Importing a CSV Catalog File

Article
11/12/2009

You may want to use comma-separated values (CSV) catalog files, for example, to import data from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. In Microsoft Excel, you can save a spreadsheet as a CSV file.

Note the following characteristics of a CSV file:

A CSV catalog file contains product data, but does not contain catalog definitions.
The products in the CSV file are not organized into categories.
The CSV catalog file must have a product identifier and a price column.
CSV catalog files contain only stand-alone products, and do not support product variants.
The data type string is the only data type supported by a CSV catalog file.

When imported, the products in a CSV catalog file are mapped to a single product definition.

When a CSV catalog file is imported, a product definition is automatically created based on the columns listed in the file. Each product is imported as an instance of the product definition that was automatically created. The product definition is given the same name as the catalog being imported.

After importing a CSV catalog file, you can use the Catalog Editor module to create categories and add products to the categories.

Notes

Your system administrator must start the full-text indexing service (Microsoft Search service) before you can import a catalog into the catalog database.
To import a catalog with product variants, you must use XML to preserve your variants. CSV files do not support product variants.
Importing a catalog with the same name as a product definition will overwrite the original product definition.
You cannot import a catalog that contains a product definition with different properties than an existing product definition of the same name.
After importing a catalog, you or your system administrator should check the Application Event Log on the server for any errors.

To import a CSV catalog file

In Catalogs, click Catalog Editor.
In the Catalogs screen, click on the toolbar, and then select ImportCSV from the drop-down list.

In the Import CSV Catalog dialog box, do the following:

Use this	To do this
Specify a CSV file on the server	Type the name of the CSV catalog file that you want to import. This file must be located on the same computer as Commerce Server.
Specify a locally accessible CSV file	Click Browse to navigate to a CSV catalog file located on your Business Desk client computer. If the catalog is large, the import process will take several minutes to complete. It is much faster to import a catalog that is located on the server.
Language	Select the language to be associated with the imported catalog.
Catalog name	Type a unique name for the imported catalog. This name will also be used for the product definition created during the import process.
Product identifier	Type the name of the identifier column in the CSV file.
Price column	Type the name of the price column in the CSV file.
Delete any existing data in this catalog	If you are importing a catalog that already exists in your Commerce Server catalog database, select this check box to delete the catalog data from the existing catalog before importing the new version.

Click OK.

A message appears stating that the catalog import process has started. The catalog import process may take several minutes, depending on the size of the catalog. During this time, you can use Business Desk to perform other tasks or exit Business Desk.

If you receive a message that the CSV file is not valid, contact your system administrator to determine the problem.
To see the catalog after you import it, click Catalog Editor. This step refreshes the Catalog Editor screen.
To publish the catalog to your Web site, click CatalogEditor, and then click on the toolbar.

For more information about publishing a catalog, see Refreshing and Publishing a Catalog.

Importing a CSV Catalog File

See Also

Additional resources