Importing a CSV Catalog File

A comma-separated values (CSV) catalog file contains product data, but does not contain catalog schema. The products are not organized into categories, and all the products in a CSV catalog file are mapped to a single product definition. The CSV catalog file must have a product identifier and a price column. CSV catalog files only contain stand-alone products, and do not support product variants. The string data type is the only data type supported by a CSV catalog file. For more information about string data types, contact your system administrator.

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 to create categories and add products to the categories.

To import a CSV catalog file

1. In Catalogs, click Catalog Editor.
   
   
2. In the Catalogs screen, click on the toolbar, and then select Import CSV from the drop-down list.
   
   
3. In the Import CSV Catalog dialog box, do the following:

   Use this	To do this
   File name	Type the complete path and file name for the catalog you want to import or, if the file is in the CommerceCatalogs share on your server, type only the name of the file.  For example, type SportsCatalog.csv if this file is in the CommerceCatalogs share on your server. If the file is in any other folder, you must type the full file name and path to the catalog you want to import, for example, type C:\CatalogsforBusiness\SportsCatalogs.csv.
   Catalog name	Type a 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.
   Price column	Type the name of the price column.
   Delete any existing data in this catalog	If you are importing a catalog that already exists in your Commerce Server database, select this check box to delete the catalog data from the existing catalog before importing the new version.

   
   
4. Click OK.

Notes

• 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.
  
  
• To find the status of the import, ask your system administrator to check the Event Viewer. If there was a problem with the import process, an error will be listed in the Application Log of the viewer. If the import process is successful, the catalog appears in the Catalog Editor list.

See Also

About Catalogs

Importing an XML Catalog File

Adding a Category to a Catalog

Adding a Product to a Catalog