ETIM-Mapper - User Guide

ETIM-Mapper 8.7 User Guide

Basic information
Two versions (suppliers and wholesalers)
User types
Languages
Files
- Import
- Templates
- Export
- Export links
- Disk space
Products
Configuration
Administration
Settings
Filtering

Simulation

Basic information

ETIM-Mapper is a SaaS (Software as a Service) application licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. It can be accessed by users via a web browser. ETIM-Mapper currently suports the latest versions of Chrome, Opera, Firefox and Microsoft Edge.

Two versions (suppliers and wholesalers)

ETIM-Mapper is available in two versions:

for suppliers/producers,
for wholesalers.

The version for wholesalers, in addition to the functionalities available for suppliers, enables the handling of products assigned to different suppliers. For this reason, three additional variables are used:

"Supplier" – unique identifier of supplier/manufacturer,
"Product ID by supplier" – unique identifier of a product by supplier,
"Product name by supplier" – short, concise product description by the supplier,
"Alt. product ID by supplier" – additional identifier of the product by the supplier.

In the further part of the document, descriptions referring to the wholesaler’s version will be indicated. All descriptions without explicit distinction refer to both versions.

User types

There are the following types of users:

user – regular GUI user; a user can only have one active session at a time; logging in to another browser will automatically close the previous session.
API user – user of the programming interface; access to applications for this type of user is limited to the declared IP address and has restrictions on the number of processed requests.
manager – in addition to the features of a regular GUI user, the manager has the permission to manage the rights of other users.
regional manager – this kind of user has the right to set up and manage accounts for regional companies (suppliers or wholesalers).

Languages

ETIM-Mapper is multilingual. This applies to the following independent aspects of the application:

user interface – all GUI elements like: menus, options, messages, etc. are displayed in the language selected from those available for the account. The list of available user interface languages: pl, en, de, fr, hu, no, cs, ru, el, nl, it, es, da, fi, sv, uk, lt, lv, et, ro, pt, tr.
product description – all language-dependent elements of the product description, such as: name, description, keywords, etc., can be entered in languages configured for the given account. The list of available product description languages: pl, en, de, fr, hu, no, cs, ru, el, nl, it, es, da, fi, sv, uk, lt, lv, et, ro, pt, tr.
ETIM classification – class names, features and values can be displayed in language selected from those available for the given account. The list of available ETIM classification languages: pl, en, de, fr, no, ru, nl, it, es, da, fi, sv, lt, pt. You must confirm the right to use the official language versions of the ETIM or provide your own translation of the ETIM. The official ETIM translations in different languages may differ in scope (not all ETIM sectors are used in different languages). If no translation is available in a particular language, the English version is displayed.

The ETIM-Mapper documentation is only available in English (no documentation language versions, even with the user interface language selected).

Import[Files / Import]

To speed up data transfer and to avoid problems with uploading large files (over 64MB) it is recommended to import compressed (zipped) files.

Excel file

In practice, classification is performed most often based on the existing files containing the list of products, such as price lists. Except for prices, these files usually contain values of some basic parameters that must be assigned to the appropriate parameters required by the ETIM standard.

To start the classification work, such a list of products should be transformed into an Excel template (see below) and imported to the classification software. For example, if you know in advance the ETIM description of your products, you can generate the import templates (Excel files) for the corresponding ETIM class or classes. ETIM templates contain the structure of the ETIM classes with all required features and values to be used within this class. In this way, the whole ETIM classification can be prepared in Excel templates and then the template files filled with the product data can be imported into the classification software. It is the easiest and recommended way, under the condition that you know in advance the ETIM description of your products.

In the same way, it is possible to generate an Excel file with product information, such as: general, ordering, packaging, pricing, MIME, SEO, WWW or related product information and ETIM class codes.

The usage of the ETIM-Mapper template allows also to import all product data used internally in the ETIM-Mapper application, such as additional technical description, labels, attributes, relations by attribute, suppliers (only for wholesalers), categories, category trees or user-defined completeness mask.

The identifiers are stored as a text, so it is recommended that they are provided as text when importing (the numerical values should be preceded by an apostrophe). Importing identifiers which are numbers is potentially risky because conversion from numbers to text is done. This can result in modification of the identifier, e.g. insignificant zeros are omitted (leading or ending on fractional decimal positions), comma used in some countries as a decimal separator is converted to dot, thousandth separators are omitted, etc.

All incorrect information is omitted during the import process, for example, values with incorrect header names, incorrect codes of ETIM classes, features or values, etc.

To see how to generate Excel template files, go to the next section.

BMEcat file

If you have previously classified product information in the BMEcat format (supported files in BMEcat version 2005), it is possible to import the whole classification automatically.

Selection of imported elements

Before launching the import, it is possible to select the categories of information to be imported. In this case, only selected categories of information will be imported - under the condition that they are present in the imported file. Some categories of information (e.g. labels) are not present in the BMEcat file, so in the case of selecting this type of information while importing the BMEcat file will have no effect.

Import modes

In the case of new products (not existing in the database) the following modes are available:

add – new products will be added.
skip – new products will be skipped.

