Introduction to Relational Tables

The relational tables are used to store data held in a structured format within a database. You can use SQL Queries to add and retrieve data from the tables. To learn about using the Maropost application interface to write SQL queries, see SQL Queries.

Managing Relational Tables

The Relational Tables index page enables you to create new relational tables and manage the existing relational tables. For step-by-step instructions on how to create a relational table, see Creating Relational Tables.

To access the Relational Tables index page, in Navigation, go to AUDIENCE and then select Relational Tables.

You can perform the following actions on the existing relational tables:

• Export Table: Enables you to export the relational table. You can select the table columns that you want to export. You can also select the 'Convert email to secure email (MD5 Hash)' to export the data in the MD5 Hash format.
• Import Table: Enables you to import data into the table. You can choose from the File Import and FTP Import options to perform the import.
• Edit Table: Enables you to edit the relational table.
• Delete Table: Enables you to delete the relational table along with the data permanently.
• Truncate Table: Enables you to delete the data from the relational table.
• Duplicate Table: Enables you to create a duplicate the relational table.
• Refresh Table: Refreshes the table to show the latest record count.

Establishing Relationship Between Relational Tables

You can add as many relationships as you wish between multiple relational tables. For example, if you have three separate tables – contact information, purchase information, and product details, you can establish relationships to connect all three tables to be able to pull and utilize the data within.

To establish a relationship between two relational tables, perform the following steps:

1. Click on a table name on the Relational Tables index page. On the table details page, under Relationships, click New.
   📋 Note: The ‘Relationships’ section appears only when there is no email data-type column or no sendable column in your relational table. If your table doesn’t have either of those columns, you must manually specify the link.
   
2. On the dialog box, the first drop-down list shows the columns from your current table. The second drop-down list shows the other relational tables from which you can choose one to establish a connection. And the third drop-down list shows the columns from the other relational table.
   📋 Note: Only tables with sendable columns will appear in the second drop-down list.
   
3. By choosing the columns that will bridge the relational tables together, you can establish a link between the two tables.
4. Finally, click Save.

Usages of Relational Tables

In Maropost, relational tables can be used in campaigns, content, segments, journeys, and data journeys.

Using Relational Tables in Campaign

You can use relational tables as the source of contacts when sending a campaign. When doing so, remember to utilize your own unsubscribe mechanism and sync the unsubscribes within a relational table. Relational tables give you flexibility with writing your own SQL queries to modify the contact data within tables, but you cannot utilize Maropost’s unsubscribe mechanism directly. To utilize our unsubscribe mechanism within relational tables, you would need to import the same contact emails (from the relational table) into a Maropost contact list and then create this segment:

In List: List A
AND
Table: Table A

Always send to this segment (and similar segments based on different lists & tables). By doing this, contacts can unsubscribe from List A, and segments only fetch ‘subscribers’, so the unsubscribes will not be included in campaigns.

Using Tables in Segments

Active contacts can be fetched from segments using the ‘Tables’ filter. In segments, columns for the corresponding table can be selected to add the specification for the contacts.

📋 Note: When creating a segment and selecting the ‘In Table’ filter, only tables with a sendable column, as well as tables LINKED to tables with sendable columns will appear.

Connecting to MySQL Client

You can use MySQL Client for creating and managing the relational tables. However, remember the following restrictions when using the MySQL Client:

• The relational tables using MySQL Client are not visible within the application. Therefore, you must create the tables and their relational links in the application if you intend to use the tables for segmentation or personalization.
• When you add, update, or delete data in the relational tables using MySQL Client, the 'Table Field Updated' Journey trigger doesn't detect this event. Therefore, if you intend to use this trigger on a specific table, then you must use the application interface to add, update, and delete the data in that table.

If you choose to use MySQL Client, you can perform to following steps to establish with the Maropost account:

1. Click your username on the top-right corner and from the drop-down list, select Connections.
   
2. On the Connections page, click the Relational Tables tab.
    
3. On the Relational Tables tab, you can see all of the information needed to access your relational tables from Maropost.