Marketing Automation26% of the exam
Automation schedules, file drop triggers and run control
How an automation starts (schedule, file drop or trigger), why its schedule must fit its duration, what happens to a run that is due while another is still going, how Pause, Skip and Stop differ, and how file drop folders, file name patterns and queuing decide whether a dropped file starts a run.
Given a customer scenario, build the appropriate Automation Studio solution.
~6 min read · 7 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- Choose a scheduled, file drop or trigger starting source from how the automation must start.
- Align a schedule's frequency with the automation's run duration, and predict what happens to a run that is due while another run is still going.
- Choose among Pause, Skip and Stop given what must happen to the current run and to future runs.
- Configure a file drop automation with a folder or a file name pattern, decide whether queuing stays on, and diagnose why a dropped file didn't start a run.
- Key terms: starting source (what starts an automation); file drop automation (starts when a file reaches the Enhanced FTP); file name pattern (the name rule a dropped file must match); queuing (holding extra files to start later runs); Run Log (the automation's record of runs, including skipped ones).
Key facts
File drop folders
- Detail
- Import or Triggered_Automations, or a subdirectory of either
Run over 24 hours
- Detail
- Stops when the next scheduled occurrence begins
Run due during a wait
- Detail
- Skipped; shown in the Run Log
Pause
- Detail
- Current run continues; future scheduled runs don't occur
Skip
- Detail
- Next run won't occur; schedule keeps running
Stop
- Detail
- In-progress step completes; later steps don't start
Folder file drop
- Detail
- One file drop automation per folder; any file triggers it
Queuing
- Detail
- On by default; off ignores extra files during a run
Renamed file, same content
- Detail
- Doesn't start the automation
Extensions
- Detail
- File drop ignores them; trigger automations read them
- Why doesn't a newly scheduled automation run after you save its schedule?
- Where do you find scheduled runs skipped because wait activities created overlapping times?
- When does a file drop automation randomly pick which automation runs?
- Which starting source reads file extensions?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
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