For the import of products existing already in the database (duplicate handling) the following modes are available:

merge – imported product fields will be overwritten, the other fields will remain unchanged.
complete – existing product fields will remain unchanged.
skip – existing products will be skipped, only new products will be imported.

For the safety reason, the "merge" import can be done in two different ways, concerning the handling of empty values:

empty fields do not overwrite existing values – the behavior of the application depends on the nature of the imported elements in the following way:

for single elements or single containers - importing of empty field values is transparent (the existing field values are preserved).
for the multiple elements (keywords, special product status, remarks, country branch number, country branch supplier ID, territory) - only non-empty values are taking into consideration (imported non-empty value or values will replace all the existing values).
for the multiple containers (packaging, price, MIME) - only non-empty imported containers will overwrite the appropriate containers according to their number and order. For example, the first non-empty container will overwrite the first existing container. If however, you intend to modify the information concerning the third container, you should import three non-empty containers (the first two – such as they were before without any change) and the third, with the modified values. In this option, there is no possibility to delete containers (all empty containers will be ignored).

empty fields overwrite existing values – the behavior of the application depends on the nature of the imported elements in the following way:

for single elements or single containers - importing of empty field values will delete the corresponding existing values.
for the multiple elements (keywords, special product status, remarks, country branch number, country branch supplier ID, territory) every imported value (even empty) will delete or replace the corresponding existing value.
for the multiple containers (packaging, price, MIME) imported containers will overwrite the appropriate containers according to their number and order. For example, if you are going to change only the information of the first container, simply import one container. If however, you intend to modify the information concerning the third container, you should import three containers (the first two – such as they were before without any change) and the third, with the modified values. Note also, that if you delete any container, the order of all containers following the deleted one, will be re-numerated, for example, if you delete the first container (importing all empty container elements is equal to erasing the container) the second container becomes the first, the third container becomes the second and so on.

Restriction of imported products to the identifiers indicated in the csv file (optional)

This option allows you to limit imported products to those indicated in the csv auxiliary file. The auxiliary file should contain one column with product identifiers to be taken into account in the import. When using this option, only products that are present in both: the input and the auxiliary files will be taken into account, other products will be omitted.

This option is disabled by default. It can be activated in "Settings / Import" page.

Import of supplier's files (only wholesalers)

It is possible to import files of an indicated supplier. In the "Files / Import" form a supplier corresponding to the imported file should be selected (important: the supplier has to be earlier defined in the "Settings / Suppliers" page; only defined suppliers are available in the import form). When importing a BMEcat or Excel file with the selected supplier then:

the main product identifier (SUPPLIER_PID in BMEcat file or "Product ID" in Excel file) is stored as "Product ID by supplier",
the product name (DESCRIPTION_SHORT in BMEcat file or "Product name" in Excel file) is stored as "Product name" and "Product name by supplier",
the alternative product ID (SUPPLIER_ALT_PID in BMEcat file or "Alt. product ID" in Excel file) is stored as "Alt. product ID by supplier".

In the case of duplicate values of the "Product ID by supplier" field, the application merges products. For new products, the value of the "Product ID" field is automatically generated as a concatenation of supplier identifier, "_" (underscore) and "Product ID by supplier" (the application ensures that there are no duplicates of the "Product ID" field).

Import of own (distributor's) files (only wholesalers)

When importing a BMEcat file without a selected supplier, all products are imported as distributor products and the fields "Supplier", "Product ID by supplier", "Product name by supplier" and "Alt. product ID by supplier" are empty, meaning "no data". In the case of importing Excel files without a selected supplier, all products are imported as distributor products. In comparison to the supplier's Excel file, the distributor’s own Excel file can contain four additional fields: "Supplier" (an existing in ETIM-Mapper supplier identifier), "Product ID by supplier", "Product name by supplier" and "Alt. product ID by supplier". In the case of duplicate values of the "Product ID" field, the application merges products. The application takes care of the uniqueness of the field pair: ("Supplier", "Product ID by supplier").

Templates[Files / Templates]

ETIM-Mapper templates are Excel files containing the structure for managing the whole information about products and their classification. They allow to prepare any data information in Excel and then to import it into ETIM-Mapper. It is possible to choose which type of product information should be included in the template. The Excel templates are structured in sheets containing different types of information:

