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Check the Status of an Uploaded File

You can view information on the files you've uploaded, including information on ingestion status, by checking the Files page.

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The Files page varies depending on whether the audience selected is an Onboarding workflow audience or a File-Based Recognition (FBR) workflow audience. See the sections below for information that is specific to each audience type.

Note

Once you've uploaded a file, it can take up to 20 minutes before the file appears associated with the appropriate audience(s) on the Files page. If the file does not appear after at least 20 minutes, create a support case.

You can download a CSV file with file info on all of the files for the selected audience by clicking DOWNLOAD FILE INFO. For more information, see the "Download File Info" section below.

You can also cancel the ingestion for a particular file that is in the process of transferring or processing by clicking the ellipsis that appears when you hover over that file's row and then selecting Cancel Import. For more information, see the "Cancel a File Import" section below.

View File Information

To view file information, including ingestion status:

Note

The process to view file information is the same, whether you're viewing files in an Onboarding workflow audience or a File-Based Recognition (FBR) workflow audience.

  1. Navigate to the Files page by clicking Files in the Connect navigation menu.

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  2. If needed, use the Audience dropdown to change the audience that's displayed.

    Note

    If you see an alert about “Unassociated files”, that means that there are files in your account that are in the process of being transferred and are not yet associated with the appropriate audience(s). This happens when LiveRamp is retrieving your file from your resource, such as your S3 bucket or GCS bucket. For information on unassociated files and how to view them, see the "Unassociated Files" section below.

    See the sections below for information on the columns that appear, depending on whether you're viewing an Onboarding workflow audience or a File-Based Recognition (FBR) workflow audience.

  3. To view undistributed or canceled files, slide the toggle for "Show undistributed and canceled" to the right (by default, undistributed and canceled files are hidden). For more information, see the "Hide or View Undistributed and Canceled Files" section below.

  4. To get more information on a particular file, click anywhere in that file's row to open a details panel that displays information on the file's import status and progress (Onboarding workflow audience example shown). See the appropriate sections below for more information.

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    C-_______Check________Status________of________Uploaded________File-_______more________info________side____panel.png

Note

  • You can change columns that are displayed, sort by a specific column, or change the column order. See "Changing the Table Display" for more information.

  • Don't need a particular file anymore? Admin users can delete a file from an audience on the Files page. See "Delete a File from an Audience" for more information.

View File Info for Onboarding Audience Files

Files in an Onboarding workflow audience create fields and segments in Connect that you can use to distribute to destination platforms. See the sections below for information on using the Files page for files in Onboarding workflow audiences.

Column Headings for Onboarding Audiences

The Files page table has the following columns for Onboarding workflow audiences:

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  • The file type icon in the first column indicates whether a file is an uncompacted file (C-Check_Status_of_Uploaded_File-uncompacted_icon.jpg) or a compacted file (C-Check_Status_of_Uploaded_File-compacted_icon.jpg). See "Imported File Types" for more information on file types.

    Note

    Depending on your account configuration, flles that were uploaded at the same time might be grouped into the same import job. The "grouped files" are not indicated by a specific icon but if you see multiple files that have the same stats (such as number or rows or unique records), those files are probably part of the same import. For more info on considerations for grouped files, see "Considerations for Grouped Files".

  • File Name: The name of the file.

    Caution

    Files that exceed our recommended file limits for Onboarding workflow files appear with a yellow Caution icon next to the file name. To minimize delays and ensure maximum performance, keep within these limits. See "Files That Exceed Product Limits" for more information.

  • Date Imported: The date that the file was imported.

  • Ingestion Status: Indicates where your file is in the ingestion process. See the "Ingestion Statuses for Onboarding Workflow Files" section below for more information.

  • Total Rows: The total number of rows in the file.

  • Unique Records: The number of unique records in that file, after deduplication. For example, John Doe, the cat lover and pasta eater, is a single record. However, John Doe also appears a few rows down in your file. If we determine that both instances of John Doe are the same person, we’ll merge those two records into one and count that as one unique record.

    Note

    "unavailable" indicates that your stats are being calculated.

  • Columns: The number of columns (or fields) in that file, including identifier fields and segment data fields.

Ingestion Statuses for Onboarding Workflow Files

An Onboarding workflow file might have one of the following ingestion statuses, depending on where it is in the process:

Note

For files that LiveRamp is retrieving from your resource, such as your S3 bucket or your GCS bucket, the "Transferring" and "Transfer Failed" statuses will only ever appear when you navigate to the "Unassociated files" area. Once a retrieved file has been transferred, it appears under the appropriate audience(s). For more information, see the "Unassociated Files" section below.

