The iMerchant FillZ interface allows seamless integration with FillZ inventory system with minimal configuration.
The interface provides two functions, preparing inventory to send to the FillZ system and importing orders that sold via the FillZ markets.
Data is exchanged with FillZ via a secure FTP connection.
The process can be run manually or automatically via the windows task scheduler.
Set Up
The FillZ interface is accessible via the iMerchant menu bar Interfaces option.
This opens a form that contains a tab page.
The default tab, “Status”, displays information about the last interactions with FIllZ.
The “Selection/Mapping” tab contains the various settings necessary to configure the process.
The FillZ export is usually a subset of the entire [i]merchant inventory.
The “Query Used to select entries to send” field on the “Selection/Mapping” tab allows the user to create a product query that defines the products to be exported.
iMerchant keeps track of when the last export occurred and will only include items from the selection list that have changed since the last export.
The last export date and time is displayed on the Status tab. The last export date can be cleared, forcing a complete update of items by using the “Edit”, “Clear Last Extract Date” menu selection.
If changes are made to the selection rule, the last extract date should be cleared to insure all products are posted on the FillZ system.
The status tab also shows the last file sent to FillZ as well as the last time orders were received and processed.
The other “Selection/Mapping” fields include an ftp parameter containing the credentials needed to send and receive files. The ftp login user and password is not the same user and password used when logging into the FillZ web site.
The following FIllZ Document outlines the steps needed to create a secure FTP account for sending data: http://amzn.to/2opfmQE
The Send/Receive folder is the location where the files to be created and received from FillZ will reside.
If the FIllZ interface is to be used on multiple machines this should be a shared folder accessible to all PCs.
The lower portion of the tab contains a “Selection/Mapping” section.
This mapping tells the export process which iMerchant fields should be sent to FillZ.
The special setting of “{nothing}” tells iMerchant to not send that field to FillZ.
Import/Export
The import and export functions can be run on demand via the FillZ menu selection on the Interfaces menu.
The Create and Send Inventory selection will create a file in the FillZ folder. This can be a long running process depending on the amount of data being extracted.
Once the file has been created, the file will be sent to FillZ via FTP.
The inventory export file is moved to a subfolder called “Sent” after being sent to FillZ.
The Receive and Process Orders selection will retrieve the Orders_Created files from the FillZ ftp site.
Once the files have been received, each order file in the FillZ Folder will be processed.
The import process takes each product in the order file and posts the sale. This updates the on hand amount and records the sales information as an imported sale.
After an order file is processed, the file is moved to a folder called “Imported” in the FillZ folder.
The results of an import or export process are recorded to a log file in the C:\ComputacApps\Logs folder with a file name beginning “FillZInterface”.
The file will contain detailed information about the process, record any problems, and indicate which records were in error. A condensed error is also recorded in the standard iMerchant error log.
The FTP menu selection of the FillZ Interface program provides options to perform each step of the process individually.
Scheduling Automatic Updates
The import and export functions can be scheduled for automatic execution via the Windows Task Scheduler.
Add the program imFillZInterface.exe to the scheduler with the desired execution schedule.
The task should be scheduled so that it does not begin execution before the previous session has completed.
The imFillZInterface.exe program will receive new orders from the FillZ ftp site and process all the orders.
Once the orders have been processed, the export process will be run and an export file will be created and sent.
The program will be run using the iMerchant user saved under:
Tools > Options > General tab > User For Batch Mode Processing setting.
The results and error report are emailed if the Email Alert settings are configured.
The imFillZInterface.exe program can be configured to exclude the import or the export process using the command line arguments “import=n” or “export=n”.
This allows the import and export processes to be run on separate schedules.
Miscellaneous
All data being exported to FillZ is validated on the FillZ system.
Check the FillZ documentation, and make sure the iMerchant field being sent conforms to the requirements.
To insure valid data is always exported use an iMerchant “code” field when mapping to FillZ fields that have value constraints.
The parameter’s description is exported so set the description as the required FillZ value.
Maintenance
The files created and received are not automatically deleted by iMerchant.
Periodically the old files should be removed from the FillZ Sent and Imported folders.
The “FillZInterface” log files should also be removed from the C:\ComputacApps\Logs folder.