Products – this sheet contains the structured BMEcat information of the following groups: "General", "ETIM" (class code), "Order", "Packing", "Price", "MIME_MDxx", "SEO", "WWW" and "Related products". It can also contain the information about additional (user-defined) product attributes and the assignment of product to categories/labels. This Excel sheet is common for all products, regardless of ETIM classification. The first column should contain identifiers of products (column named "Product ID"). The first row indicates the group of product information. The second row contains the exact name of the information in each group. Other rows should be filled with values corresponding to products.
ECxxxxxx – separate Excel sheet for every ETIM class (EC). The generated template file contains a separate Excel sheet for each requested ETIM class. Because each ETIM class can have a different number of features, there is a two-rows header on each sheet, indicating the meaning of every column corresponding to features. The features (EF) required by ETIM for the given class are displayed in the second row of the header (each feature in a separate column) and a list of possible values (EV) that can be used in each column is displayed in the first row.
Add. technical description – this Excel sheet can be used to assign any additional and unclassified technical information (beyond ETIM) to products. Such technical information should be structured in rows, containing the technical parameters, that could be useful for ETIM classification. Every row of the additional technical information should contain a product ID (in the first column), followed by pairs: name and value (in separate cells) for each parameter.
Labels – Excel sheet used to define labels. The allowed values for letter and color (as well as their default values) are given in the first line of the worksheet.
Attributes – Excel sheet used to define additional attributes. Acceptable, as well as default values for columns that have them, are given in the first line of the worksheet.
Relations by attribute – used to assign products to relations by attribute. Every row represents one relation by attribute and should consist of: an identifier of the relation (in the first column), followed by the identifier of the global attribute (used in relation), name of the relation (in languages available for the user) and finally by the identifiers of related products (every product ID in separate column).
Suppliers (only wholesalers) – Excel sheet used to define suppliers.
Category trees – this sheet contains the following columns (defined in the first row): "Category tree identifier", "Parent category identifier" and "Category identifier"; these columns are followed by columns corresponding to names of categories in languages available for the user and then by one column corresponding to identifiers of attributes (separated by commas) that are assigned to the category tree or the categories. In this sheet, it is also possible to provide SEO attributes that can be used for positioning pages for particular product categories, as well as descriptions that can be directly used on WWW pages dedicated to these product categories.
User-defined completeness mask – used to import user-defined completeness mask. It is possible to set the weight of ETIM class, mandatory language(s) and BMEcat/attribute/ETIM fields. The weight of ETIM class is counted in the number of ETIM features, for example, "0 EF" means that ETIM class has no value, "2 EF" means that ETIM class is counted as 2 ETIM features. All mandatory fields should be listed in the appropriate column, according to their scope and settings (+/-). To start modifying the user-defined mask, we recommend to export the current mask and modify the default settings.
Info – this worksheet is added by default to every generated template and to each Excel product information file. The “Info” worksheet contains the information about the version of the ETIM-Mapper application, used to generate a file as well as a lists of acceptable values that can be used for the product description.

Important: when importing product information from Excel templates, the names of the Excel sheets must be preserved; sheets with different names will be omitted.

Export[Files / Export]

The default values of all export settings can be customized in the "Settings / Export" page. All files are exported in a compressed form (zipped).

Product data (BMEcat 2005 ETIM)

It is the default format for product data exchange, recommended by ETIM International. The following export options are available here:

Filter – possibility to export only products that satisfy the defined filter condition.
ETIM version – products are exported by default in the current version of the ETIM. You can select previous ETIM versions (only classes, features, and values, which exist also in the current version of ETIM will be exported).
Version of "Guidelines" – the current version of the guidelines is set by default. For compatibility reasons, you can select a previous version of the guidelines.
Languages – only selected at this point language versions of products will be exported (it concerns elements like name, description long, keywords, etc.).
Default language – the default language is placed in the header file BMEcat and identifies the main language of the BMEcat file.
Exported price territories – the exported file will contain prices that conform to territories given in this field. Eg. if the territories for the specific price of the product is set to EN, DE, FR, while the export option is set to EN, FR, IT, the price will be exported with the territory EN, FR (the common part of price setting and export setting).
Prices without territories – the exported file will contain prices without territories (no territory assigned to the price).
Default price territories – default territories for prices without territory explicitly set (mandatory field required in the header of the BMEcat file).
Default price currency – default currency for prices without currency explicitly set (mandatory field required in the header of the BMEcat file).
Identifier of the catalog – catalog identifier (information placed in the header of the BMEcat file).
Version of the catalog – catalog version (information placed in the header of the BMEcat file).
Name of the catalog – catalog name (information placed in the header of the BMEcat file).
Identifier of the buyer – identifier of the receiver of the catalog (information placed in the header of the BMEcat file).
GLN number of the buyer – GLN number of the receiver of the catalog (information placed in the header of the BMEcat file).
Name of the buyer – the name of the receiver of the catalog (information placed in the header of the BMEcat file).
Filename – the name of the exported file (the timestamp is always added to the name).

Product data (Excel)

It is the auxiliary product data exchange format used for the export/import of all product data in ETIM-Mapper. The following export options are available here:

