Census

This guide walks you through the steps required to create a Census sync using Materialize.

Before you begin

In order to build a sync with Census you will need:

  • A table, view, materialized view or source within your Materialize account that you would like to export.
  • A Braze account. Census supports a number of possible destinations, we will use Braze as an example.

Step 1. Set up a Materialize Source

To begin you will need to add your Materialize database as a source in Census.

  1. In Census, navigate to Sources and then click New Source.

  2. From the list of connection types, choose Materialize.

  3. Set the connection parameters using the credentials provided in the Materialize console. Then click the Connect button.

Step 2. Set up a Destination

Next you will add a destination where data will be sent.

  1. In Census, navigate to Destinations and then click New Destination.

  2. From the list of destinations types, choose Braze.

  3. You will need to supply your Braze URL (which will most likely be https://rest.iad-03.braze.com) and a Braze API key. The Census guide for Braze will explain how to create an API key with the correct permissions. Then click the Connect.

Step 3. Create a Sync

After successfully adding the Materialize source, you can create a sync to send data from Materialize to your downstream destination.

  1. In Census, navigate to Syncs and then click New Sync.

  2. Under Select a Source choose Select a Warehouse Table. Using the drop-down, choose the Materialize source that was configured in step 1 as the Connection. Using the Schema and Table drop-downs you can select the Materialize object you would like to export.

  3. Under Select a Destination choose the Braze destination configured in step 2 and select “User” as the Object.

  4. Under Select Sync Behavior can be set to “Update or Create”. This will only add and modify new data in Braze but never delete users.

  5. Under Select a Sync Key select an id column from the Materialize object.

  6. Under Set Up Braze Field Mappings set any of the columns in the Materialize object to their corresponding fields in the Braze User entity.

  7. Click Next to see an overview of your sync and click Create to create the sync.

Step 4. Add a Schedule (Optional)

Your Census sync is created and ready to run. It can be invoked manually but a schedule will ensure all new data is sent to the destination.

  1. In Census navigate to Syncs and select the sync that was just created.

  2. Within your sync toolbar click Configuration. In Sync Trigger > Schedule you can select from a number of difference schedules. If you are using a source or materialized view as your source object, you can choose “Continuous” and Census will retrieve new data as soon as it exists within Materialize.

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