--- title: "dcsformat Parameter" slug: "dcsformat-parameter" updated: 2021-11-29T22:26:25Z published: 2021-11-29T22:26:26Z canonical: "onpremises.webtrends.help/dcsformat-parameter" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://onpremises.webtrends.help/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # dcsformat Parameter The optional dcsformat parameter is used to specify the response format when sending data to the Webtrends data collection server. Use the dcsformat parameter to specify the format the data collection server returns in the response body. Possible values are plain and xml. If no format is specified, the data collection server returns plain text. When an XML response includes data with XML reserved characters (ampersand, less than, greater than, apostrophe, or quote characters), these characters are converted to entity references. #### Choosing a Format Typically, you use dcsformat with the [dcsverbose parameter](/v1/docs/dcsformat-parameter) to determine the format for debugging information. When you set dcsverbose to true, the log file line that would be submitted to the SDC server is returned in the response body. - plain format returns the log line exactly as written in W3C Extended Log File Format. This format is machine-readable, but can be useful for quick data validation. - XML format returns the data surrounded by XML tags. This format separates each field in the log line and is easier to scan visually. #### Sample Request: Successful with XML Format (dcsverbose=true) POST /v1/dcs9x99xxxx9xxxxxxx9xxxx9x_9x9x/events.svc?dcsverbose=true&dcsformat=xml Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded Content-Length: 111 dcsuri=/Home&dcsua=My%20Client&WT.ti=My%20Home%20Page&WT.tz=-8&WT.cg=My%20Content%20Group&customparam=customval #### Sample Response: Successful with XML Format (dcsverbose=true) HTTP/1.0 200 OK Connection: close Content-Type: text/xml Content-Length: 514 2009-05-08 #### Sample Request: Failed with Text Format (dcsverbose=true) POST /v1/asdf;lkjh/events.svc?dcsverbose=true Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded Content-Length: 111 dcsuri=/Home&dcsua=My%20Client&WT.ti=My%20Home%20Page&WT.tz=-8&WT.cg=My%20Content%20Group&customparam=customval #### Sample Response: Failed with Text Format HTTP/1.0 400 Bad Request Connection: close Content-Type: text/plain Content-Length: 91 ERR_INVALID_DCS_ID The following invalid hit was discarded due to an invalid DCSID:asdf;lkjh