Onboarding Ingestion Statuses

Definition

Transferring

This file is being scanned, queued, and transferred to LiveRamp for ingestion processing. Transferring usually takes 20 minutes or less.

Note

If a file continues to show a "Transferring" status for more than 24 hours, create a support case (using either the Onboarding: Troubleshooting File quick case or the Measurement: Troubleshooting File quick case).

Transfer Failed

This file failed to transfer. Create a support case to resolve this issue.

Queued for Processing

This file has been transferred and will begin ingestion processing soon (time varies depending on your configuration).

Processing

This file is being processed, checked against product limits, and matched.

Processing Paused

This file has been paused so that LiveRamp can perform additional validation (which is needed if the file formatting is different from the original import). If this status does not change within 24 hours, create a support case. The message might also display information on the pause reason that can help you resolve the issue yourself. For more information on the reasons a file might be paused, see "Files That Have Been Paused" below.

Processing Failed

This file failed to process and LiveRamp is working to resolve this. If this status does not change within 24 hours, use the Onboarding: Troubleshooting File quick case to create a support case to resolve the issue. The message might also display information on the failure reason that can help you resolve the issue yourself. For more information on the reasons a file might fail processing, and steps you can take to resolve the issue, see "Files That Fail Processing" below.

Ingested

This file has completed ingestion processing, and can be used to create and distribute segments, as well as refresh existing distributions. Go to the desired destination account(s) and add any new fields and segments for distribution.

No Distributions

This file has completed ingestion processing but no data from this file has been added to a distribution.

Note

  • If fields or segments in this file have previously been added to a distribution, the status will show "Ingested" after processing has completed.

  • If the only segments that have been added to a distribution are derived segments, the status will show "No Distributions".

Not Distributed

This file has completed ingestion processing but the data from this file did not get distributed within 30 days (other than data in derived segments) and so has not been delivered.

Note

  • If the only data from the file that is getting distributed is in derived segments, and no data is being distributed in regular segments, the status will be "Not Distributed". For more information on derived segments, see "Create a Derived Segment".

  • By default, "undistributed" files are hidden from the Files page. Adjust the toggle for "Show undistributed and canceled" to view these files.

Overwritten

This file has been ingested but has been overwritten by a more recent file, since this audience's update method is "full refresh".

Canceled

Processing for this file has been canceled.

Note

By default, "canceled" files are hidden from the Files page. Adjust the toggle for "Show undistributed and canceled" to view these files.

Details Panel Information for Onboarding Audiences

For Onboarding workflow audiences, the details panel displays the file's import status and the destinations that data from the file is being distributed to.

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View File Info for FBR Audience Files

When you send LiveRamp a file to process via our File-Based Recognition (FBR) workflow, we replace the input identifiers (such as PII, cookies, mobile device IDs, CIDs, etc.) with their associated RampIDs and return the file to the location you specify. Unlike files that go through our Onboarding workflow, LiveRamp does not ingest any identifiers or segment data and does not create segments in an FBR workflow.

See the sections below for information on using the Files page for files in FBR workflow audiences.

Column Headings for File-Based Recognition Audiences

The Files page table has the following columns for File-Based Recognition workflow audiences:

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  • File Name: The name of the file.

  • Date Imported: The date that the file was imported.

  • Status: Indicates where your file is in the process. See the "Ingestion Statuses for FBR Workflow Files" section below for more information.

  • Total Rows: The total number of rows in the file.

  • Recognition Rate: The percentage of valid rows in the file that were matched to a maintained RampID.

Caution

To minimize delays and ensure maximum performance, keep our recommended file limits for File-Based Recognition workflow files in mind:

  • Total rows: Minimum of 25 and maximum of 500,000,000 per file (maximum of 100,000,000 for UK data files and 30,000,000 for French data files)

  • Columns (segment data fields): Maximum 400 per file

Ingestion Statuses for FBR Workflow Files

An FBR workflow file might have one of the following ingestion statuses, depending on where it is in the process:

Note

For files that LiveRamp is retrieving from your resource, such as your S3 bucket or your GCS bucket, the "Transferring" and "Transfer Failed" statuses will only ever appear when you navigate to the "Unassociated files" area. Once a retrieved file has been transferred, it appears under the appropriate audience(s). For more information, see the "Unassociated Files" section below.

