values file type, and then click Next.
- Select the folder to export from, and then click Next.
- Type the path and name of the file, or click Browse to find the location to where you want to export the file, and then click Next.
- Click Map Custom Fields, and then in the To: pane on the right, click Clear Map.
- Drag the Email value in the From: pane on the left, and drop it in the To: pane on the right, click OK, and then click Finish.
The file is exported from Microsoft Outlook. You can now import the file as a valid mailing list into List Manager. For more information about exporting files from Microsoft Outlook, see the "Export items to a file or to a personal folder file" topic in Microsoft Outlook Online Help.
See Also
Managing Lists of User Records
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