Catalog Upload - Common Fields
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    Catalog Upload - Common Fields

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    Article Summary

    This topic provides the details for the common fields included in full or delta catalog common fields uploads. A sample csv template is included in addition to detail on multi-lingual fields.

    See Documentation Topics: 

    Catalog Templates

    Catalog Files - Detailed Description

    Self-Service Catalog Management Overview

    Common Fields Mapped to Product Details Page

    BuyerQuest Catalog Upload and Document Statuses

    Overview

    Catalog uploads of common fields files may be full or delta.

    A Full Common Fields Catalog Upload replaces all the product records in the system for a supplier. Product records already in the system for that supplier prior to the Full Common Fields Upload are disabled. 

    A supplier's disabled products in the system will be enabled when they are included in a Full Common Fields Catalog Upload

    A delta upload allows supplier import of common fields for new products or products needing updates for fields in the common fields import, as detailed in this topic.

    The Importer accepts ZIP files as well as single CSV Files. In the event that more than one CSV file is contained in the ZIP, the first file will be used to generate the metadata. Rest of the files will than be read in as if they were part of the same file. All CSV files in ZIP must contain the exact same header rows.

    Common Fields Upload Template

    CommonFieldsSample10.8.csv

    Common Fields Support for Catalog-Based Pricing

    The Common Fields Catalog file supports multiple prices for the same SKU. Different prices may be associated with different catalogs.  

    When a SKU has more than one price and is thus included in more than one catalog, the common fields file will include a separate line for each price, as described below. 

    Users are shown the pricing for the catalog mapped to their Content Group. When a User has access to multiple catalogs, the lowest price is displayed. 

    The following use cases illustrate scenarios for catalog-based pricing. 

    Use CaseSKUPriceCatalogResult
    1 SKU, 1 catalog1231.00 USSKU "123" will be uploaded to catalog "US". If the product was tied to different catalogsit will be removed from those catalogs and will be associated to the catalog "US"
    1 SKU, Multiple catalogs1231.00EU|NASKU "123" will be uploaded to catalog "EU" and "NA". If the product was tied to different catalogsit will be removed from those catalogs and will be associated to the catalog "EU" and "NA"
    1 SKU, No catalog1231.00NULLIf no value is specified for 'catalogs', SKU "123" will be uploaded to the lowest Catalog ID. If the product was tied to different catalogsit will be removed from those catalogs and will be associated to the the lowest Catalog ID.
     
    1 SKU, 2 prices, Multiple catalogs
    requires multiple rows in the Common Fields file, one for each unique price/catalog combination 
    1231.50USSKU "123" will be uploaded to catalog  US with the price of $1.00"EU" and "NA". If the product was tied to different catalogsit will be removed from those other catalogs.
     1232.00HI|AKSKU "123" will be uploaded to catalog "HI" and "AK" with the price of 2.00.
     1233.00NYSKU "123" will be uploaded to catalog "NY" with the price of 3.00.

    Delta Uploads

    For delta uploads, all fields except SKU are optional, allowing uploads of files of partial data -- consisting only of data fields needing o be updated.  

    For delta uploads of partial data, the recommended best practice for a delta partial upload is to include only the columns that need to be updated. 

    If a required column exists in the partial upload and is empty, the upload will fail.

    If an optional column exists in the partial upload and is empty, the value is replaced by the default value for the field. 

    If the catalog column is not included or is NULL, the price should be updated for all active catalogs for the SKU. 

    SKUs are handled as described below for the common fields delta file import: 

    • If a SKU does not exist in the system, the SKU is created only if all the columns and values are present as required for a record in a full import. 
    • If a SKU does exist in the system, the product will be updated with the values for the SKU for each of the fields included. If a field is not included, the value should remain as is. Validations for data included are the same as for a full upload.
    • If validation fails for any field value, the entire row is skipped with a message.

    For details on catalog validations, see the Documentation TopicCatalog Upload Status and Validation Reports. 

