Import Catalogue Option

[Guest martino]

Hi,

With reference to the 'Import Catalogue' option in the Admin section, is there any information available anywhere as to how the import file should be formatted eg: information required, order of columns etc.

Cheers

Martin

[JulesInFrance]

Starting with the easy stuff; it looks like CCRT4 is looking for a flat-file (like unformatted .txt) with each record on it's own row. Each field in the record can be separated by a comma (please, no), a semicolon, a tab or a pipe (my preference). Which you choose depends upon preference but do not use commas if your description field also contains commas........obviously.

So, select the file on your local HDD, select the field delimiter (as above), check or un-check header rows depending upon whether the first row contains the first record (un-check) or whether the first row contains field descriptions (check), then Upload File.

CCRT4 will use the information you provided to allow you to make an assignment between the fields in your file and the fixed field structure of (stock) CCRT4; I say "stock" because who knows what impact certain Addons will have on this functionality...

The fixed field structure calls for data for each of the following;

Product Code - This I assume to be "Product/Stock#" therefore if left bank CCRT4 will generate a value

Name - This I assume is "Product Name".

Description - This will be the description; I'd need to test this to see what happens to HTML tags included in this text, or carriage returns for tab-delimited import files.

Price - This is a numeric field so only numeric values + decimal point (ie no comma for thousands)

Sale Price - This is a numeric field so only numeric values + decimal point (ie no comma for thousands)

Stock Count - This is a numeric field so only numeric values + decimal point (ie no comma for thousands)

Weight - This is a numeric field so only numeric values + decimal point (ie no comma for thousands)

Master Image - The "Upload Images" menu option allows users to create an interim (ie pre-GD processing) image folder. The import function requires this be a sub-directory of images/uploads/ and whatever the interim directory is the path must be specified in the image Master Image field

Master Category ID - So, only a root category may be specified and without testing I would presume that this value must exist already.

What is missing from the Import function (indeed missing from CCRT4, grrrrr!) is the option to mark added items as disabled until all of the values are added correctly, and everything to do with options, extras and sub-categories.

I'm planning to give it a shot today.....wish me luck..

Hi,

With reference to the 'Import Catalogue' option in the Admin section, is there any information available anywhere as to how the import file should be formatted eg: information required, order of columns etc.

Cheers

Martin

[Guest martino]

Hi,

Thanks for the information.

Will have a dabble with it later and see what happens.

Cheers

Martin

[JulesInFrance]

2 issues I've come up against so far;

#1 Master Category ID appears to be a numeric value but whereas I can find the CatalogID of a product that CategoryID is not disclosed anywhere; okay it's easy right now but it could become tricky.

#2 In the posting below I presumed that Import' would run GD on the referenced files. It does not appear to do so.

I had to create formatted artwork (ie correct dimensions etc) AND formatted+prefixed (ie "thumb_") thumbnail images for the thumbnails folder. Looks like it's better to Import no artwork and then link to it on a item-by-item basis.

Thoughts?

Starting with the easy stuff; it looks like CCRT4 is looking for a flat-file (like unformatted .txt) with each record on it's own row. Each field in the record can be separated by a comma (please, no), a semicolon, a tab or a pipe (my preference). Which you choose depends upon preference but do not use commas if your description field also contains commas........obviously.

So, select the file on your local HDD, select the field delimiter (as above), check or un-check header rows depending upon whether the first row contains the first record (un-check) or whether the first row contains field descriptions (check), then Upload File.

CCRT4 will use the information you provided to allow you to make an assignment between the fields in your file and the fixed field structure of (stock) CCRT4; I say "stock" because who knows what impact certain Addons will have on this functionality...

The fixed field structure calls for data for each of the following;

Product Code - This I assume to be "Product/Stock#" therefore if left bank CCRT4 will generate a value

Name - This I assume is "Product Name".

Description - This will be the description; I'd need to test this to see what happens to HTML tags included in this text, or carriage returns for tab-delimited import files.

Price - This is a numeric field so only numeric values + decimal point (ie no comma for thousands)

Sale Price - This is a numeric field so only numeric values + decimal point (ie no comma for thousands)

Stock Count - This is a numeric field so only numeric values + decimal point (ie no comma for thousands)

Weight - This is a numeric field so only numeric values + decimal point (ie no comma for thousands)

Master Image - The "Upload Images" menu option allows users to create an interim (ie pre-GD processing) image folder. The import function requires this be a sub-directory of images/uploads/ and whatever the interim directory is the path must be specified in the image Master Image field

Master Category ID - So, only a root category may be specified and without testing I would presume that this value must exist already.

