How Does Importing Work?

Importing is the process of taking information from a spreadsheet, database or text file and bringing it into Actinic. The most common use of this is for importing products, but other types of data are available to import.

There are two types of importing:

·      Flat File - This is a standard import from a spreadsheet or table, and is the one that most people use. This is talked about below, and a guide to the 'Import Wizard' is in Importing From A Standard Spreadsheet.

·      Hierarchical - A hierarchical file is generated when you do an export from Actinic (see Exporting Store Data). Information about importing a hierarchical file can he found in What Is A Hierarchical File?.

Preparing for An Import

Actinic cannot import directly from Excel files or Access files etc. Actinic can only import text files. Therefore, the first thing you will need to do is to save your existing data as a text file. The most common sort of text file is a 'CSV - Comma Delimited'. The spreadsheet program you are using should have a 'Save As' or 'Export' option, and one of the formats you will be able to save your data as is a 'CSV' (with an extension of '*.csv').

You will also need to ensure that your data will map correctly into Actinic. There are a few things that are worth noting:

·      Use a 'header row' to include your column headings in the first row. This makes the import process a lot easier. A guide to all the field headings used by Actinic is in Valid Fields For Importing.

·      All prices must be in lowest denominator of currency (e.g. £21.50 must be shown as 2150)

·      The filename given for an image must point to a real file, and it must give Actinic information about where to find these images.  Either:

o  Use a full directory path to the image (e.g. 'C:\My Documents\image.gif')

o  Use a path that is relative to the current working directory (normally 'Site1'). For example, 'images\picture.gif' will point to an image called 'picture.gif' within a subfolder in 'Site1' called 'images'.

·      If you want to import a double quote symbol (") you will need to enter it twice in order for it to import correctly (e.g.

Slimline 17"" monitor).

·      If you want to supply your own product references with the import, make sure Actinic is not generating its own product references. See Product References for more.

For information about importing the data into Actinic, go to Importing From A Standard Spreadsheet.

Creating A Sections And Sub-Sections With An Import

You can have a field in your import file for importing the section for the product to appear in. The default Actinic name for this field is 'Section Text'. Just enter a section name into the field.

The 'pipe' symbol (|) can be used to create subsections (e.g. 'Office Supplies|Stationery') will create a section called 'Office Supplies' and a sub-section within that called 'Stationery'. You can create sub-sections to any depth using this method (e.g. 'Films | Hollywood Films | Blockbusters')

You can use an asterisk (*) as a 'wild-card' to stand in for a chunk of the section hierarchy in the store. Actinic will match the first section name after the asterisk with a section that has been created in a previous row. For example:

Section text	Product Text	Price
Films	Brief Encounter	1106
Films | Hollywood Films	Bringing Up Baby	1106
*|Hollywood Films|Blockbusters	Pearl Harbour	1106

For information about importing the data into Actinic, go to Importing From A Standard Spreadsheet.

Example Files

There are some example files within the 'Common' folder (in your site folder) to show you what an import file looks like. These are:

·      SampleFlatImportFile.csv - This shows the structure for importing the default content tree structure, where Actinic will be auto-generating product references. See Product References.

·      SampleFlatImportFileRefs.csv - This shows the structure for importing the default content tree structure, where the file supplies its own product references.

·      SampleFlatImportFileStock.csv - This shows the structure for importing just product references and stock levels. This is used for an update (see Updating Existing Products Via An Import).