Channel Input
Channel Input imports information into one of your selected Channels as overrides. It can either directly import from a remote connection through an API protocol, or a remote FTP site or you can upload a .cvs, text, or excel file manually.
To set this up, please follow these steps;
- Navigate to Tools> DX Channel from the navigation menu on the left pane.
- Click “+ Add DX Channel” on the top right of the screen.
- Choose the provider for the Channel Input and then give the name you want to use for the DX Channel then hit the “Create” button.
Configure Channel Settings
The channel settings need to be correctly set up. To do this, navigate to Settings then choose Data Exchange first, to adjust main settings for this DX channel:
- Channel name is the Channel’s display name that was provided earlier,
- Enable or Disable Channel; Enable, turns on FTP or HTTP import operation, and this requires connection settings to be completed. Also, a file can be manually uploaded through the Upload File button, which doesn’t require any connection settings. When enabled, the channel’s indicator turns to green.
- Enable Daily schedule will set up a time, which StoreAutomator will connect to the import channel and download data daily.
- Action for Missing Items tells StoreAutomator what to do in case there are missing items in the incoming feed (in comparison to the StoreAutomator inventory); it is either do nothing or Assign a zero quantity to those items in StoreAutomator inventory,
- Target Channel sets up the Target channel you would like to download the information to. If you don’t select a channel operation will not execute,
- Make sure to click on the Save button to save your work, and the system takes you back to the list of DX Channels.
Template
Next, template assignment is required to make sense out of the incoming data. Click on Template to assign a template for the channel, which defines the incoming file format and assigns fields to StoreAutomator native fields. Before enabling the connection, a template must be assigned. Click on “Add” to create one. You can refer to this article, on how to create a template and to this article to decide which template is appropriate for your purposes.
Generic Input Templates and DxChannels
Below Templates can be used for Channel input:
- Channel: Channel Descriptions: For importing description related fields,
- Channel: Channel Inclusions: For importing channel-related fields,
- Channel: Channel Products: For importing all fields of products, use this one,
- Channel: Repricer Settings: For importing Price related fields,
Tools > Dx Channels > Settings > Template
If your file does not have headers that is not a problem, in StoreAutomator you can define headers by using parameters, %0, %1,... and assign them to the correct product field. In the below example, the first column(%0) is assigned to the SKU field, and the second column (%1) is assigned to the quantity field.
Manually uploading a File
Click on Upload File and choose from your computer’s file manager or drag and drop a file for immediate processing, in this case the data file is being uploaded manually and a remote connection setup is not required.
Tools > DX Channels > Settings> Upload File
Connection Settings
To obtain data from a remote source, connection settings must be completed; click the settings button and click on connection settings, to choose from FTP or HTTP protocol depending on your system setup. For FTP type, an FTP connection must be added to Settings>Connections prior to the selection in this menu or you can click on the Edit Connections button to easily navigate to the “Add a Connection” page. After setting up and selecting the correct FTP site, your Target directory for Channel Input purposes and its Archive Directory must be entered. If API connection is being used, you can enter your URL address to the textbox in the HTTP connection tab. Before enabling the connection, FTP or HTTP connection settings must be completed and saved.
After a successful connection to the remote source, the connection must be enabled by switching the sync switch to “enabled”, which is located at Settings>Data exchange:
If StoreAutomator can establish a connection link with the remote channel, an orange square can be seen next to the channel name; this turns into a green square when the Sync switch is enabled (Settings>Data Exchange). If there is missing information and a connection cannot be established, a red square is visible; you must go back and correct connection information at this point.
Results
StoreAutomator performs jobs at the designated times. Source file will be sought, and if found, the job will be performed. Whether a manual upload or an automated job is completed, StoreAutomator will create a job report after processing the feed, which can be found in, Tools> Import> Import History>System Imports.