    Catalogs Field and Delta Uploads

    For delta uploads of Common Fields, the table below describes the results for a few key scenarios. 

    Use CaseSKUcatalogResult
    1 SKU, 1 catalog123 USSKU "123" will be uploaded to catalog "US". If the product was tied to different catalogsit will be removed from those catalogs and will be associated to the catalog "US"
    1 SKU, Multiple catalogs123EU|NASKU "123" will be uploaded to catalog "EU" and "NA". If the product was tied to different catalogsit will be removed from those catalogs and will be associated to the catalog "EU" and "NA"
    1 SKU, No catalog123NULLIf no value is specified for 'catalogs', SKU "123" will be uploaded to the lowest Catalog ID. If the product was tied to different catalogsit will be removed from those catalogs and will be associated to the the lowest Catalog ID.
     

    Common Fields Details

    Column Name

    DescriptionRequired
    Max Length

    Sample Value

    sku

    This is the Supplier's Part Number
     
     Use the part number that your customer would search for.
     
     The same SKU may be associated with different price/catalog combinations. The SKU may be repeated for each combination. 

    Yes

    40

    ABC123

    name

    This is the Name of the product to be listed in the catalog
     
     The name should be descriptive, but short. Include descriptors after the name separated by commas. The name will be truncated to 256 characters on import if it is longer than 256 characters. 

    Yes

    256

    Ball Point Pens, Black, Box of 12

    short_description

    This is the Short Description of the product. If the short description is longer than 256 characters, it will be truncated to that length on import.
     
      

    Yes

    255

    Smooth feeling of a gel pen with a quick drying, super bold ink.

    long_description

    This is the Long Description of the product
     
     Use HTML to format bold, italic, bullets, colors, etc. 

    Yes

    No limit

    Retractable ballpoint pens each feature a bold-point tip, ensuring powerful lines and rich color that is sure to make your handwriting stand out. You'll never again have to worry about wishy-washy lines or weak ink that fades off the page.

    image

    The Product image (a picture, photo or schematic)
     
     Specific filename for an image of the product or HTTPS URL. Ideally in the form of SKU.jpg. 

    No

    N/A

    ABC123.jpg

    manufacturer

    This is the Manufacturer of the product. ( if this is the same as the supplier, then simply enter supplier's name)

    Yes

    No Limit

    Acme

    mfg_part_num

    This is the Manufacturer's Part Number (if this is the same as the supplier, then simply enter the part number again)

    Yes

    40

    XYZ789

    unspsc

    This is the products valid United Nations Standard Products and Services Code as an 8 or 10-digit value

    Yes

    10

    11223344

    uom

    This is the Unit of Measured associated with the product.
     Not case sensitive.
      

    Yes

    4

    EA

    currency

    This is the Currency that is used

    Yes

    3

    USD

    lead_time

    This is the Lead Time in number of business days

    No
      

    255

    5

    list_price

    This is the Supplier's list (pre-contact) price
     
     It must be 0 or higher. It is recommended to exclude leading dollar signs. Decimal points should be used instead of commas.
     
     Multiple list_price values may be included, each associated with a different catalog.

    Yes

    2 Decimal Places

    1.99

    contract_price

    This is the Customer's contract price
     
     It must be 0 or higher. It is recommended to exclude leading dollar signs. Decimal points should be used instead of commas.
     
     Multiple contract_price values may be included, each associated with a different catalog.

    Yes

    2 Decimal Places

    1.54

    quantity_increments

    This is the fixed quantity increment that the Product should be purchased in

    No

    4 Decimal Places

    2

    minimum_quantity

    This is the minimum quantity that must be purchased at one time for this Product

    No

    4 Decimal Places

    5

    max_quantity

    This is the maximum quantity that must be purchased at one time for this Product

    No

    4 Decimal Places

    12

    name_<store view>

    This is the Name of the product to be listed in the catalog followed by the storeview code which represents the language code.
     