Filter – possibility to export only products that satisfy the defined filter condition.
Exported elements (product description values) – user can select what kind of product data information should be exported to an Excel file:
- General – general product information (identifiers, descriptions, codes, numbers, groups, remarks, etc.).
- ETIM class code – ETIM class of the product.
- ETIM – detailed ETIM classification of products. ETIM classification can be exported in the form of ETIM codes or the form of ETIM description.
- Order – ordering information.
- Packing – multi-level packaging information.
- Price – pricing information.
- MIME – pictures, certificates, declarations, etc.
- Additional attributes – additional (user-defined) product attributes.
- Additional technical description – additional and unclassified technical information (beyond ETIM) assigned to products.
- SEO – product information that can be useful for positioning pages for a particular product.
- WWW – product description that can be directly used on product-related WWW pages.
- Related products – products being in a relationship with the source product.
- Categories – product categories.
- Labels – product labels.
- Measures of the product description completeness – percentage indicators of product information completeness for every mask and category tree. Measures for masks (general and user-defined) consist of: 1 overall indicator ("Total") and 7 indicators for each category of information ("General", "ETIM", "Order", "Packing", "Price", "MIME" and "Attributes"). Measures for category trees consist of 1 indicator based on the required attributes.
- Data on modification and creation of products – details of the product modification and creation: the date and user making the modification in each category of product information and the date and user who created the product.
Exported elements (definitions) – user can select what kind of definitions should be exported to an Excel file:
- Labels – list/definition of labels currently available on the account.
- Attributes – list/definition of attributes currently available on the account.
- Relations by attribute – all relations are listed containing their identifiers, names, an identifier of the attribute, and a list of the identifiers of the related products.
- Suppliers (only wholesalers) – list/definition of suppliers currently available on the account.
- Category trees – a full structure of category trees.
- Completeness mask (user-defined) – settings of required ETIM features and BMEcat/attribute fields taken into the user-defined measure of the completeness.
ETIM codes/descriptions (optional) – this option is available only if "ETIM" is chosen in "Exported elements (product description values)". Depending on the user’s choice, either ETIM codes or ETIM descriptions are exported for classes, features, and values.
Language of ETIM description (optional) – this option is available only if "ETIM" is chosen in "Exported elements (product description values)". In this case, ETIM headers, classes, features, and values are exported in the form of ETIM names in a chosen language.
Exported MIME codes (optional) – this option is available only if "MIME" is chosen in "Exported elements (product description values)". It is possible to select multiple MIME codes. Only the MIME elements of the selected codes will be exported.
Exported languages – if a multilingual product description is available for your account, you can choose one or more languages to be exported.
Filename – the name of the exported file (the timestamp is always added to the name).

System product cards (PDF, up to 200 products)

You can export the product description in the form of a PDF file (system product cards). The cards are generated according to the system product card settings (for more information read the section "Settings / System product cards"). The following export options are available here:

Filter – possibility to export only products that satisfy the defined filter condition.
Language of the product description – the products are exported only in one selected here language version.
Filename – the name of the exported file (the timestamp is always added to the name).

Local product cards (PDF, up to 200 products)

You can export the product description in the form of a PDF file (local product cards). The cards are generated according to the local product card settings (for more information read the section "Settings / Local product cards"). The following export options are available here:

Filter – possibility to export only products that satisfy the defined filter condition.
Language of the product description – the products are exported only in one selected here language version.
Filename – the name of the exported file (the timestamp is always added to the name).

Create a link to the current export

You can create an "export link" to the current export form. You can distribute such a link to the data receiver, instead of sending him a catalog file. The receiver will be able to download your file (no log in needed) according to the selected export settings. All generated export links are available in the "Files / Export links" page.

Export of products (only wholesalers)

All products are exported as the distributor's products. It is not possible to execute any export for an indicated product supplier (the distributor becomes a new supplier of the exported product data). In the case of BMEcat export, products are exported without any information about the previous supplier – the fields "Supplier", "Product ID by supplier", "Product name by supplier" and "Alt. product ID by supplier" are not exported, because they are not part of the BMEcat structure. However, in the case of Excel file export, the fields "Supplier", "Product ID by supplier", "Product name by supplier" and "Alt. product ID by supplier" are exported in the corresponding columns.

Export links[Files / Export links]

User can view, edit and delete defined export links. Export links can be used by data receivers to download files without having to log on to the application. Export links can be created on the page: "Files / Export".

Disk space[Files / Disk space]

User can place MIME files (photos, drawings, certificates, index cards, etc.) available for customers.

All products[Products / All products]

This page contains a list of all the products loaded for classification.

It allows you to filter products: you can use a set of filters for each column. The filter can be saved (button "Save filter") – in this way, the list of products "seen" by a particular user will be limited to products that meet the criteria set in the filter. You can define several filters, but only one of them can be active. You can sort the products by a particular column or delete the selected product from the list.

The displayed columns can be arranged according to the user's needs. It is possible to hide/unhide columns as well as change their order. Just select the option "Arrangement of columns" from menu, then click on the desired column to hide/unhide it or drag and drop the columns in order you want them to be displayed. At least two primary columns in this view ("Product ID" and "Product name") must remain visible and cannot be hidden.

You can also choose the order in which the columns are displayed: just select the option "Arrangement of columns" from menu, then drag and drop column names in order you want them to be displayed.

To delete product(s), select the product(s) to remove and choose the option "Remove products" from menu.

Group modification for multiple products is possible for certain features. To collectively modify such parameters of selected products, you must:

expand the modification bar (select the option "Modify in groups" from menu),
select the products,
enter the corresponding values for the columns to be modified (columns for which values are modified are highlighted in blue),
click the button on the modification bar.

