Programmatic Languages35% of the exam
AMPscript processing order across email parts
How Marketing Cloud Engagement interprets AMPscript at send time: server-side batch processing, the preheader to subject line order and what it means for variables, top-to-bottom evaluation, recursion errors, dynamic link aliases and impression regions.
Describe how Marketing Cloud handles AMPscript processing.
~7 min read · 11 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- Describe where and when AMPscript runs during a send, and why its output differs per subscriber.
- Trace a variable through the preheader, HTML body, text body and subject line, and through one component from top to bottom.
- Recognize which delimiters the interpreter treats as AMPscript and what a mismatched closing delimiter does.
- Explain what a recursion error does to a message.
- Plan dynamic link aliases and impression regions so click and impression data is recorded.
- Key terms: order of operations (the fixed component order the interpreter follows); impression region (a tracked area of content opened with BeginImpressionRegion()); link alias (an
aliasattribute that names a link in click metrics); 104 - RecursiveScriptError (the exception for a recursive function call).
Key facts
Where AMPscript runs
- Detail
- Interpreted by Marketing Cloud Engagement and replaced with function output
When in an email send
- Detail
- In a batch as the send's final step
Rendering
- Detail
- Subscriber by subscriber, at send time
Component order
- Detail
- Preheader, HTML body, text body, subject line
Variable set in the subject line
- Detail
- Null in the HTML and text bodies
Recursive function call
- Detail
- 104 - RecursiveScriptError; Errored/NotSent
Dynamic aliases
- Detail
- HTML emails only; 100 alias names
Unclosed impression region
- Detail
- Closed at the end of the message
Impression regions on CloudPages
- Detail
- Not supported
Sources for this section (7)
- Basic AMPscript Syntaxdeveloper.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Order of Operationsdeveloper.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Programmatic Languagesdeveloper.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Function Parametersdeveloper.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Dynamic Link Aliasesdeveloper.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Impression Trackingdeveloper.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- BeginImpressionRegion()developer.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- When does the system close an impression region that the code never closes?
- Why might one product line lack its own entry in click metrics when aliases name 130 product lines?
- Which region is active after one EndImpressionRegion() call when three regions are open?
- Why can't a CloudPage use BeginImpressionRegion()?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
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