     <store view> should be in the format <language code>_<region code>.
      

    No

    40

    Big stylo bleu

    short_description_<store view>

    This is the Short Description of the product followed by the storeview code which represents the language code.
     
     <store view> should be in the format <language code>_<region code>

    No

    255

    Ceci est une excellente plume

    long_description_<store view>

    This is the long Description of the product followed by the storeview code which represents the language code.
     
     <store view> should be in the format <language code>_<region code>

    No

    No limit

    Ceci est un grand stylo bleu

    service_type

     

     

    This field helps us to distinguish between a product and a service

    No

    N/A

    0 or 1 ,'0' (Product) and '1' (Service)
     
     Defaulted to 0 if no value present 

    is_qty_decimal

    Indicates whether quantities are allowed to be decimal

    No

    N/A

    0 (No) or 1 (Yes)
     
     Defaulted to 0 if no value present

    in_stock

    indicates whether the product is in stock, out of stock, available by quote only, or back ordered

    No

     

    0 (No), 1 (Yes),  2 (Available by Quote Only) or 3 (Back Ordered) 

    catalogs

    catalog code for each catalog allows suppliers to specify the catalog(s) the product is associated with and to upload multiple catalogs.
     
     All the catalogs a product is associated with must be listed.
     
     Each unique price/catalog combination requires a separate line in the file.
     
    For a product new to the system: If no value is specified for this field, the product will be associated with the default catalog, which is the lowest catalog ID.
     
    For an existing product: The existing catalog value in the system is not changed.
      

    No

    255

    US
     SA|ZZ|NA

    linked_sku

    SKUs of the items that are being linked to the product (the parent item). Multiple SKU values should be delimited by the vertical bar (pipe).
     
     Validation of linked SKUs occurs after the common fields file is approved. The validation process for linked_sku confirms that the SKU of the linked item exists in the system for that supplier.
     
     SKU values not existing in the system or for non-simple items are skipped.
     
     New products being created which will also be associated as linked products should be added to the top of the file so they are created before they are linked. 

    No

    N/A

    ABC123

    display_start_date

    date that product status is Enabled and product is displayed

    No

     

    01/01/2020

    display_end_date

    date product status is Disabled and product is not displayed

    No

     

    03/31/2020

    status

    product status is
     0 (disabled)
     null or 1 (enabled)
      

    No

     

    1

    visibility

    specifies the visibility of the product
     catalog search is default 

    No

    N/A

    catalog
     catalog search
     not visible
      

    Note

    Non-keyboard characters should be avoided, such as: ®, ™, ½, “curly quotes”, etc. If a non-keyboard character is needed, the html character encoding should be used, such as  &reg; for a registration mark.

    Linked product associations created by the import will show the association as created by Supplier in the Manage Products Grid.

    Common Fields Validation and Change Reports

    The table below provides details on the validation and change reports generated based on file status. 

    Generation of reports applies to both Full and Delta uploads. 

    File StatusReason (If Status is Failed)Validation Report CreatedChange Report CreatedNotes
    FailedA file of the same type is being processed by the System   
    FailedFile failed validationY  
    FailedFile was not approvedYY 
    FailedFile failed to be updated due to system issuesY  
    Processed Successfully YY (file will be empty)File is processed successfully, but is a duplicate of a previously loaded catalog, hence no changes are made.
    Processed Successfully YYThis is the main "success" use case.

    Multi-lingual Common Fields

    Multi-lingual product information is enabled by a Common Fields upload. There are three values that are modified for additional languages in the Common Fields file:

    • name
    • short_description
    • long_description

    These language-specific columns are added at the end of the common fields file. There is no limit to the number of language specific columns that can be added.

    Example - French Store View

    name_<store view code> = name_fr_FR 

    Short description  = short_description_fr_Fr

    Long description = long_description_fr_FR

    Note
    An Administrator is able to change these multilingual columns directly from the Admin Control Panel at CATALOGS > Manage Products.

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