This screen offers also a possibility to:

add a new product manually (icon ) – you only need to provide its unique identifier; the remaining elements of the description should be completed in the "Edit product" view or by the import.
create a new product based on an existing one by cloning it (select the option "Clone product" from menu) – it is required to provide only a unique identifier of the new product; the other elements are copied from the original.
export product data of selected products – after selecting the products choose "Files / Export" from the main menu.

There are other functionalities available (from menu) for selected products:

"Add cards" – you can complete the product description by adding product cards generated by the application to the MIME elements (as MD22).
"Link by attribute" – selected products can be related by global attribute; to accomplish the relation by attribute for the selected product the user should select the relation attribute and then indicate an existing relation or create a new relation by attribute, giving its identifier and name in language(s) available for the account.
"Add submission" – add a submission related to the selected product.

Products by ETIM[Products / Products by ETIM]

A list of classified products is available on this page. Products are grouped according to the ETIM classification. A list of products classified in a single class helps to check the correctness of filling of individual parameters of every product.

This view allows you to sort, filter, selectively delete products or globally modify parameters of selected products.

To delete product(s), select the product(s) to remove and choose the option "Remove products" from menu.

To collectively modify parameters of selected products, you must:

expand the modification bar (select the option "Modify in groups" from menu),
select the products,
enter the corresponding values for the columns to be modified (columns for which values are modified are highlighted in blue),
click the button on the modification bar.

By default, all ETIM features are displayed. Anyway, you can modify this view by choosing the ETIM features (columns) to be displayed: just select the option "Arrangement of columns" from menu, then click on the selected column names to hide them or make them visible again.

Products by categories[Products / Products by categories]

Products can be accessed by the category trees. After selecting a category tree it is possible to navigate in its structure, seeing all subcategories or products assigned to the current category.

ETIM-Mapper allows assigning products at all levels of the category-tree structure (not only at the leaves-level).

Products for synchronization[Products / Products for synchronization]

In this view, the user can set the range (scope) of the selected synchronization and trigger it for selected products between the current account (source) and target account (target).

Only products having at least one synchronization label are visible here. If any synchronization is set by the administrator (configuration of source-target relation between accounts), the synchronization label is created and available in the source account. Synchronization labels can be attributed to products that are subject to synchronization.

Migration ETIMv7/ETIMv8[Products / Migration ETIMv7/ETIMv8]

On this page, there is a list of classified products, affected by the migration. They are called "products for approval". The following changes in the classification of products are shown:

ETIM class change – a remapping of ETIM class is shown in the format: "ETIMv7 class ➤ ETIMv8 class" (for example, class of version 7 is not present in version 8),
deleted feature within the class – such features are shown as "dimmed" on the screen,
a new feature within the class – such features are highlighted in green,
deleted value of alphanumeric feature – such values are marked in red,
a new value of the alphanumeric features – such values are marked in green (selection box has a green frame).

In the case of non-unique mappings (when a deleted class has multiple successors), the product is migrated to the best-fitting class, and alternative successors are listed after the selected class.

The user can filter products and modify values globally for multiple products (button on the modification bar) and approve its migration (select the option "Confirm the migration" from menu). In this way, the modification and the approval of all migrated products can be done in one place.

All the products approved by the user are no longer visible on this page. It is recommended to review and approve all products affected by the migration. To verify the initial number of products for approval, select the option "Initial list" from menu.

Edit product

Click the icon on the left of the product (on each "Products" view) to open its modification view. The view consists of the following tabs:

General – possibility to add, modify or remove general information of the product.
ETIM – here you can select the class, appropriate to the selected product. Finding the appropriate class is a difficult task, even for a small number of products. Therefore, the software has a mechanism suggesting the possible ETIM classes, appropriate for the selected product on the base of his name and imported information. Displaying classes can be sorted or limited by a filter. When the appropriate class is selected for the product, all the characteristics (features) required by this ETIM class are displayed. The user’s job is to provide appropriate values for each feature. For missing/empty values it is possible to indicate the reason, by choosing either:
- not applicable (NA) – if the feature doesn’t apply to the current product,
- unknown (UN) – if the value is not delivered by the supplier/manufacturer.
Any useful technical information that may be helpful for the ETIM classification can be imported from the Excel file as an additional technical description. This information can be automatically or manually associated with the technical features required by the ETIM class of the product. In this way, the application "learns" by associating additional technical description to the ETIM features, so the next time (for the next product of the same class) the corresponding values can be automatically suggested. The values suggested by the application are indicated by a grey/blue/yellow background (for more information read the section "Settings / ETIM classification"). Suggestions can be turned on/off. All fields which are automatically filled in the classification process must be accepted by the user.
Order – possibility to modify ordering information of the product.
Packing – possibility to add, modify or remove packing information of the product.
Price – possibility to add, modify or remove pricing information of the product.
MIME – possibility to add, modify and delete photos, datasheets, and product safety cards. The MIME items are displayed in the order of the MIME codes; in the case of several items with the same code, it is possible to set any of them as the first (click on the icon ).
Attributes – possibility to add, modify or remove additional attributes of the product (for more information read the section "Configuration / Attributes").
Additional technical description – possibility to add, modify or remove entries of product additional technical description.
SEO – possibility to enter data to improve the positioning in search engines results.
WWW – possibility to enter information to facilitate and enrich the presentation of product information on websites.
Related products – displays all related products with their identifier, name, relation type and quantity. Every relation can be modified or deleted. The relation is a part of the ETIM/BMEcat standard.
Relations by attribute – displays all existing relations by attribute (group of products related by an indicated global attribute). You can assign the current product to any of these relations or remove it if it is already there. The relation is out of the ETIM/BMEcat standard (for more information read the section "Configuration / Relations by attribute").
Categories – possibility to assign the product to the categories (for more information read the section "Configuration / Category trees").
Description completeness – displays all elements taken into account for the product description completeness. The measure of product description completeness is related to the default or user-defined completeness mask. However, it can also be related to the category tree. If any category tree has been previously defined, it is possible to change the display of the completeness measure for the selected tree. In this case, the attributes required for the category tree are taken into account.
Labels – possibility to mark the product with previously defined labels (for more information read the section "Configuration / Labels").
Local product card – displays the selected information about the product in the chosen language (for more information read the section "Settings / Local product cards").

