Flat File Product Import/Export (am I an idiot?)

[CeramicsOfEurope]

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I have several product categories and a product that is already assigned to one category. I update my product spreadsheet and assign a product to a second category. I upload the flat file and while other changes have occurred, the product is still only assigned to the initial category.

I've tried marking "Keep Existing Products", "Update Existing Products" - and when I chose "Replace Existing Products" I lost all of my inventory levels.

Which brings me to my second question - how do you export a flat file with all of the store information?

The standard flat file only includes the following information:

PRODUCT_CODE
PRODUCT_NAME
CATEGORY_CODES
PRODUCT_PRICE
PRODUCT_COST
PRODUCT_WEIGHT
PRODUCT_DESC
PRODUCT_TAXABLE
PRODUCT_ACTIVE
PRODUCT_THUMBNAIL
PRODUCT_IMAGE

Do I need to buy a module to allow for the rest?

Thanks for the help. I'm thinking of upgrading to 5 if I have to buy more modules.

Bill Elias
Ceramics of Europe
http://www.ceramicsofeurope.com

[ILoveHostasaurus]

I believe an import will always just replace the product's primary category membership rather than assign supplemental categories. Inventory is wiped out when you do replacment because you're telling Merchant that what you're uploading are new products that have the same codes as the ones they are replacing. There is the Export/Import Supermod from Copernicus that will let you export and import data from any database in Merchant but you'd have to be careful when using it, making sure to do an export of not only products but the inventory table as well, re-do the import with replacement, then bring the inventory back in. Merchant 5 would not make this easier, possibly even worse as the advanced import mods are not available for it.

Viking has an Easy Inventory Update (http://www.vikingcoders.com/store/merchant.mv?Category_Code=EXPORTMODS&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=DEN_INVUPDATE) module that may help getting the inventory back to correct values.


You may want to look at StoreMan from Phosphor Media (http://www.phosphormedia.com). I think it can easily manage multiple category memberships for your products all from your computer but Bruce can confirm.

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

David,

This would be a first, me confirming one of your statements.<G>

But, yea, Merchant's default import tools do not provide a method to import a single product into multiple categories. You either need a product such as StoreMan, which helps whit these imporinting issues and dozens of others, or a standalone import/export module. Problme with the module routine is that you either need to use lots of different modules, or (in the case of super export mod) understand the underlying database architecture.

[Vic - WolfPaw Computers]

Sorry to disagree here...

But you certainly can import products into multiple categories in versions 4.13 and later.

Create your flat file as tab delimited (or better, pipe delimited) and comma separate your category codes: Cat1,Cat2,Cat3

[CeramicsOfEurope]

but I'm a Macintosh user. Though with Apple's new "Boot Camp" I should be able to boot up in XP once I upgrade to the new Intel-based machines.

[apanda]

Sorry to disagree here...

But you certainly can import products into multiple categories in versions 4.13 and later.

Create your flat file as tab delimited (or better, pipe delimited) and comma separate your category codes: Cat1,Cat2,Cat3

I can confirm that this works... That's how I do it.

Bruce and David almost had me convinced that I was not remembering correctly, but I just tested this for my own sanity. :rolleyes:

If you already have the products added to the store, all you need is a file with the info you are wanting to update, along with the product code. Just be sure all of the categories you want are in the category field, separated by commas. Choose the option to update existing products.

** I use the "OpenUI Product Import"... I'm not sure if it's any different if you use the default product import. (That's the one that says, "Import Products From Flat File")

[ILoveHostasaurus]

Hmm, does having strict validation off make it not work or something? I thought I remembered it not working for me at some point, maybe having strict validation off makes it want to import into a category named "c1,c2,c3" literally?

[apanda]

I believe I have strict validation off - I use email addresses as the login and had to switch it off in order to do that. I did just test this, and the product went into both categories that were indicated in the import file.

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

In the default Merchant import routine? (Well, then, I stand corrected. Obviously, you can tell I haven't used that method in a long time.)

[apanda]

Just to be clear, I'm not sure if the default product import works this way. I only tested the OpenUI product import. I haven't used the default import for years.
** I use the "OpenUI Product Import"... I'm not sure if it's any different if you use the default product import. (That's the one that says, "Import Products From Flat File")

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

but I'm a Macintosh user. Though with Apple's new "Boot Camp" I should be able to boot up in XP once I upgrade to the new Intel-based machines.

