Third Dialog Box (Other Options)
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Import: Third Dialog Box (Other Options) |
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Import: Other Options - 3rd Dialog Box - Level 3 and Above Step By Step Procedure (Other Options) For information on the steps leading up to this point: Second Dialog Box
The "Other Options" dialog box (the 3rd Dialog Box in the Import Series) appears when you click on the "Other Options" button in the "Profile" dialog box. The "Other Options" dialog box looks like:
The following explains each of the choices on the "Other Options" dialog box:
Overlap Import Normally when you import, AnyOrder will create new invoices. The data imported will be placed in each of the newly created invoices. This is termed a "Normal Import." However, in some situations you may not want to create new invoices, rather you may want to import data to existing invoices. This is called an "Overlapping Import." In other words, the import overlaps on existing invoices. If you wish to do an Overlapping Import, click the checkbox to turn it on. Note that a "Product Only" Import, in essence, is a type of Overlapping Import. First, you import invoice information and then you follow it up with the product data. Since "Product Only" Import is turned on by another method, don't use it in combination with this feature. To use this feature, you need to have a connecting field between the import file and AnyOrder. The connecting field tells AnyOrder where to place the data from the import file. The connecting field needs to be a unique number or combination of numbers and letters which is found on only on one invoice. For example, let's say the second field in the import file contains the Invoice number 441133. The invoice number is a unique number in AnyOrder; there's only one invoice with the number 441133. To indicate the connecting field in the dialog box you need to use field numbers. If the invoice number is found in the second field of the import file, the field number is 2. You would enter "2" in "Field Number of the Connecting Field in the Import File." The invoice number in AnyOrder is found in the first field. Thus you would enter "1" in "Field Number of the Connecting Field in AnyOrder" You don't have to know the field numbers. You can obtain them from a list which is activated by clicking on the "List" button. Select the connecting field from the list, and the number will be entered for you. Note that the only field not listed on the AnyOrder's field list (activated by the "list" button) is Invoice Number. Invoice Number is field number 1 in AnyOrder. If you are using a User Defined Field for the connecting field in AnyOrder, check the "User Defined Field" box. Leave this unchecked if it's a normal AnyOrder field.
Check for Duplicate Invoices This feature is used when you are importing, and the possibility exists that one or more invoices may have already been imported. Use it to avoid ending up with duplicate invoices. If there's no possibility of duplicate invoices, keep it turned off. Searching for duplicates prior to importing slows down processing time. When you activate this feature, AnyOrder will search existing invoices prior to importing a record from the import file. During the search process, two designated fields are compared, one from the import file and one from existing invoices. If a match is found between the two fields, the record will not be imported. The designated field must be unique and only found on only one invoice in AnyOrder. A common designated field is the PO Number. Let's say that the PO number in the import file is "MBX 33455." Before importing the MBX 33455 record, AnyOrder will search through its invoices. If it finds "BMX 33455" in the PO Number field, it will not import the record. If "BMX 33455" is not found, then the coast is clear and the record is imported. To indicate designated fields in the dialog box, you need to use field numbers. In the example above, let's say that the PO Number is located in field # 5 of the Import File. You would type in a "5" in "Field Number of Designated Field in the import file." Since the field number of PO Number in AnyOrder is field # 20, you would type in a "20" in "Field Number of Designated Field in AnyOrder" You don't have to know the field numbers. To activate a list, click on the "List" button. Select the designated field from the list and the number will be entered for you. Note that one field is not listed on AnyOrder's field list (activated by the "list" button). That's the Invoice Number. Invoice Number is field # 1 in AnyOrder. If you are using a User Defined Field for the designated field in AnyOrder, check the "User Defined Field" box. Leave this unchecked if it's a normal AnyOrder field. Lastly, indicate the number of records AnyOrder should search. AnyOrder will search the number of indicated invoices from the newest to oldest. This greatly helps speed up the searching process. If you don't indicate a number, AnyOrder will search your entire invoice database for each record that's imported and if you have lots of invoices that can take some time. The default is set at 100. If you're typically not importing large amounts of data, the last 100 records will work adequately for most situations. If you import large files of several hundred records in size, then you'll need to increase this number appropriately.
Other: Use Total Due in the File to Work Backwards to Calculate Discount If you have some of your sales contracted out to a third party, they may provide you with an Import file containing the customer's total amount, but not the discount. This is not a problem if none of the sales are discounted, but if at least sale is discounted, you'll need to account for it. To account for it, you can have AnyOrder work back from the total amount and calculate the appropriate discount. To turn on the feature, place a checkmark beside: "If Discount is not available in the Import File, Use Total Due in the File to Work Backwards to Calculate Discount."