Description completeness[Products / Description completeness]

This page shows the total average product description completeness.

Since products may differ in the total number of elements of the product description (a number of characteristics depending on ETIM class; a number of attributes; a number of multiple elements), the total completeness of the product description is calculated as a weighted average of the respective product description groups. The following percentage share of product information groups was assumed:

General - 15%,
ETIM - 20%,
Order - 15%,
Packing - 15%,
Price - 15%,
MIME - 15%,
Attributes - 5%.

By default, the measure of product description completeness is related to the default or user-defined completeness mask. In each case, the average completeness description is shown also in every information group. The product description completeness can be calculated and displayed also concerning the previously defined category trees.

The product description completeness can be calculated for all products (it is the option by default - no filter selected) or for selected products (a previously defined filter should be used).

Besides the numerical completeness indicators, bar charts are showing the distribution of products in a few groups of the description completeness:

0%,
1%-20%,
21%-40%,
41%-60%,
61%-80%,
81%-99%,
100%.

This product distribution can be helpful to improve and monitor the product description completeness for the selected point of view: completeness mask or category trees, for all or filtered products.

Wholesalers accounts that support multiple suppliers can generate statistics by individual suppliers. In order to generate such a report, in the field "Report type" you should select option "per supplier".

Labels[Configuration / Labels]

User can view, modify or delete labels. Labels can be used for visual indication of products, filtering or grouping. If an existing label is deleted, it is removed from all products marked with it. Some labels can be marked as "favorites" (by clicking on the icon ). The favorite labels always appear first, making them easier to find when you have a large number of labels in use.

Filters[Configuration / Filters]

User can view, rename, delete or activate defined product filters. Some filters can be marked as "favorites" (by clicking on the icon ). The favorite filters always appear first, making them easier to find when you have a large number of filters in use.

Attributes[Configuration / Attributes]

User can define, modify or delete product attributes.

The attribute can be defined as:

additional attribute (alphanumeric, numeric or logical),
BMEcat attribute,
ETIM feature.

For each additional attribute, an additional field is created for every product. If the attribute is BMEcat field or ETIM feature, no extra field is created (for BMEcat fields – all products have them, for ETIM features - the product should have it if it is classified in the right class). In this case, the attribute is considered as an "extra requirement" for e-commerce filtering purposes.

Each attribute can be assigned to:

category tree as the attribute required for each product which belongs to at least one category of this tree.
category as the attribute required for each product which belongs to this category.

When creating an additional attribute, it is possible to choose whether it is global or not:

a global additional attribute is visible (in the "Attributes" tab in the "Edit product" view) for all products (additionally, it is possible to indicate whether the global attribute will be synchronized).
a non-global additional attribute is visible (in the "Attributes" tab in the "Edit product" view) only for products that are assigned to the appropriate categories (which have this attribute indicated as required).

Attributes that are BMEcat fields or ETIM features are always treated as global attributes.

It is also possible to set the importance of the attribute (used for example by e-commerce system). The importance can be set as a numerical value within the range: 0-9.

Relations by attribute[Configuration / Relations by attribute]

User can view/create/modify the relations by attribute. All existing relations by attribute are listed here with their identifiers, names, grouping attribute and related products. User can add a new relation or modify the existing relation(s). To add a new relation it is necessary to select one of the global attributes as the grouping attribute, add a relation identifier and enter the name(s) of the relation. Once the relation is created it appears on the list of relations. Here, there are two buttons to modify the relations by attribute: one for basic modification (grouping attribute, identifier or name) and the second to assign product(s) to the relation by indicating/searching their identifiers.

It is also possible to add a virtual product to the relation by attribute. A virtual product is a concept used to represent a group of similar products that differ in only one parameter (e.g. color, size). All virtual products have a system label "Virtual" (letter V in the gray circle). An existing virtual product can be added to the relation or a new virtual product can be created and added to the current relation by copying one of the products already present in the relation - in such case all fields of the source product are copied into the new virtual product, except the labels and the grouping attribute (the grouping attribute in the virtual product should be empty; only real products should have it assigned).

