Batch Upload

Using Batch Upload

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File Upload Help

File Upload

The file upload utility allows you to replace the inventory on your TIAS site in a 'batch upload' mode. This is one way to perform the initial population of your store. It can also be used for update. You need to tell support which option you ar eusing.

What's required to use the file upload?

Note: This facility is designed for a person who has moderate familiarity with the computer; if this isn't you, contact our customer support department to find one of our authorized subcontractors who can help you with this.

You will work with your support department to create a field definition file that describes to the TIAS system what fields are in the input file and the order in which they appear and you will create a data file that actually contains your information.

Setting up the field definition file

The format of the upload file is flexible. You define it in the input field name array in your field definition file (/progs/setup.pl). The array @inputFieldName specifies which fields are to be uploaded and the order that they will be available in the input file. This is not a file that you are able to modify; you will need to contact customer support and explain exactly which fields you want to upload and they will write the control file for you. This is a one-time exercise and it is billable at normal programming rates.

Setting up the data file file

You need to create a .txt or .csv file of the information you want to upload. The fields in this file must be in the order you specified in the /progs/setup.pl file (above). The first line of the file must contain the field names of the fields being uploaded. The upload program will check these against the field names in the field definition file and will abort the upload if they do not match.

Create the upload file per the format you've defined in /progs/setup.pl use the file upload program to browse the upload file off your desktop.

A list of the fields that your data file must and may contain is below.

1. Each item you upload must have its own identifier (itemNo). This can be any combination of letters and digits, up to 64 characters long. This value should be unique within your store to avoid confusing customers and complicating your maintenance. You MUST include the itemNo field in your upload.

2. You MUST include the catId or the category title if you want your items to be displayed. This is the category id or category title from your category list. This must match exactly -- and the field is case sensitive. Items that don't match won't be uploaded. In general, we recommend using catId because its generally shorter and people tend to make fewer capitalization errors errors with it.

3. There are also many other fields that you MAY upload. Here is a list of the fields:

Inventory Field Names
itemNo*	Inventory item number Unique key; do not provide duplicate values!
title	Inventory item title.
subtitle	Inventory item subtitle
desc	Item description
catId*	Item category id. You need to supply either this or the category field. If you use catId, it must match the category ids that are in your store. You define these values and they are visible to you in the category maintenance page. Please note that this field is case sensitive; if the catId in your store is 'memorabilia' and the one in your file is 'Memorabilia', they will not match and your product data will not be uploaded.
category*	Item category title. You may use this in place of the catId field. If you use this field, it must match the category titles that are in your store. You define these values and they are visible to you in the category maintenance page. Please note that this field is case sensitive. If the category in your store is 'memorabilia' and the one in your file is 'Memorabilia', they will not match and your product data will not be uploaded.
subCategory	Item subcategory
type	Item type
size	Item size
qty	Quantity of the item (note this is NOT the quantity in your other warehouses if you are using the multiple warehouse feature)
author	Author
isbn	ISBN of the item
upcCode	UPC code for the item
publisher	Publisher
year	Year associated with item
edition	Edition
enteredStamp*	Time item was first entered on system
updatedStamp*	Time item was last changed
condition	Condition of item
isNew	Is item new
weight	Weight of item
color	Color of item
seqno	Item sequence number
price	Price shown to customer
retailPrice	Price shown in 'strikeout' mode above the actual price.
deletedStamp*	If the item is deleted, the time the deletion happened
location	Location code for the item
auctionMin	Minimum price to be used at auction
auctionReserve	Reserve price to be used at auction
purchaseCost	Item cost
purchaseDate	Date item was purchased
status	Item status; is it for sale and in what state. Possible values of this field are: "cool", "deleted", "forsale", "hide ," hide-order", "hold-hide", "hold-show", "inquire", "new", "out-of-stock", "reduced-price", "sale", "sold-hide", "sold-show"
unitMeasure	Unit of measure (used in creating dropdowns)
minQty	Minimum order quantity
qtyPerUnit	Quantity of items per unit
countryOfOrigin	Country of Origin of the item
serialized	Value is '1' if the item is serialized
reorderPoint	Point at which a purchase order should be generated for the item.
MakeVBuy	Indicates whether the item is assembled or purchased.
itemShippingCharge	Contains the item-specific shipping charge. This charge will be added to any other calculated amounts when providing a shipping quote to the customer.
imageFile	This must be a web-accessible image. It can be in the format: ftp://www.whatever.com/imagename.jpg or in the format http://www.whatever/imagename.jpg. If the file is in your incoming directory, you can simply enter its name: "imagename"; the upload program is intelligent enough to look for the .jpg extension.
imageFile2	see notes on imageFile field above; if you want to upload a second image, this parameter must be specified.
imageFile3	see notes on imageFile field above; if you want to upload a third image, this parameter must be specified.
imageFile4	see notes on imageFile field above; if you want to upload a fourth image, this parameter must be specified.
imageFile5	see notes on imageFile field above; if you want to upload a fifth image, this parameter must be specified.
imageFile6	see notes on imageFile field above; if you want to upload a sixth image, this parameter must be specified.
imageFile7	see notes on imageFile field above; if you want to upload a seventh image, this parameter must be specified.
imageFile8	see notes on imageFile field above; if you want to upload a eighth image, this parameter must be specified.
required not available for update

About images: You may also include the addresses of up to four images, but for the upload program to work, the images must be accessible with the ftp or http protocol. This means that they must be on a machine capable of serving them to the server where your store is located. It will not work to have them on your desktop unless your desktop is also a web server.

If your images are not accessible over the Internet, you can still upload and add the images after the fact. There are two methods

To add images from your desktop by browsing: simply use the inventory management module to change the item and browse to find the images you want for each item. When you press the update button at the bottom of the maintenance page, the images will be copied from your desktop and published to that item.

Processing the Upload

1. elect the menu option for 'Batch Upload/Update' from the inventory menu. You will see a list of fields in a format like a spreadsheet. This shows the contents of the field description file that the system will use to process your upload. correctly describes your data file; coordinate this with support.

2. Click the 'browse' button and locate the file you want to upload on your desktop. Then click the 'Load from .csv file' buttion to execute the upload.

3. After uploading the data, the system will automatically update your site.

Does This Sound Too Complicated?

Frankly, this is not an option that is for everyone. If the description above seems reasonable, then this feature may be a good choice for you. But if the preceding made your eyes glaze over or caused you to moan 'I HATE computers' or 'WHY is this so COMPLICATED?', then we'd like to respectfully suggest that you contact support, explain what you are trying to do and see if there is another way to meet your business needs! The TIAS software is very powerful and there is a very good chance that there is another (and possibly simpler) way to do what you need to.

End of help on this topic

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