What is missing from the Import function (indeed missing from CCRT4, grrrrr!) is the option to mark added items as disabled until all of the values are added correctly, and everything to do with options, extras and sub-categories.

I'm planning to give it a shot today.....wish me luck..

Hi,

With reference to the 'Import Catalogue' option in the Admin section, is there any information available anywhere as to how the import file should be formatted eg: information required, order of columns etc.

Cheers

Martin

[Guest Derek Cook]

>>> Thanks for the information.

Me too - was about to ask the same - forums are good !!!

Also, will be possible (or is it available) to import just the stock records using this method - i.e. physical stock changes daily (e.g. sell in a real shop, sell on-line).

So can I just import a CSV file for the stock field ??

Regards,

DC

[Guest martino]

The Master Category ID is the numeric value of the category you want the item to go in.

This value is in the CubeCart_category table in the database.

This will be a real pain, because it means that all the categories are going to have to be created before you can import a catalogue of items. No good if you have a few hundred items to import.

Haven't played with importing images yet.

Cheers

Martin

[JulesInFrance]

Derek,

In attempting to understand the abilities and limitations of the function I made 4 imports of a single record all of which failed for various reasons. The fifth worked. Given that there was a test record included with the default installation my fifth import became record 6.

This suggests that each import creates a new item in the catalog and subsequent imports cannot be linked to pre-existing records.

So no, I do not believe you can use the Import function to append to nor update an specific field in an existing record.

Brgds/Jules

>>> Thanks for the information.

Me too - was about to ask the same - forums are good !!!

Also, will be possible (or is it available) to import just the stock records using this method - i.e. physical stock changes daily (e.g. sell in a real shop, sell on-line).

So can I just import a CSV file for the stock field ??

Regards,

DC

Martino,

I had presumed that reference to Master Category ID the Import function can only import to root categories (ie those at the first level, but it's easy enough to test. Having to dive into the database to guarantee the correct category code is certainly not user friendly....

The Master Category ID is the numeric value of the category you want the item to go in.

This value is in the CubeCart_category table in the database.

This will be a real pain, because it means that all the categories are going to have to be created before you can import a catalogue of items. No good if you have a few hundred items to import.

Haven't played with importing images yet.

Cheers

Martin

[Guest martino]

I had presumed that reference to Master Category ID the Import function can only import to root categories (ie those at the first level, but it's easy enough to test. Having to dive into the database to guarantee the correct category code is certainly not user friendly....

I couldn't agree more.

I was really hoping that the Categories would be text/name based and created on the fly when the file was imported, much like Easy Populate on OSC and CRE

Cheers

Martin

[Guest thimk]

All could be made obvious if one could Export Catalog back to personal computer. Unfortunately, I see only choices of GoogleBase, Shopping.com, and ShopZilla, none of which are as interesting to me as EXPORT BACK TO MY PC. The "Backup Tool" is for SQL, which does not suggest the format needed for import.

[Guest ltded]

The Master Category ID is the numeric value of the category you want the item to go in.

This value is in the CubeCart_category table in the database.

This will be a real pain, because it means that all the categories are going to have to be created before you can import a catalogue of items. No good if you have a few hundred items to import.

Haven't played with importing images yet.

Cheers

Martin

This forum was extremely helpful. However, I don't know where to find the Master Category ID - numeric value. Where do I access the CubeCart_category table?

[Guest Dogula]

The Master Category ID is the numeric value of the category you want the item to go in.

This value is in the CubeCart_category table in the database.

This will be a real pain, because it means that all the categories are going to have to be created before you can import a catalogue of items. No good if you have a few hundred items to import.

Haven't played with importing images yet.

Cheers

Martin

This forum was extremely helpful. However, I don't know where to find the Master Category ID - numeric value. Where do I access the CubeCart_category table?

Go to view categories, use the number under ID

[Guest Dogula]

2 issues I've come up against so far;

#1 Master Category ID appears to be a numeric value but whereas I can find the CatalogID of a product that CategoryID is not disclosed anywhere; okay it's easy right now but it could become tricky.

#2 In the posting below I presumed that Import' would run GD on the referenced files. It does not appear to do so.