FBR Ingestion Statuses

Definition

Transferring

This file is being scanned, queued, and transferred to LiveRamp for ingestion processing. 

Transfer Failed

This file failed to transfer. Create a support case to resolve this issue.

Queued for Processing

This file has been transferred and will begin ingestion processing soon (time varies depending on your configuration).

Processing

This file is being processed and identifiers are being transformed.

Processing Paused

This file has been paused so that LiveRamp can attempt to resolve an issue. If this status does not change within 24 hours, use the Onboarding: Troubleshooting File quick case or the Measurement: Troubleshooting File quick case to create a support case. For more information on the reasons a file might be paused, see "Files That Have Been Paused" below.

Processing Failed

This file failed to process and LiveRamp is working to resolve this. For more information on the reasons a file might fail processing, and steps you can take to resolve the issue, see "Files That Fail Processing" below. You can also use the Onboarding: Troubleshooting File quick case or the Measurement: Troubleshooting File quick case to create a support case to resolve the issue.

Delivering

This file has completed processing and is being delivered.

Delivered

LiveRamp has delivered this file, although it might still take additional time for it to appear in your delivery location (if there are multiple delivery locations.

Canceled

Processing for this file has been canceled.

Note

By default, "canceled" files are hidden from the Files page. Adjust the toggle for "Show undistributed and canceled" to view these files.

Details Panel Information for File-Based Recognition Audiences

For File-Based Recognition workflow audiences, the details panel displays the following information:

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  • File overview information, including date and time the file began importing, the audience update method (incremental, segment refresh, or full refresh), the total ingestion time, and file size.

    Note

    For FBR wofkflow audiences, you can ignore the information in the update method section, as it does not apply to FBR audiences.

  • An ingestion status stepper that shows where the file is in the ingestion process, including past and future stages, with detailed descriptions.

  • Statistics:

    • Column count: The number of columns in the file.

    • Row count: The number of rows in the file.

    • Invalid row count: The number of rows that contain unmatchable identifier data. For PII files, we check the validity of the identifiers by looking for blanks, bad format, or known invalid email domains, for instance. For files containing devices, we check that the device is not a ‘0’, blank, or a permutation of N/A, nil and null.

    • Recognition rate: The percentage of valid rows in the file that were matched to a maintained RampID,

    • Total RampID count: The total number of RampIDs that the rows in the file matched to.

    • Unique RampID count: The number of unique RampIDs that the rows in the file matched to.

    • Maintained RampID count: The total number of maintained RampIDs that the rows in the file matched to (displayed when Show Advanced Statistics is toggled on).

    • Unique maintained RampID count: The number of unique maintained RampIDs that the rows in the file matched to (displayed when Show Advanced Statistics is toggled on).

    • Derived RampID count: The total number of derived RampIDs that the rows in the file matched to (displayed when Show Advanced Statistics is toggled on).

    • Unique derived RampID count: The number of unique derived RampIDs that the rows in the file matched to (displayed when Show Advanced Statistics is toggled on).

  • Audience statistics:

    • Current month recognition rate: The average recognition rate for all files imported into this audience during the current month.

    • All time recognition rate: The average recognition rate for all files imported into this audience.

  • Destination information, that includes the destinations that data from the file is being distributed to (for Onboarding workflow audiences).

    Note

    Since the data in FBR files cannot be used to distribute to destinations in Connect, no destinations will appear in this section for FBR workflow audiences. The delivery locations for FBR files will not be listed here.

Files That Have Been Paused

For files that show a status of "Paused", you can hover over the status or open the details panel to view the reason for the pause.

In most cases, LiveRamp is working to resolve the issue. If the file status doesn't change within 24 hours, use the Onboarding: Troubleshooting File quick case or the Measurement: Troubleshooting File quick case to create a support case.

You can also choose to correct the issue yourself and upload the file again.

The messages below are displayed for files that have been paused for the following reasons:

  • Changes in file formatting: Processing for this file has been stopped because a change in the file formatting has been detected, which needs LiveRamp intervention. If this file does not resume processing within 24 hours, create a support case.

  • No records detected: Processing for this file has been stopped because no records have been detected. LiveRamp is attempting to resolve this issue. If this file does not resume processing within 24 hours, create a support case.

  • No audience key detected: Processing for this file has been stopped because an audience key has not been detected (for Onboarding workflow files only). LiveRamp is attempting to resolve this issue. If this file does not resume processing within 24 hours, create a support case.

