WebSphere Product Center allows you to create catalogs customized for any internal or external destination. The catalogs can be automatically published to customers, partners, and print catalogs, or to a corporate website. The following sections describe the method used to distribute or publish product information to any destination.
- Export Overview
- Prepare catalog for export
- Create export
- Run an export
- Managing exports
Exports are created to distribute or publish product information to the customers (internal or external). With WebSphere Product Center's flexible architecture, businesses can connect to multiple marketplaces with multiple catalogs, using a single repository of data.
Using WebSphere Product Center's Export Console, the following tasks are performed:
- Export catalogs into any format
- Publish variances
- Publish subsets of content
- Merge destination-specific data and standard information
Export Console Columns
Type
Icon indicating the type of syndication, refer to Export Console Icons section
Name
Name of the Export job
Catalog Items
The name of the catalog and group of items that are to by syndicated
Version
The version of the catalog that is to be syndicated
Mapping
View/edit the mapping characteristics between the catalog spec and the destination spec
Destination Spec
Name of the destination spec
File Type
The name of the Catalog Export script used and parameter values set.
Hierarchy
The name of the hierarchy used, click to view or edit.
Job Info
Detailed information on the syndication job. View the job's run time, status, warnings, and a list of generated files.
Approval
If approval is needed before syndication, the status appears in this column as accepted or rejected
Alerts
If an alert has been configured for the syndication, it appears in this column
Destination
The syndication's destination mode
The following sections describe the items that are needed before a catalog can be setup for an export. Although several items can be performed through the wizard for setting up an export, it is beneficial to have the items prepared beforehand to simplify the setup process.
Destination Spec
When an export job is created in WebSphere Product Center, a destination spec is needed to define the exact requirements of the destination file. Similar to a file spec or primary spec, each node of the destination spec is defined with attributes. During the data export, the destination spec will generate a file that adheres to a set of predefined requirements.
Item Selection
The Export component of the Data Model Manager allows for the basic selections of a group of items from a catalog to be pushed to a specific destination. The basic selection includes the catalog, catalog version, and the hierarchy used for the export.
Catalog to Destination Map
The Catalog to Destination Specification map is similar to the File to Catalog Map, used for imports, in that it instructs WebSphere Product Center with how the fields in the catalog should be routed. The fields in a catalog are mapped to the fields of the destination file. This mapping must occur for a successful syndication.
Hierarchy
As per the explanation given in the Import chapter, hierarchies are stored separately from catalogs within WebSphere Product Center. This allows the user to view and eventually export a catalog using a hierarchy of their choice.
Destination Mode
A catalog, once exported, can be sent out to multiple destinations for purposes of approval and/or verification. The distribution component of syndication allows a user to select the destinations to where the catalog is to be sent. The catalog can be sent out in the form of an email (in the body of the email) or FTP.
When creating a new export, the "Create New Export" wizard walks through each step for setting up an export, which helps to simplify the complete process.
During each step in the wizard, the following functional buttons are available for use:
Edit
Create New
Select
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Continues to the next step
Returns to the Export console
Setting up an Export
Use the menu path Collaboration Manager > Export > New Export or from the Export Console click the New button, the Destination Upload wizard appears Complete each step of the wizard driven GUI.
1. Export Name - Enter a new name for the export and click Next. Create a name that is unique and can be easily identified.
2. Select a Destination Specification - The specification itself dictates the format, length and necessity of each field of data that will eventually be exported. If needed, the user can click the appropriate buttons to create or edit a destination specification.
3. Select Catalog - Specify the catalog to be exported by selecting any of the previously created catalogs from the "Select Catalog" drop-down field. Typically, the catalog selected for export is targeted to a specific customer. That is, it will only include information that is specific to particular customers.
This information might include data such as pricing, contract effective dates and customer product IDs. Using the catalog to destination specification map, WebSphere Product Center can export data from either a master or child catalog.
4. Select Version - Select the Catalog Version Not only does the user have the opportunity to select the catalog to be exported, they can also select the version of a catalog. WebSphere Product Center automatically saves every version of each catalog that is uploaded and modified. It also creates a new version for a catalog when a feed or an export is run. This feature allows a user to export an older version of the same catalog in the event that, for example, some items were added to a catalog that are not supposed to be sent to a particular customer.
- Latest version - ensures that every time the job is run, the latest product information is exported, including all updates. This selection is "dynamic".
- Any other version - ensures that every time the job is run, the same specific catalog version is exported. This selection is "static".
5. Select Group of Items - Select a basic selection of a group of items from an entire catalog to be pushed to a specific destination. The basic selection includes the catalog, catalog version, and the hierarchy used for syndication. The item selections can be viewed and created through the Item Selection console of the Product Manager module. An example of a selection maybe used to export only a particular product line.
6. Select Hierarchy - This feature allows a user to export each item's categorization within one of the selected catalog's hierarchies. Although selecting the hierarchy itself will determine which categories will be exported, it does not ensure that the categories themselves are sent with the output file. The categories themselves must be included as part of this export's catalog export script. The catalog export script requires configuration of an authorized user and the output file will not include categories unless it has been written into the catalog export script.
7. Select Syndication Type - By selecting the export type, WebSphere Product Center provides the user with the option of selecting whether to syndicate an entire catalog or simply an update to the catalog. This allows the export of catalog variances.
