Question

Is it possible to create CTAs from a CSV upload instead of/as part of the rules engine?


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Sometimes we have a list of accounts that we want to create specific CTAs for (as one-time CTAs) and I don't know if there's a good way to do this?  The criteria would not be in SFDC or MDA so using logic and rules is out of the question.  Is it possible to use a csv upload to generate CTAs? 



In case you're wondering about use case, right now the use case is that we're doing a massive overhaul of CSM account assignments and a lot of accounts are going to be transitioned to new CSMs.  To prepare for the big change we have playbooks outlining everything that CSMs need to do to prepare and handoff their accounts.  We have the list of accounts that will be handed off outside of SFDC, but the only way I can think to generate the CTAs is to create a field, upload our csv to populate that field, use the field in the rules engine to create the CTAs, then delete the field.  Am I missing an easier way to do this?

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If you have the Account Number in that list of accounts, you may be able to leverage the new S3 Dataset Task in the Rules engine which is supposed to allow you to pick up an external csv file from S3 and map the fields from that file, then you could merge the output with the Account::Account Number and do it that way.



I've had some issues with the S3 Dataset task myself, but it appears to be an access issue to S3.  You may fare better.
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Issue I'm running into is captured in the comments here.
Hi Mindy,



As Jeff mentioned, the new S3 Dataset Task introduced in Bionic Rules can help you read data directly from a csv file placed in gainsight managed s3 bucket and create actions on it. You can also transform, merge, pivot the data like you do for other dataset tasks. This eliminates the need to create an object and load into that object. 



Regards,

Jitin
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Thanks Jeff and Jitin.  We have yet to utilize the S3 bucket but had planned to begin using it soon.  Good to know this is possible through that.
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I feel like I may have created CTAs before simply by doing a direct DataLoader task into the CTA object. If I'm accurate that I actually [i]did do that at some point, I would have relied on Salesforce to generate IDs for the CTAs automatically, and would have just been careful to put the right info in the other fields. (For example, checking whether the Account ID field is supposed to be populated with the 15-digit ID or the 18-digit ID.)
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That approach will technically work, Seth, but is definitely not recommended as it is fragile and not at all future proof!
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The documentation had a little error in it...as long as you provide the full path to the file uploaded to S3 the rule will be able to pick up the file.
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I'd have raised an eyebrow if someone from Gainsight [i]hadn't jumped in to add that caution, Karl! ;-D



When it comes to DataLoader, I'm an outlaw, it's like the Revenant over here.
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Thanks for the detailed info, Jeff!
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Haha - I thought the suggestion was pretty brilliant, even if it's not recommended.  I love finding hacks like that.
Jeff, Could you help us in identifying the file path error in the documentation new S3 Dataset Task in the Rules engine with details. We will correct and make the article very clear. Thanks!

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