Compare two columns from different data extensions

Question

I'll get right into it. - I am trying to do the following:

I have two DEs one is my send DE, the other is a lookup table.

Let's say both data extensions have a column called [STATE].

The send DE has IL, WA, FL, GA, MN

The lookup DE has IL, WA, FL

I want to compare the two attribute values so if the states don't match or if there is a state in the send DE that isn't in the lookup DE it will show something else.

Some example code below:

%%[

VAR @State1, @State2

SET @State1 = [STATE1]

SET @State2 = Lookup("StateLookupTable", "CITY2", "STATE2", @State1)

IF AttributeValue["STATE1"] != AttributeValue["STATE2"]

THEN (Show this)

ELSE (Show this)

ENDIF

]%%

All help is greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

You can try this:

VAR @State, @RowCount_State, @message

SET @State = AttributeValue('STATE')

SET @RowCount_State = RowCount(LookupRows('StateLookupTable','STATE',@State))

IF @RowCount_State == 0 THEN

SET @message = "State is NOT in Lookup DE."

ELSE

SET @message = "State is in Lookup DE."

ENDIF

Answer 2

AttributeValue is for retrieving attribute/DE column values from the send context. It also returns an empty string if the attribute doesn't exist.

Your lookup is fine as long as you're only needing a single column value from StateLookupTable. If the row doesn't exist, it'll return an empty string.

I'd write it like this:

%%[

VAR @State1, @State2

SET @State1 = AttributeValue["STATE1"]
SET @State2 = Lookup("StateLookupTable", "CITY2", "STATE2", @State1)

IF @State1 != @State2 THEN 

 /* show this */

ELSE

 /* otherwise show this */

ENDIF

]%%