After you run an export process, you can download output files into a file for use in another application. For example, you may want to take data from the program and send it to a spreadsheet program for further analysis.
Note: To download the output of a new export process, you must first run the process to export its data from the database. After you run the process, its status is Completed. For information about how to run an export process, refer to Start an Export Process.
You have four options for downloading output files:
CSV: downloads a single output file containing all data in comma-separated value format. In a comma-separated value (*.csv) file, each piece of data is separated by a comma. A *.csv file is also referred to as a “comma-delimited” file.
XLSX: downloads a single output file containing all data in Microsoft Excel format. In an Excel workbook (*.xlsx) file, data is stored in a variant of the Office Open XML format. You can open XLSX files with Microsoft Excel 2007 or more recent versions. Other spreadsheet programs may support this format. For some older versions of Excel, to open XLSX files, there is a compatibility pack available at Microsoft’s Office website: http://office.microsoft.com.
Multiple files: splits downloaded output into multiple files based on the unique values of a selected field. For example, you can download an export of constituent information into multiple files based on the states in which the constituents reside. When you download the output, the program generates comma-separated value (*.csv) or Microsoft Excel (*.xlsx) files.
Grouped files: creates output files with data grouped by field values as specified. The option is only available when you download files for marketing efforts and appeal mailings. For example, you can create a set of files broken out by region. To do this, include the State field in your export definition and then select to group by State for the output download. Create a group for each region and add the appropriate states to each group — for example, include FL, GA, SC, and NC in the Southeast region group and CT, MA, NH, and VT in the Northeast region group. This setup produces a file for each region and each file includes data for only the states included in its region.