Technical specification for file formats

There are three versions of the MPS file.

MPS Original - This is the state of the existing MPS file as of September 2007. It will contain registrations at a surname level. The contents of this file will remain 'frozen' but subject to an annual clean.
MPS Personal - This is the format of the MPS file since October 2007 containing entries at a personal level. This is updated monthly
MPS Household - This file will no longer be available after 4th April 2011. It contains registrations as contained in the Personal File but extracted to Household (i.e. Surname) level. Thus the file will be in the same format as the 'Original' file. This is to allow licensees to continue using the old style file format if required whilst updating IT systems and procedures to use the new format.

Technical specifications for each of the file formats can be found from the following links. (Note: For the format of the current MPS file, available up to the start of October 2007, refer to the 'MPS Original' link)

Media Types
SFTP Access - For more information: click here

The full database can also be downloaded via SFTP. If you have subscribed to receive the full downloads, you can follow the instructions below to download the MPS database in compressed or uncompressed format, Fixed or Comma Delimited.

SFTP to ftp.mpsonline.org.uk and type in your username and password when prompted.
You can retrieve the readme.txt document found in your home directory, which will describe the files available for download.
The table below describes the full database files that you can retrieve and their location.

Subdirectory	Filenames	Description
/mps	mps_original_fxd.dat mps_personal_fxd.dat mps_household_fxd.dat	Full uncompressed MPS database in fixed format.
	mps_original_fxd.zip mps_personal_fxd.zip mps_household_fxd.zip	Full compressed MPS database in fixed format
	mps_original_csv.dat mps_personal_csv.dat mps_household_csv.dat	Full uncompressed MPS database in comma delimited format.
	mps_original_csv.zip mps_personal_csv.zip mps_household_csv.zip	Full compressed MPS database in comma delimited format.

It is the responsibility of the MPS subscriber to integrate use of the database into their everyday working practices. The way in which they choose to do this is entirely up to the subscriber and will not be defined by MPS or its agents. For example, those sites which have sophisticated automatic telemarketing systems, may well adopt a different strategy to those with a more modest set-up.