MktDataTranObject in Salesforce Data Cloud

Architectural Overview#

In the data ingestion architecture of Salesforce Data Cloud, MktDataTranObject (Market Data Transport Object) represents the intermediate schema specification that receives raw data from an external source connector before it lands in a Data Lake Object (DLO). Whether ingesting clickstream events from Amazon S3, customer profiles from Google Cloud Storage, or enterprise ERP tables via MuleSoft, Data Cloud relies on transport objects to structure raw inbound files.

Managing MktDataTranObject metadata in version control ensures that field types, primary keys, and data categories (Profile, Engagement, Other) remain deterministic across multi-tenant environments. Automated pipelines deploy these definitions alongside DataStreamDefinition and mktDataLakeObject records to instantiate automated data pipelines seamlessly.

Directory and File Conventions#

MktDataTranObject components reside within the mktDataTranObjects directory in the standard SFDX source layout.

Key Metadata Fields#

The MktDataTranObject XML schema contains key attributes establishing the connector relationship and schema categorization:

Declarative XML and Package Manifest Examples#

The following example defines an MktDataTranObject for ingesting e-commerce customer transactions from an external cloud storage bucket:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<MktDataTranObject xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <masterLabel>Ecommerce Transactions</masterLabel>
    <connector>AmazonS3Connector</connector>
    <dataSource>CloudEcommerceStore</dataSource>
    <dataSourceObject>orders_daily_feed</dataSourceObject>
    <objectCategory>Engagement</objectCategory>
    <creationType>Custom</creationType>
</MktDataTranObject>

Package Manifest (package.xml)#

Include MktDataTranObject in your deployment manifest:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Package xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <types>
        <members>*</members>
        <name>MktDataTranObject</name>
    </types>
    <version>68.0</version>
</Package>

CLI Retrieval and Deployment Commands#

Manage MktDataTranObject metadata with the Salesforce CLI:

# Retrieve all transport objects
sf project retrieve start --metadata MktDataTranObject

# Deploy a specific transport object definition
sf project deploy start --metadata MktDataTranObject:Ecommerce_Transactions

# Query existing transport objects via Tooling API
sf data query --use-tooling-api --query "SELECT Id, DeveloperName, MasterLabel, ObjectCategory FROM MktDataTranObject"

Architect Best Practices and Gotchas#

• Connector Provisioning: A transport object references an underlying connector (connector). The associated connector credentials (e.g., Amazon S3 bucket ARN or Google Cloud credentials) must be provisioned in the target org before deploying the metadata.
• Category Alignment: Select objectCategory carefully. Setting Engagement implies time-series data with mandatory event timestamp fields, whereas Profile objects expect unique entity keys for identity resolution.
• Pipeline Synchronization: When orchestrating Data Cloud deployments, deploy MktDataTranObject before DataStreamDefinition components that reference it as their landing target.

Frequently asked questions

What role does MktDataTranObject play in Data Cloud?

It defines the data transport schema wrapper for incoming data streams from external connectors like Amazon S3, Google Cloud, or CRM connectors.

Where are MktDataTranObject files stored in SFDX format?

They are located in force-app/main/default/mktDataTranObjects/ with the .mktDataTranObject-meta.xml file suffix.

What are the common object categories for transport objects?

Valid categories include Profile, Engagement, and Other, classifying how incoming stream records relate to customer identity and time-series events.

Can MktDataTranObject be deployed using package.xml?

Yes, include the MktDataTranObject metadata type in package.xml, and optionally use the asterisk wildcard for full directory deployment.