July 7, 2015

Today’s discussion is about a powerful but infrequently used MarketWide feature called a package. As its name implies, a package is basically a container for one or more objects, which in MarketWide’s case consists of saved queries or campaigns. Packages are a convenient way to group a set of related tasks together. Once built, a package can be submitted or dropped in the scheduler for execution. When a package is executed, MarketWide runs each step within the package sequentially. Shown below is a sample package that contains three steps: a data preparation step, a campaign, and finally an output report.

As you can see, MarketWide lets you decide whether to continue processing or stop a package if an error occurs. There is no physical limit on the number of steps that can be placed into a package. In fact, you can even include packages as steps within another package (known as a nested package)!
Creating a package from scratch is easy. From the main window, simply open MarketWide’s Package Manager application, then click the Add button to add each step. Use the Up/Down buttons to reorder steps within a package.

As packages are executed, MarketWide displays a “package task” on the main window. Each step within a package task is shown as a subtask, indented within the package task. Package tasks can be expanded or collapsed by clicking the arrow on the left, allowing you to see each step as it runs.

The arrow next to a package task can be clicked to expand steps within the package

As you can see, packages are easy and fun to use. They provide a convenient way to group related jobs together. And when combined with other MarketWide features such as cubes, variables, and external processes; packages offer an excellent way to manage your marketing workflows.