Maintain details for an external catalog (form)

Article
10/09/2018

Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

Click Procurement and sourcing > Common > Catalogs > External catalogs. On the External catalogs list page, open the configuration for an external vendor's catalog. Alternatively, on the Action Pane, on the External catalog tab, click External catalog to create a new configuration for an external vendor's catalog.

Use this form to set up the configuration data, such as the destination URL and session properties, that is used to access an external vendor's catalog site. You can set up the configuration data in Microsoft Dynamics AX. Then, on the external vendor's catalog site, you can add a link to your procurement categories and procurement catalogs.

Tasks that use this form

Set up an external vendor catalog

Key tasks: Maintain external vendor catalogs

Navigating the form

The following tables provide descriptions for the controls in this form.

Tabs (Action Pane)

Tab	Description
External catalog	Add or edit configuration data for an external vendor's catalog, and activate or inactivate access to the catalog. You can also attach an image file for the vendor, so that the image can be displayed on the procurement site.

Tabs (lower pane)

Tab	Description
General	Enter general information about the external vendor's catalog site. This information includes the name and description of the catalog, and the legal entities in which the vendor is allowed to provide products. You can also enter the name and description in other languages, and select the settings for quotations from the vendor. You also specify whether employees complete orders on the external vendor's catalog site, or whether the employees must return to the shopping cart on the Microsoft Dynamics AX procurement site to create a purchase requisition.
Remote production site settings	Enter the site settings, shopping protocol, session properties, and other information that is used to access the external vendor's production environment for the catalog site. You can also validate the settings. The vendor can provide much of the information that you enter on this tab.
Remote staging site settings	Enter the settings for the staging site for the external vendor's catalog. You use the staging site to test the access settings for the vendor's catalog. You can also validate the settings before you make the external vendor's catalog available in the production environment. The vendor can provide much of the information that you enter on this tab.
Procurement category mapping	Add procurement categories to the external vendor's catalog. Note Before you can add the procurement categories to an external vendor's catalog, the procurement category hierarchy must be defined for your organization. Additionally, the external vendor's catalog must be added to the selected procurement category.

Buttons (Action Pane)

Button	Description
Activate catalog	Set the status of the external vendor's catalog to Active. The catalog can then be added a procurement catalog. You can set an external vendor's catalog to a status of Active before you have completed the configuration. However, you must complete and validate the configuration of the external vendor's catalog before the catalog can be added to the procurement site.
Inactivate catalog	Prevent users from accessing the external vendor's catalog from the procurement catalog. However, the external vendor's catalog is not deleted from the External catalog list page.
External catalog image	Open the Document handling form, where you can attach the image that you want to appear on the procurement site for the external vendor's catalog. For example, the image can depict the vendor's logo.
External catalog	Open the Maintain details for an external catalog form, where you can set up permissions for a new external vendor catalog.

Buttons (lower pane)

Button	Description
Add	Add the procurement categories to the external vendor's catalog.
Remove	Remove the procurement categories from the external vendor's catalog.
Validate settings	Test the accessibility of the external vendor's catalog site in the vendor's staging environment. You use the test to verify that you have correctly set up the data that is used to access the remote catalog. You can also test the accessibility of the external vendor's catalog site in the vendor's production environment. You use this test to verify that you can open the vendor's catalog site. Note When you view the external vendor's catalog site during validation, you cannot order items and services from the vendor. To order items and service, you must access the vendor's catalog site through Enterprise Portal for Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Add

Add the procurement categories to the external vendor's catalog.

Remove

Remove the procurement categories from the external vendor's catalog.

Validate settings

Test the accessibility of the external vendor's catalog site in the vendor's staging environment. You use the test to verify that you have correctly set up the data that is used to access the remote catalog.

You can also test the accessibility of the external vendor's catalog site in the vendor's production environment. You use this test to verify that you can open the vendor's catalog site.

Note

When you view the external vendor's catalog site during validation, you cannot order items and services from the vendor. To order items and service, you must access the vendor's catalog site through Enterprise Portal for Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Fields

Field	Description
Name	Enter the name of the external vendor's catalog as you want the name to appear on the procurement site.
Type	Select the type of catalog that you are configuring for the external vendor. The following options are available: External with shopping cart – Users must return to their shopping cart on the procurement site in Microsoft Dynamics AX to check out and create a purchase requisition. External without shopping cart – Users must check out and complete their transaction on the external vendor's catalog site.
Open new browser window	Select whether you want the external vendor's catalog site to be displayed in a separate browser window.
Effective on	Select the first date on which users can access the external vendor's catalog.
Expires on	Select the last date on which users can access the external vendor's catalog.
Catalog status	Select a status to indicate whether the external vendor's catalog can be added to the procurement catalog. Only catalogs that have a status of Active are available to users on the procurement site.
Owner	Select the user who is responsible for adding and maintaining configuration data for the external vendor's catalog.
Vendor contact	Select the vendor contact for the external vendor's catalog.
Legal entities:	The legal entities in which the external vendor is authorized to provide products. Select the check box next to each authorized legal entity where users can access the external vendor's catalog site. A vendor may provide products in multiple legal entities. However, only some of those legal entities may allow users to request products directly from the vendor's catalog.
Default expiration (Days)	View or enter the number of days that a quotation from the external vendor is valid. A quotation that is created and retrieved from the vendor's catalog site is valid from the current system date. The quotation is valid until the current system date plus the number that you enter in this field.
Supports quantity changes	A selected check box indicates that the external vendor allows the quantity in a purchase orders to differ from the quantity that was quoted on the vendor's catalog site.
Supports individual item deletion	A selected check box indicates that the external vendor allows users to delete a single line item from a purchase order. The users do not have to delete all line items that were included in the original quotation from the vendor.
Call method	Select the call method that Microsoft Dynamics AX uses to access the external vendor's catalog site. The following options are available: Post Get
Content type	Select the content format that is used on the external vendor's catalog site.
Return URL key	Enter the return URL key. The return URL key is used to return a user from the external vendor's catalog site to the user's procurement site. This field only applies if the configuration of the external vendor's catalog has a type of External with shopping cart.
Destination URL	Enter the Internet address that the external vendor provided for the vendor's catalog site.
Order status check URL	If the external vendor provides a catalog site where users can check the status of their orders, enter the Internet address of the vendor's catalog site.
Name of protocol	Select the message format that Microsoft Dynamics AX uses to connect to the external vendor's catalog site.
Key name	Select any additional data that must be included in the initial session request to connect to the external vendor's catalog site. You can use this field to define the data that the vendor requires before users can access the vendor's catalog site. For example, this data can be a password or a user name.
Value	Enter the value that must be entered for each required key name that the external vendor provided.
Category name	Select the procurement categories that you want to add to the external vendor's catalog.
Search text	Enter any keywords that users can use to search for this external vendor's catalog on the procurement site. You can enter multiple values in a single field, but you must separate the values by commas or semicolons.