You can also use Windows Program Emulator's software...know of a view StoreMan Users using this...now, if I can only rememeber what version they used. If the free StoreMan demo runs under whatever you try, then the retail version will work just fine.

Still, purchasing a low cost PC is not a bad investment for a business doing online sales, as its good to have that point-of-view of interacting with your site.

[DesignExtend-MSI]

Just want to avoid confusion here:

I believe an import will always just replace the product's primary category membership rather than assign supplemental categories.

No, it will assign to supplemental categories. And you can also delimit them with a comma to do multiples. An import will not unassign a product from a category.

Inventory is wiped out when you do replacment because you're telling Merchant that what you're uploading are new products that have the same codes as the ones they are replacing.

Not necessarily. You can do an ADJUST STOCK BY and use a + or - to denote an addition or negation of the count.

Viking has an Easy Inventory Update (http://www.vikingcoders.com/store/merchant.mv?Category_Code=EXPORTMODS&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=DEN_INVUPDATE) module that may help getting the inventory back to correct values.

Yes, this is an easier way, and it allows you to do quick updates on a single screen right in the admin.

You may want to look at StoreMan from Phosphor Media (http://www.phosphormedia.com). I think it can easily manage multiple category memberships for your products all from your computer but Bruce can confirm.

Another way to make it all simple.

I just wanted to point out though, that it is possible to handle all this with the tools already provided.

[dotCOM_host]

but I'm a Macintosh user. Though with Apple's new "Boot Camp" I should be able to boot up in XP once I upgrade to the new Intel-based machines.
You can use Boot Camp, or buy that Dell $299 "Mac Attachment" - a low-end PC with Windows preinstalled, so you can have the best of both worlds - use your Mac for everything you normally do, and use the Dell for Storeman, testing your site in Windows web browsers, use it to play all those DRM encoded movies and music that just won't play on Macs, etc. ;-)

Boot Camp looks good, but you still have to reboot the machine and can only have one OS running at a time. If you get a cheapie Dell with Windows, you can use a simple KVM switch and jump back and forth between OS X and Windows all day long.

[DesignExtend-MSI]

If you get a cheapie Dell with Windows, you can use a simple KVM switch and jump back and forth between OS X and Windows all day long.

Yep. We've got a handful of clients using lower end PCs specifically to run Order Manager and StoreMan. Not only are they able to use the tools, but they have actually grown to like that they have a dedicated machine to do that specific work on.

[dotCOM_host]

As of yesterday, there's also another option for Mac users. Instead of dual-booting to Windows or having a separate Windows machine, you can now do virtualization right on Mac OS X (only caveat is it needs to be one of the new Intel based Macs). Check it out at http://www.parallels.com

[rstarost]

I have continually tried to replace my products with category codes seperated by commas and it does'nt seem to work. It says all have been replaced but products are still showing up in the wrong category???

[Vic - WolfPaw Computers]

What version of Merchant are you running?

And are there any other fields with commas in them? Like product descriptions?

[rstarost]

I am running 5 and no other commas

[whitewolfspirits]

I can't get the regular Import from Flat File to assign to multiple categories either. When I look at the text file, it shows the categories in " " if I list it in multiple categories. The ones with single categories do not have the quotation marks.

multiple categories look like this - "ear,animal,horse"
vs.
single categories look like this - ear

I have even tried it with a space between them, but it comes out like this

"ear, animal, cat"

Any suggestions?

[rstarost]

to get rid of the "" you have to open the flat file in note pad and do a find and replace find" and replace with nothing. For soem reason excel ads these quotes back in. just do it in notepad, save and upload.

[DesignExtend-MSI]

Also take a look at this doc, as you may be using quotes in your actual product descriptions:

http://www.designextend.com/de.mv?ARTID=t_quotes

[Pete McNamara]

You could also try just copying and pasting the CELLS into Notepad (not the spreadsheet). This doesn't add the quote marks and means you then don't have to do a find and replace.

You then import the Notepad file as the flat file.

[Pete McNamara]

If you are using quote marks in your descriptions then you'll need to use Pamela's method.

[DesignExtend-MSI]

If you are using quote marks in your descriptions then you'll need to use Pamela's method.

Or, you can use the HTML equivalent for the quote mark in your descriptions.

&quot;

[whitewolfspirits]

THANK YOU!! What a headache saver. I was having a really hard time with this. I have several hundred products, and it was not going to be fun. Over 90% of them are in 2-3 categories. I did find that I had 2 commas in my descriptions. I did not have any " marks, but I do have several dashes (-).