Removing a virtual product from a relationship does not remove it from the product database.

Suppliers (only wholesalers)[Configuration / Suppliers]

Allows wholesalers to manage the information concerning the product data suppliers. When a user creates a supplier, a unique alphanumeric identifier must be assigned to the supplier. This identifier is then used for referencing a supplier in ETIM-Mapper (for example in import options).

Category trees[Configuration / Category trees]

This setting option allows us to define or modify category trees to be able to assign a product to categories.

To create a category tree it is necessary to give a unique identifier. Optionally, it is possible also to define a tree name (in every language available for the user). Then, it is possible to define a hierarchy of categories by giving their identifiers and names. Categories can be nested (every category can have one or more subcategories). It is possible to cut (remove) categories or subcategories together with the whole branch or move it into another place in the category tree (important: cutting a category or subcategory removes all the assignments of product for the removed branch).

Every product attribute can be assigned to:

category tree as required for all products belonging to this tree.
category as required for all products belonging to this category.

These attributes are the basis for calculating the measure of product description completeness from the category tree point of view.

Category trees can be also imported and exported via Excel files or API.

Overview (only regional managers)[Administration / Overview]

The regional manager can view here the data of:

users (GUI/API) corresponding to the regional companies he has established,
regional supplier companies,
regional wholesaler companies.

Logs (only regional managers)[Administration / Logs]

The regional manager can view here the system logs for:

product operations,
relations by attribute operations,
category tree operations,
user-defined completeness mask operations,
synchronization trigger operations.

API (only regional managers)[Administration / API]

The regional manager can view here the API request statistics (broken down by the request type: "GET", "PUT", "DELETE") made by API users during the last seven days.

Companies (only regional managers)[Administration / Companies]

Here, the regional manager can create/edit/delete companies in his region and create/edit/delete GUI and API users.

Management (only managers)[Administration / Management]

In the application, we distinguish between a user (regular) and a manager (has permission to manage the rights of regular users). A manager can grant or withdraw rights to ordinary users, but only within its own rights (e.g. he cannot grant or withdraw rights he doesn't have himself). It cannot also make another user a manager (only the master administrator has such rights). In addition to GUI user management, the manager can also manage API user rights (if only such users have been created in the account).

Submissions[Administration / Submissions]

The application allows you to report issues concerning the operation of the application or product description.

Every submission contains user (author), type of report (products/application/other), title, status (open/closed), creation date, closing date, and discussion (entries added by users or administrators).

It is possible to sort/filter submissions by status, submission type, author, submission title, creation date, closing date, last entry date.

For submissions concerning products, it is possible to indicate the products concerned by the submission.

New notifications are indicated to other users by dots placed in the menu. Dots are also visible next to new notifications or notifications to which a new entry has been added (next to the column "Last entry"). After entering/reading such a submission the dot indicative will disappear from this submission. Once you have read all the entries, the dots also disappear from the menu item ("Administration / Submissions").

It is possible to add submissions of "products" type directly from the product list. After selecting the products (up to 5 products can be selected), the "Add submission" option must be selected. This creates a new submission of "products" type with pre-selected products. The remaining fields in the form must be completed manually.

Account[Settings / Account]

User can edit the account settings. Besides, user can see here his rights/permissions to different functionalities, assigned to him by the administrator.

Company[Settings / Company]

User can edit the information concerning his company.

ETIM classification[Settings / ETIM classification]

User can personalize here the settings corresponding to ETIM classification, such as ETIM classification language (the language in which the ETIM classification is processed and displayed), display settings or settings for automatic suggestion rules. Suggestion rules provide hints at different levels of trust:

"similarity" matches coming from the previous classifications (rules and hints are displayed in grey),
exact matches (rules and hints are displayed in blue),
fuzzy matches (rules and hints are displayed in yellow).

Every suggestion rule can be activated or deactivated, and it is also possible to set the priority of the rules - by setting their order (using the drag-and-drop method).

Import[Settings / Import]

User can edit default values for all import options.

Export[Settings / Export]

User can edit default values for all export options.

Synchronizations[Settings / Synchronizations]

User can edit default values for all options of product synchronizations.

Synchronization triggers[Settings / Synchronization triggers]

Possibility of defining synchronization triggers. For each synchronization trigger, a configuration is defined and saved. Defined synchronization triggers can be started via API or scheduled for an auto-start time.

Completeness mask[Settings / Completeness mask]

User can choose here the mask of product description completeness (default or user-defined) and view/edit the settings of the masks. Mandatory fields determined by the current completeness mask are marked in bold in the application.

The default mask is based on all ETIM features and all BMEcat fields that are mandatory in at least one country. The view of the default completeness mask is "read-only" (user can only see mandatory fields).