  • New values detected: Processing for this file has been stopped because new values in some fields been detected (for Onboarding workflow files only). LiveRamp is attempting to resolve this issue. If this file does not resume processing within 24 hours, create a support case.

  • Duplicate field names: Processing for this file has been stopped because two fields with the same name have been detected. LiveRamp is attempting to resolve this issue. If this file does not resume processing within 24 hours, create a support case.

  • Raw fields detected: Processing for this file has been stopped because one or more raw fields have been detected (for Onboarding workflow files only). LiveRamp is attempting to resolve this issue. If this file does not resume processing within 24 hours, create a support case.

    Note

    A "raw field" is A field in a given file that has over 250 distinct values. The values in raw fields cannot be separated out and managed individually in Connect. Most files uploaded to LiveRamp should not contain raw fields. However, if you feel that your use case requires the use of raw fields, talk to your LiveRamp account manager before upload files containing raw fields. For more information, see "Raw Field".

  • No identifier fields detected: Processing for this file has been stopped because no identifier fields have been detected. LiveRamp is attempting to resolve this issue. If this file does not resume processing within 24 hours, create a support case.

  • New identifier columns detected: Processing for this file has been stopped because one or more new identifier columns have been detected. LiveRamp is attempting to resolve this issue. If this file does not resume processing within 24 hours, create a support case.

Files That Fail Processing

Under certain conditions, a file might fail the processing stage and show a status of "Processing Failed". To display the failure reason, either hover over the status or open the details panel. In many cases, the failure reason will include information to help you resolve the issue.

In some cases, no reason is given and you will need to use the Onboarding: Troubleshooting File quick case or the Measurement: Troubleshooting File quick case to create a support case to resolve the issue. In these cases, the following message is displayed: "The processing of this file has failed. Create a support case to resolve this."

The messages below are displayed for files that have failed processing for the following reasons:

  • File contains no data: This file failed to process because it contains no data. Make sure that the file contains data and upload again.

  • File contains duplicate headers: This file failed to process because at least two columns contain duplicate headers. Make sure all column headers are unique and upload the file again.

  • Non-UTF-8 encoding: This file failed to process because it uses encoding other than UTF-8. Make sure the file is UTF-8 encoded and upload again. If saving from Excel, you can use the "CSV UTF-8 (comma delimited)" option.

  • File not rectangular: This file failed to process because it is not rectangular (meaning that at least one row contains a different number of fields than we found in the header row). Make sure that each row has the same number of fields as the header row and upload the file again.

  • Too many invalid rows: This fail failed to process because more than 5% of the rows contain either invalid (non-ASCII) characters or unclosed quotations. Remove any non-ASCII characters and make sure all quotations are closed, and then upload the file again.

  • Incorrect encryption subkey: This file failed to process because it was encrypted using the incorrect encryption subkey. Encrypt the file with the correct encryption subkey and upload again. See the "Encrypting Files for Uploading" help article for more info.

  • Incorrect file type: This file failed to process because it is not one of our allowed file types. We can only accept these file types: .txt, .csv, .tsv, .psv, and .scsv. We cannot accept Excel files or Word files. Make sure to save the file as one of our allowed file types and upload the file again.

Files That Exceed Product Limits

When a file exceeds one or more of LiveRamp's recommended file limits, a yellow caution icon is displayed next to the file name. To display the issue, either hover over the icon or open the details panel.

To minimize delays and ensure maximum performance, keep within these limits.

The possible messages that might be displayed for files that exceed product limits include the following:

  • This file does not have a at least 25 rows: Each file should have a minimum of 25 rows. Consider adding more rows to this file and uploading again. LiveRamp will process a file with fewer than 25 rows, but will not deliver a distributed segment that has fewer than 25 members.

  • This file has more than 500,000,000 rows: This file exceeds the recommend row count of 500,000,000 for Onboarding workflow files. Consider splitting the file into smaller files.

  • This file has more than 400,000,000 rows: This file exceeds the recommend row count of 400,000,000 for FBR workflow files. Consider splitting the file into smaller files.

  • This file has more than 500 segment data fields: This file has more than the recommended 500 segment data fields. Consider splitting the file up so that each file has fewer segment data fields.

  • This file is larger than 50GB.: This file is larger than the maximum recommended file size of 50GB. Consider splitting the file into smaller files.

