INTRODUCTION
A data transfer tool establishes a connection to an FTP server to transfer product and order data (see technical integration for further details).
ACCESS TO THE FTP SERVER
Download FTP software (recommendation: FileZilla, a cost-free transfer tool).
Start FileZilla
The FTP connection data will be provided to you by Digitec Galaxus when you create your account:
Server link (sftp://ftp.digitecgalaxus.ch)
Username
Password
Port 22 - if the server link begins with "sftp" (→ encrypted FTP directory), otherwise port 21.
Type FTP connection data in the search mask
To save the connection, open the Site Manager (File → Site Manager) or press the first button on the left in the tooltip bar.
a) | Select «New Site» and type in the desired name. |
b) | Type in the FTP connection data in the «General» tab. |
c) | Click on «Connect» or «OK» to save the entry. In the case of «Connect», you are directly connected to the newly created account. |
FILE-EDITING
File upload
It is possible to drag'n'drop files onto the server or to carry out an automated system upload
The old files must be replaced with the new files each time they are uploaded
Direct file adjustments on the server in the case of xlsx-files
Right-click on the corresponding file
Click on view/edit
Modify the file
Save and confirm that the chosen file is to be overwritten
Add/delete articles
Remove/delete: preferably delete the item(s) from all files (at least price/stock data) by removing the entire line(s) of the item.
One of the files corresponds to the assortment file, which controls the active assortment. Only articles that are listed in the assortment file will be displayed.
Articles that can no longer be supplied must at least be removed from the corresponding file in the next transmission (ideally from all files).Complement/add: if you want to expand the assortment with additional or new items, the information must be updated in all files.
PLEASE NOTE
General requirements for the data structure
No change of file name and no blanks or special characters are allowed
No column fixations
No line breaks in the header
No changes to the file structure (such as column sorting, etc.)
No additional tabs to be inserted
Uniform product identification by ProviderKey (= item number) in the first column, consistent throughout the feed
Remove EoL articles (= End of Life) from the price and stock data list (see "Remove/Delete")
Update frequency of stock data
Transmission frequency at least every 12 hours (optimal: every 2 hours); the stocks are read into the system on a 5-minute basis.
See also How do I improve product availability in the online shop?
Handling of CSV files
If the data feeds are prepared as CSV files ("Comma-Separated Values"), there are some points to consider when updating. Especially if the CSV files are not edited with a conventional text editor, but with Microsoft Excel.
Numeric values: Longer numeric sequences such as ProviderKeys or GTINs are sometimes automatically converted by Excel into a "scientific format" (e.g. 1234567890 becomes 1.24E+08). If a number sequence also contains leading zeros, these are also removed (e.g. 00505 becomes 505). Before uploading the revised data feeds to the FTP server, you must therefore check that the numerical values (especially the ProviderKeys and GTINs) are correctly stored in the CSV file.
UTF-8 encoding: After editing the CSV file, care should be taken to confirm UTF-8 encoding so that the file is not corrupted when saved and that no special characters are displayed that are not wanted.
Formatting: Any formatting done in Excel (e.g. colouring cells) is lost as soon as the CSV file is closed. Also, a CSV file cannot be saved with several worksheets (only the worksheet that is active when saving is retained). In general, the file structure should not be changed when revising the data feeds.
For more information on editing data feeds, see the PDI 3.0 User Guide.
USEFUL LINKS
On the official FileZilla website, you will find detailed documentation on the programme as well as a FAQ section.