I had to create formatted artwork (ie correct dimensions etc) AND formatted+prefixed (ie "thumb_") thumbnail images for the thumbnails folder. Looks like it's better to Import no artwork and then link to it on a item-by-item basis.

Thoughts?

Starting with the easy stuff; it looks like CCRT4 is looking for a flat-file (like unformatted .txt) with each record on it's own row. Each field in the record can be separated by a comma (please, no), a semicolon, a tab or a pipe (my preference). Which you choose depends upon preference but do not use commas if your description field also contains commas........obviously.

So, select the file on your local HDD, select the field delimiter (as above), check or un-check header rows depending upon whether the first row contains the first record (un-check) or whether the first row contains field descriptions (check), then Upload File.

CCRT4 will use the information you provided to allow you to make an assignment between the fields in your file and the fixed field structure of (stock) CCRT4; I say "stock" because who knows what impact certain Addons will have on this functionality...

The fixed field structure calls for data for each of the following;

Product Code - This I assume to be "Product/Stock#" therefore if left bank CCRT4 will generate a value

Name - This I assume is "Product Name".

Description - This will be the description; I'd need to test this to see what happens to HTML tags included in this text, or carriage returns for tab-delimited import files.

Price - This is a numeric field so only numeric values + decimal point (ie no comma for thousands)

Sale Price - This is a numeric field so only numeric values + decimal point (ie no comma for thousands)

Stock Count - This is a numeric field so only numeric values + decimal point (ie no comma for thousands)

Weight - This is a numeric field so only numeric values + decimal point (ie no comma for thousands)

Master Image - The "Upload Images" menu option allows users to create an interim (ie pre-GD processing) image folder. The import function requires this be a sub-directory of images/uploads/ and whatever the interim directory is the path must be specified in the image Master Image field

Master Category ID - So, only a root category may be specified and without testing I would presume that this value must exist already.

What is missing from the Import function (indeed missing from CCRT4, grrrrr!) is the option to mark added items as disabled until all of the values are added correctly, and everything to do with options, extras and sub-categories.

I'm planning to give it a shot today.....wish me luck..

Hi,

With reference to the 'Import Catalogue' option in the Admin section, is there any information available anywhere as to how the import file should be formatted eg: information required, order of columns etc.

Cheers

Martin

I've got it all working but how do you change the other options not included, especially:

Include in latest products in homepage?

This is defaulted as no for some reason.

[Guest blazingtech]

The description in quotas, tabs, or pipe - doesn't matter - get separated into different fields when importing the csv files. The description does have html inside if that makes a difference.

Any one find a way to resolve this problem?

Julius?

[Guest]

Hi,

I am using the import/export .csv method of uploading products to my site (just getting used to it before the big push!) but cannot figure out how to add formatting in the csv sheet when opened in Excel?

What i mean is that all text appears to have to be on one line?

Is there a way around this?

Any help appreciated!

Steven.

[Guest RenateH]

The description in quotas, tabs, or pipe - doesn't matter - get separated into different fields when importing the csv files. The description does have html inside if that makes a difference.

Any one find a way to resolve this problem?

Julius?

I save the excel file as text, tab delimited (i don't use tabs in my descriptions) and that works . But, why oh why, doesn't import include the tax class????????????????/

Renate

[Guest mike_freck]

Hi,

I am using the import/export .csv method of uploading products to my site (just getting used to it before the big push!) but cannot figure out how to add formatting in the csv sheet when opened in Excel?

What i mean is that all text appears to have to be on one line?

Is there a way around this?

Any help appreciated!

Steven.

We use the <p> in our csv files to tell cubecart to use the next paragraph. You can also use <strong> and i guess other tags and obviously the closes like </p> at the end.

[Guest mike_freck]

>>> Thanks for the information.

Me too - was about to ask the same - forums are good !!!

Also, will be possible (or is it available) to import just the stock records using this method - i.e. physical stock changes daily (e.g. sell in a real shop, sell on-line).

So can I just import a CSV file for the stock field ??

Regards,

DC

I too have a physical shop and use our epos system to export all stock details and then import them into cubecart. This updates any changes including stock numbers etc etc.

You need to find a fixed point of reffernce. Which we use our product number and everything runs off that. images are named that and then the files are easily linked to and automated. etc etc.

It does have disadvantages. So far i can't seem to get sef urls to work correctly with having my export to base and sitemaps working!!!!

I will email anyone the current code if you like. You just need to understand a few variables like what format the csv file should be in and it will work.

Mike