Unassociated Files

For files that LiveRamp retrieves from a customer resource, such as an AWS S3 bucket or GCS bucket, those files don’t get associated with their audience(s), and don’t appear on the Files page under those audiences, until transfer is complete. If you see a selection for “Unassociated files” in the Audience dropdown, or an alert for unassociated files at the top of the page, that means that there are files in your account that are in the process of being transferred and are not yet associated with the appropriate audience(s).

Once a file has completed transferring (which usually takes 20 minutes or less), the file will be associated with the appropriate audience(s) and appear on the Files page under that audience or audiences.

If there are unassociated files in your account, you’ll see an alert when you go to the Files page that includes a link you can use to view those files. You can also view those files by selecting “Unassociated files” from the Audience dropdown. 

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Unassociated files will only show an ingestion status of "Transferring" or "Transfer Failed". File stats will not display for unassociated files, since that data is only processed once a file has been transfered.

Note

  • If a file continues to display under “Unassociated files” for more than 24 hours, create a support case (using either the Onboarding: Troubleshooting File quick case or the Measurement: Troubleshooting File quick case).

  • The number of unassociated files represents all files recently uploaded to your customer bucket. If you upload a high volume of files on a regular basis, you should expect a high number of unassociated files to appear. These files should all be routing to their appropriate audiences, so seeing a high file count in these cases should not be a cause for concern.

Hide or View Undistributed and Canceled Files

When you go to the Files page, it initially defaults to hiding undistributed and canceled files. To view any undistributed or canceled files, slide the toggle to the right.

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Note

  • Files in an Onboarding workflow audience will have a status of “Not Distributed” even if there are derived segments being distributed if those are the only segments that are being distributed. Even though these files are technically distributing, they will still be hidden by default until you adjust the toggle to show undistributed and canceled files.

  • For FBR audiences, the toggle shows or hides only canceled files.

  • The count of the number of files at the top of the page reflects the total number of files in that audience, regardless of whether undistributed and canceled files are filtered out of the table view.

Considerations for Grouped Files

Depending on your account configuration, files that were uploaded at the same time might be grouped into the same import job. These "grouped files" are not indicated by a specific icon in the table but if you see multiple files that have the same stats (such as number or rows or unique records), those files might be part of the same import.

Keep the following considerations in mind if you account contains grouped files:

  • File deletion: A grouped file can only be deleted by deleting all grouped files within that import job. If you try to delete a grouped file, you will be prompted to review a list of the additional grouped files that would have to be deleted. For information on the file deletion process, see "Delete a File from an Audience".

  • File stats: The stats for a grouped file represent the cumulative stats for all files within that import job. For example, if an import job contains five files, the stats for each of those files (such as number or rows or unique records) will reflect the cumulative stats for the import job. So if each file, contained 200,000 rows, for example, the entry in the "Total Rows" column for each individual file would be 1,000,000 (not 200,000).

Download File Info

To download a CSV file with file info on all of the files for the selected audience, click DOWNLOAD FILE INFO.

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The CSV file contains the following columns:

  • name: The name of the file.

  • import_name: The name of the import.

  • ingestion_date: The date the file was picked up by LiveRamp.

  • start_time

  • latest_time

  • import_type: Whether the import included a single file or multiple files. If the file that was imported at least 180 days ago and has been "compacted" to store it more efficiently, the type will be listed as "compacted".

  • import_type_name: The audience update method (incremental, segment refresh, or full refresh). For more information on audience update options, see "Ways to Update an Existing Audience".

  • row_count: The total number of rows in the file.

  • record_count: The number of unique records in that file, after deduplication.

  • column_count: The number of columns (or fields) in that file.

  • audience_id: The ID of the audience.

  • import_id: The ID of the import. Files that were part of the same import will have the same import ID.

  • file_id: The ID of the file.

  • errors

  • warnings

  • pause_reason

  • size: The size of the file in bytes.

  • status

  • ingestion_status: The file import status. See the appropriate section above (depending on whether the audience is an Onboarding Audience or an FBR audience) for more information on the statuses and their definitions.

  • precision_level

  • file_transfer_id

  • status_history

  • expected_completion_time

Cancel a File Import

For files that haven’t yet completed processing, you can cancel the file import from the Files page. To cancel a file import:

  1. Click the ellipsis that appears when you hover over that file's row and then select Cancel Import.

    C-File_Page_Updates-cancel_import.png
  2. From the confirmation dialog that appears, click CANCEL IMPORT.

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