sfmc.guide
Engagement Next
⌘K

InsertData

Inserts a new row into a data extension using ordered column/value pairs and returns the number of rows inserted. Runtime-proven on a live Marketing Cloud Engagement CloudPage — including the return value and the read-back.

Runtime verified Test scripts included

Syntax

InsertData(dataExt, columnName1, valueToInsert1[, columnNameN, valueToInsertN, ...])  →  number

Parameters

Name Type Required Description
dataExt string Yes Name or external key of the data extension to insert into
columnName1 string Yes First column to write
valueToInsert1 string | number Yes Value for the first column
columnNameN string No Further columns, each paired with a value
valueToInsertN string | number No Value for the corresponding further column

Example

%%[
  VAR @rows
  SET @rows = InsertData("AMP_VERIFY_SCRATCH", "Id", "W1", "FirstName", "Ivan", "Score", 5)
]%%
Inserted: %%=v(@rows)=%%

Renders Inserted: 1 — one row was written. Reading the row back in a later render confirms the values: FirstName=[Ivan] Score=[5].

A realistic use writes a submission row from CloudPage form input:

%%[
  InsertData("Signups", "Email", RequestParameter("email"), "SignupDate", Now())
]%%

Return value

number — the count of rows inserted (1 on success). Unlike its email-context twin InsertDE, which returns an empty string, InsertData returns the affected-row count and is intended for CloudPages and landing pages.

Behaviour

Ordered column/value pairs. Arguments after dataExt are read as column, value, column, value, …. This is the *Data argument shape; the *DE family (InsertDE) takes the same ordered pairs but returns nothing.

Inserting a duplicate primary key aborts the page. A second insert with the same PK raises a runtime error that discards all page output — guard with a prior Lookup or use UpsertData when the row may already exist.

Writes are not visible to same-render reads of a row already read. AMPscript caches data-extension row reads within a single page render; read a freshly inserted row back in a subsequent render to confirm it.

Show test script
%%[
  VAR @b, @r
  SET @b = RequestParameter("b")

  IF @b == "zzz" THEN
    OutputLine(Concat("CTRL=[alive]"))
  ENDIF

  IF @b == "safe" THEN
    DeleteData("AMP_VERIFY_SCRATCH", "Id", "W1")
    SET @r = InsertData("AMP_VERIFY_SCRATCH", "Id", "W1", "FirstName", "Ivan", "Score", 5)
    OutputLine(Concat("InsertData ret=[", @r, "]"))
  ENDIF

  IF @b == "read" THEN
    OutputLine(Concat("W1 FirstName=[", Lookup("AMP_VERIFY_SCRATCH", "FirstName", "Id", "W1"), "] Score=[", Lookup("AMP_VERIFY_SCRATCH", "Score", "Id", "W1"), "]"))
  ENDIF
]%%

Availability

Platform Available
Marketing Cloud Engagement Yes
Marketing Cloud Next No

See also