Via the interface
After the creation of a profile database, the 'Profile tables structure' app allows you to edit the properties of existing attributes.
Once created, the type of an attribute cannot be modified.
Add possible values
Select an attribute and click on the 'Add possible values' button to update the list of values allowed for this attribute.
When you add possible values, you will see the list of currently allowed values and you will be able to add new options.
If there are no possible values yet on an attribute, 'adding possible values' means adding a value restriction to the attribute: before it could take any value, but after the operation only the possible values are allowed.
'Adding possible values' on a table that already contains profiles is only possible if the values for all the existing profiles match the restrictions being implemented.
You will see a (non-exhaustive) sample of existing values found in the DB.
Update the properties of an attribute
By clicking on the 'More' button after clicking on an attribute, you can update its properties.
Edit layout
This operation impacts the whole table and does not require you to select a field.
It allows you to create subsections in the view of your profile table, as explained here.
Add shared data
By selecting 'Add shared data', you can extend an existing attribute with data from a repository table, just like you can do when you create a new attribute.
Rename
This allows you to update the display name and the description of the attribute.
The technical name of an attribute cannot be modified, as it is used in many processes (synchronizations, personalizations...)
Make (not) unique
You can update the unicity of a field and make it into a key, which can then be used to match profiles.
Modifying the unicity of a field is not a trivial matter. It can impact your synchronizations and the matching of your profile data. In case of doubt, please consult the Actito team.
Making a field unique is not possible if there are duplicate values in the existing profiles: make sure to deduplicate your DB before the operation.
Only non-unique fields can be made unique and only uniques keys can be made non-unique.
For data integrity reasons, is not possible to make a field unique if there are more than 100 000 existing profiles in your DB.
Make (not) mandatory
You can make an optional field mandatory, and the other way round.
Making a field mandatory is only possible if all existing profiles have a value for this field.
Making a field mandatory can have impacts on your synchronizations: make sure that the information is always provided in your data flows before doing the operation, or some lines might get rejected.
Make business key
Your Actito databases can hold multiple unique keys. While this is usually not recommended, this can be useful if you have data coming from multiple sources.
Defining a unique attribute as 'business key' makes it the primary key of your database. It does not take precedence in synchronizations and all keys can still be used to import data. But the business key is automatically included in all incremental data exports and webhooks pushes.
It therefore the main id of all the data you get out of Actito.
After defining an attribute as business key, it is not possible to change it through any means. Please consider this carefully before undertaking this operation.
Remove
Removing an attribute deletes it permanently and removes all the data stored in this field for all profiles of the DB.
Removing a attribute can break processes where it is used in their definition, such as:
- targetings
- personalizations
- synchronizations
Re creating a new attribute with the same technical name will not replace it in these processes, which will need to be corrected.
Please proceed with caution before deleting any attribute.
Deleting a table
The deletion of a profile table has to be a carefully considered decision. All the assets related to the profile table will be deleted too:
- campaigns
- automated processes
- automatic unsubscribe processes
- surveys
- goals
- profiles
In order to delete a profile table, you will need to use the 'Profile tables structure' app (Apps > Data > Profile tables structure).
You will then need to select the database you wish to delete, then click on "More" and then on "Delete database". A pop-up will open where you will have to confirm you want to delete the profile table:
Before permanently deleting the table, we recommend ticking the "Simulate the deletion" box and then click on "Delete database". This will enable you to export a file listing all the related data that will be deleted too if you proceed with the deletion:
