Report Delivery Requirements

This document details our report delivery requirements for new vendor integrations or as a part of pre-outlined onboarding work.

This documentation is specifically for work that has been agreed upon as a part of our onboarding scope or as a part of our new vendor integration process.

Rockerbox does not accept ad hoc batch files outside of the above.

Report Requirements
Please review each section closely: If you are unable to meet these requirements, Rockerbox will not be able to support your files.

File Format Requirements

To send files to Rockerbox, we require the following:

  1. Send in .csv, .tsv, or .xlsx format.
  2. The file extension must be lowercase in the file name.
  3. Standardize the file name.
    • All files need a unique indicator in the report name such as a date or ID.
    • Do not include spaces in the file name.
    • Do not include special characters in the file name.
    • If you include a date in the filename, send it in ISO 8601 format.
    • If your file failed on initial delivery and you are sending a replacement file, add _v2 to the replacement file name.
Acceptable File Name Example
YYYY-MM-DD_yourbrandname_tv_postlog.csv

File Contents Requirements

  1. Do not password protect your files.
  2. The data format — in particular, column names cannot change over time.
  3. Remove all newlines in the header. The first row of the file must be the column names.
  4. Only use alphanumeric, spaces, and underscore (_) characters in column header names.
  5. Do not include a summary or “totals” row in the file.
  6. Remove all blank rows at the bottom of the dataset. This is a common issue in Excel if you clear data in rows without deleting the rows themselves.
  7. A Date field is included for all line items, and the Date format is standardized. Dates should be in ISO-8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD) in UTC if possible.
  8. Do not use the same column header name more than once.
  9. Do not include more than 1 tab in the file.
  10. Do not include any values in scientific notation. To resolve this, follow the steps here.
Spend Currency
Rockerbox defaults all spend ingestion to USD. If you send a different currency, then you need to either:
Timezones
If you are passing timezones dynamically, then it needs to meet one of two requirements:
* Include it as part of the timestamp using ISO 8601 standards
* Include the timezone as a separate column using [IANA standards](https://www.iana.org/time-zones)

File Delivery Requirements

See here for delivery methods that Rockerbox supports.

  1. For email endpoints, files must be sent as an email attachment rather than a link.
  2. For email endpoints, files must be sent as a new email with the endpoint being the only recipient.
  3. For email endpoints, only include 1 attachment per email.
  4. Do not send the same day of spend more than once. For example, if you are sending a daily file, only include the previous day of data. Do not send a historical file every day.
Historical Data Correction
Rockerbox cannot currently process corrections to historical data. If you or your partners send us data that needs to be corrected, contact your Rockerbox account manager. We cannot guarantee that we can correct the information.
.zip and .gz files
You can also send .zip or .gz files; however, if you do so, then the file must meet the following requirements:
* 1 file per .zip file
* the zip filename is “filename.csv.zip” (or “filename.tsv.zip”, “filename.xlsx.zip”)
* the decompressed filename is “filename.csv”
* the file and the .zip file must have the same name
* the extension must be sent in all lower-case
Similar requirements if the compressed file were instead a .gz file, except replace .zip with .gz.

TV postlog report syntax

A sample tv postlog report can be found here.

Field Name

Field Description

timestamp

YYYY-MM-DD HH24:mm:ss

Indicate timezone as a separate column or must be static timezone for all files. If it’s a static timezone, then you must tell Rockerbox the timezone.

Exception: if you send DMA-level spots, then timestamp must be in the DMA timezone.

network

Example: PBS, NBC

inventory

TV program an ad aired on. Examples: Seinfeld, M.A.S.H.

media_outlet_type

Example: Cable - National, Satellite

feed_type

Live, Dual

isci

Uniquely identifies the commercial

daypart

Daypart for when the ad airs

ad_name

Name corresponding to the ISCI

tape_length

Duration of the ad, most commonly 15 or 30

dma_id

The Nielsen DMA code. Required if the spot airs in a specific region

prelog

1 = prelog 0 = postlog

If a given date has at least one postlog, then only postlogs will be used for that date. Any prelogs for that date will be ignored.

spend

Spend associated with a specific ad airing. Required if you want TV spend ingested

Dual Feed
If you are running any Dual feed spots, list the spot once in the Eastern timezone, and make sure the feed_type is set to dual. Rockerbox will automatically assume multiple airings based on the spot information.

Direct mail mailer report syntax

A sample direct mail report can be found here.

OTT Log File report syntax

A sample OTT postlog report can be found here

Batch Spend report syntax

A sample batch spend report can be found here


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