The user-defined mask, however, is available in the "read/write" mode. This mask is an alternative to the default completeness mask. It allows us to selectively indicate the required ETIM features and BMEcat/attribute fields. It is also possible to set the weight for the ETIM class, select the languages and indicate the MIME types taken into the measure of the completeness:

attribution of the ETIM class for a product can be considered as a part of ETIM description and counted in the number of ETIM features (for example, "0 EF" means that ETIM class has no value, "2 EF" means that ETIM class is counted as 2 ETIM features),
if multiple product description languages are enabled for a user account, it is possible to indicate which language(s) should be taken into the measure of the completeness,
for MIME files, it is possible to indicate what type of MIME should be counted; a user can choose among following groups of MIME:
- any image of the product (MD01, MD02, MD23-MD30, MD47),
- product card (MD22),
- product picture MD01 (MD01).

There is a possibility to copy the default mask settings to the user-defined mask, using the corresponding buttons.

System product card[Settings / System product card]

Allows to personalize the contents of the system product card by selecting the elements (fields) to be visible on the product card. System product cards are used to present information about the products to be seen by people downloading information directly from the system. A link to the system product card allows you to download a product card generated on-line, containing current product information. Settings of the system product card are common for the whole company account (changes made by one user are visible for another user of the same company). System product cards can be exported as external links.

Local product card[Settings / Local product card]

Allows to personalize the contents of the local product card by selecting the elements (fields) to be visible on the product card. Local product cards allow the user to select and present only product information that is visible to him (only the user can generate a product card according to local settings). The local card settings are individual for each user (changes made by one user are not visible for other users). Local product cards cannot be exported as external links.

Public products[Settings / Public products]

Allows for basic settings regarding the display of public products (products with the label "Public" that are visible to non-logged-in users). The settings concern the language in which the information is displayed and the number of products on the page. The link to the page of public products is also given, as well as the current number of public products. In the public products view there is a link to the system product card (online, pdf).

Important: information about public products is refreshed automatically once a day. If necessary, the refresh can also be triggered manually (button available for logged-in users on the public products page).

Filtering with wildcards

Wildcards can be used in filters for matching string values, allowing any character or group of characters in a string to be considered as a match for another string. "Filtering with wildcards" can be enabled on the "Settings / Account" page.

In the "wildcards mode" four characters can be used for such purpose:

? (question mark) as a single character wildcard.
* (asterisk) as a multiple character wildcard.
^ (caret) for matching the beginning of a string.
$ (dollar) for matching the end of a string.

Example:

AB?123 matches ABA123, SABB123, ABC1234, etc.
AX*Z matches AX321oiuXYZ, AX_ZR, BAX000ZR, etc.
^ABC matches ABCDE, while ^BC doesn’t match ABCDE.
CDE$ matches ABCDE, while CD$ doesn’t match ABCDE.

If the name you want to filter contains one of the wildcards, you need to switch to the default mode of filtering (no escape character is available for wildcards).

Filtering with empty values

It is possible to filter products with specific values by typing the filtered phrase into the input text field, but it is also possible to filter product having empty values by clicking the icon placed next to the input text field. The default icon changes to the icon meaning the empty values (only products with empty values for the selected field will be displayed). If you click on this icon once again, the filtering of empty values will be disabled and the shape of the icon will change to again.

Filtering of ETIM values

In the "Products / Products by ETIM" and "Products / Migration ETIMv7/ETIMv8" views products can be filtered as usual by typing the filtered phrase into the input text field, but it is also possible to filter products having: empty values, not applicable (NA) or unknown (UN) values by clicking the icon placed next to the input text field. Subsequent clicks on this icon change its form and meaning. The form and meaning of this icon are changed in the following cycle:

icon signifies that the special filtering is disabled.
icon signifies filtering by an empty value.
icon signifies filtering by values that don't apply to products.
icon signifies filtering by values marked as "unknown".

Simulation of product import

The import simulation is designed to provide information about the changes that would be caused by this operation. This option is available for users with appropriate permissions.

Input data and settings are the same as for a normal import. Similar operations are also carried out (writing to the database according to import settings), but the result of their operation is saved in a temporary location and on these temporary results an export for comparative analysis is carried out about the current data in the database.

The simulation results are placed in the following files:

report.txt – summary of the import settings and the summary of the import results: the number of imported, created, modified, classified, reclassified and declassified products.
products_before.xlsx – current product data from the database, corresponding to imported products.
products_after.xlsx – product data after simulated import (both files "products_before.xlsx" and "products_after.xlsx" are structured and sorted to enable a comparison using Spreadsheet Compare software).
products_compare.xlsx – comparison of single product data fields before and after the simulated import (no multiple fields are subject to this comparison, so the file will be empty if only multiple fields were selected to be imported); the structure of the file allows it to be used directly for import (e.g. to make some selective/partial import).

Simulation of product synchronization

The simulation of product synchronization is designed to provide information about the changes that would be caused by this operation. This option is available for users with appropriate permissions.

Source products and settings are selected in the same way as for a normal synchronization. Similar operations are also carried out (writing to the database according to the synchronization settings), but the result of their operation is saved in a temporary location and on these temporary results an export for comparative analysis is carried out about the current data in the database.