- All items in a version
- Content differences between two specific versions
- Content differences since last syndication
- All images and binary files for items in a version
- Updated images and binary files between two specific versions
- Updated images and binary files since last syndication
If a "differences" export type is selected, select a second version of the catalog to generate a delta against. Differences types include:
- All
- Added
- Deleted
- Modified
- Unchanged
8. Select Catalog to Destination Mapping - Either select an existing mapping or click New to create a new mapping. To create a new mapping (or modify an existing mapping), use the drop-down fields to match each field in the catalog (left column) to match a field in the destination spec (right column).
9. Select charset - Select a Character set to choose the encoding of the outgoing file. This is particularly important when outgoing file contain characters outside the 26 letters of the alphabet and the 10 digits.
The default is Cp1252:Windows Latin-1.
10. Select Distribution - Distributions are designed to permit the notification of individuals inside and outside of the application itself. A distribution is similar to an email alias. Building these sorts of distributions lists within WebSphere Product Center makes it possible to reach people outside of WebSphere Product Center. If needed, create a new distribution mode.
11. Select a Catalog Export Script - Catalog Export scripts are used during an export. They can be used to perform advanced on-the-fly operations on the data held in the catalog before it is actually exported to an output file. The modifications made to the content through the scripting engine at the time of export and are not applied to the catalog but rather simply applied to the output file, as a one-time content modification.
Similar to an import, the export to an external target file can take two forms: either the fields in the catalog map on a one-to-one basis to the external target file, or the fields in the catalog require some modifications before they are exported into the external target file.
All exports require the use of a script. Contrary to imports, selecting a script during export is a mandatory step.
12. Select Approving Authority - Allows the selection of a user who has the responsibility of reviewing the export job and when the job is executed. Choose from a list of system users and click Select.
13. Return to Syndication Console
Once all of the above steps are completed, a message box appears notifying the addition of the export profile to the Export console. Click the back arrow button at the bottom o f the screen to return to the Export Console. The export job is now set up and ready for generation.
After the export job is configured, it can be generated manually or automatically through the Scheduler. If the job is dependent on approval, the approving authority must accept the job before it can be generated.
Manually run an export
To manually execute an export job, do the following:
1. Use the menu path Collaboration Manager > Export > Export Console to view a list of all export jobs.
2. Find the export job to execute. Click on the checkbox located in the leftmost column.
3. Click the GO button. If an approving authority has been set, the export job starts but the file is not exported to the destination until it has been authorized. The status of the export job can be viewed through the Scheduler's Jobs Console, within the Data Model Manager module.
Verifying export progress
While an export is running, clicking on the green animated icon allows a user to review the progress of the export. A progress bar is shown to indicate how much of the export has completed. To interrupt an export, click on the red icon on the left of the export; a confirmation dialog box is displayed.
When an export is completed, the progress bar disappears. A summary is offered to include details such as a hyperlink to all the files that were created during the export and errors/warnings that occurred during the export.
View Output
When an export is generated, it is saved to the Document Store before it is sent to the defined destination. If desired, the results of the generated files can be viewed and printed.
Viewing export results
To view the output results, do the following:
1. From the Export Console, click the status button from the Job Info column, the Schedule Status Information table appears.
2. Click the hyperlink in the Return Value column, the Task Approval Information interface appears with a list of generated files. Each file is hyperlinked and when clicked, a new window opens displaying the file details.
Review export file
Standard exports produce one file entitled 'catalog.out'. This file can be reviewed and saved to a local or network drive.
Reviewing an export file
- To review an export file, click the 'catalog.out' hyperlink from the export results screen and the file opens up in a new browser windwo.
Approve Output
If an approving authority has been assigned to an export job, it must be approved before the job can be executed. From the approver's My Task List, click the Pending Approval icon in the Approval column, the Task Approval Information interface appears. Accept or Reject the export job and provide a reason.
View and Modify Export Components
From the Export console screen, the user is permitted to view and/or modify virtually every component of an export job. The user is allowed to view the list of customers that the catalog is to be sent to, the catalog to marketplace specification mapping and the dates and times that the catalog is scheduled for syndication. The user can modify the catalog being exported by clicking on the catalog name.
Export status
To view the status of an export job, click the schedule button in the Job Info column, the Schedule Status Information appears. Then click the View Details button in the Jobs Information column.
Once a catalog has been executed for export, a user can check the following job details:
- Job information
- Schedule information
- Running Time
- Status of the job
- Return Value
Reviewing export status
To review the job status of an export job, do the following:
- From the Export Console, click the schedule button in the Job Info column. The Schedule Status Information table appears displaying detailed information on the syndication job.
Delete exports
Export jobs can be created and deleted as needed.
Deleting an export
To delete an export job, do the following:
1. From the Export Console, find the syndication job to delete. Click on the checkbox located in the leftmost column.
2. Click the Delete button and the export job is deleted from the console.
If an import or an export runs into problems, hyperlinks to Errors or Warnings are displayed on the job summary.
- Errors are critical problems that prevented the successful processing of an item (i.e. primary key not present or mandatory field not present).
- Warnings are non-critical problems that should not have prevented the successful processing of an item (i.e. field too long).
Sometimes, a job will fail to complete to run and instead of a summary, an error will be displayed. Record precisely in which circumstances the problem occurred and take note of the error message for further analysis.