A Note About Total Due Calculations and Discount If one or more of the products in the import file have been discounted, you have a couple of choices. If a percentage discount is included among the fields being imported, you can move it into AnyOrder's discount field. AnyOrder will then calculate the total due based on the discount provided. If the discount is not in the import file, but the total amount is, you can have AnyOrder work back from the total amount and calculate the appropriate discount. That's done by checking "Calculate Discount from Total Due found in the "Other Options" dialog box. Note that even if you select "Calculate Discount" and you import a percentage discount, a percentage discount will always take precedent. AnyOrder will calculate total due based on the percent discount (and not work back from the total due). The total due will calculated based on that discount, even it if you import a total due field. Usually, it's best to work back from the total due. That way AnyOrder's total due will be the same as the total due figure in the import file. On the topic of discount, we should also mention that you can import a value for "less discount" (instead of a percentage discount). (Less Discount is found just below the Item Area on the Main Invoice Screen and is used when you want to discount a sale by a dollar amount and not a percentage.) If you use this method of indicating a discount, make sure that the value in the import file is a negative value.
Other: Move Decimal Monetary amounts in import files can be expressed in one of two ways. The first way, the standard way, uses a decimal: 45.67. This is the way that AnyOrder expresses monetary amounts and no adjustment is necessary. Some import files, however, may have the decimal removed: 4567. If monetary fields in the import file are in this format, place a checkmark in the "Move Decimal" box. When this box is checked, AnyOrder will insert a decimal point before the last two digits: 45.67, so the amount is imported properly.
Other: If the quantity is zero (0), keep it zero (0) There may be times when you are importing product information and you wish to import a zero (0) to AnyOrder's Quantity field. Normally, if you leave this field empty, AnyOrder assumes that you have at least one product that you are selling and places a "1" here. Sometimes, however, you may be importing descriptive information, such as a brief product note or whether a product should be gift wrapped. Or you simply might want to indicate that a certain product has not been ordered. In these cases, you may want to place a "0" in the Quantity field. For descriptive product information (such as a brief product note), it's also helpful from a formatting standpoint to have "0" in the quantity field. When zero (0) is in the quantity field, AnyOrder leaves the number off when it prints the invoice. When one (1) is in the quantity field, however, AnyOrder include the number "1" on the printed invoice. To tell AnyOrder that you do not want to change a "0" to "1," place a checkmark beside: "If the quantity is zero (0), keep it zero (0)." Note that, in past versions, you could force AnyOrder to keep a quantity zero by importing a negative number. However, this only worked for constant fields. It did not have any effect for other data being imported. This new feature allows you to clearly indicate that you want to retain zero quantities.
Other: Clipboard Override - Allow More than 1 Record. This option is used when you are utilizing the clipboard to import. Normally (the default situation), only one record at a time can be imported using the clipboard method. That has its advantages. For example, the default situation allows you to use it with comma delimited data that might be included in an email message. Email programs place carriage returns at the end of line breaks (causing imported records to be fractured), but with the default setting, AnyOrder will ignore all line breaks and treat the information like one record. The default situation works great when you import one record, but you may need to import more than one. If you know that the records you are importing are not fractured by extra carriage returns, you can override the default setting. For instance, the override allows you to copy more than one row from a spreadsheet or several lines from an HTML table for placement in AnyOrder. Let's say you receive orders from a company and the orders are place in an HTML table in an email message. By placing a checkmark on "Clipboard Override," you can copy the table and drop the information into the Item Area on the Main Invoice Screen. (Note: to copy products directly to an existing invoice, you'll also need to place a checkmark in "Product Only Import - Import Records to Current Invoice Only." See next section for more information.) No extra steps are involved with the HTML tables found in email messages or on webpages when using the newest browsers from Netscape (7.2 and greater), FireFox, Mozilla and others. These browsers insert tabs between the columns of a table. Just copy the table and AnyOrder will import it as a tab delimited file. Tables, however, in Microsoft Explorer can't be copied. We hope that Microsoft fixes this problem in the near future. To override the one-record default, place a checkmark in "Clipboard Override." This allows more than one record to be imported. It's important that you make sure that each record is separated with a line feed and a carriage return. If not, AnyOrder will not know how to separate the imported data into individual records. One last caution: there is a limit to how much can be imported by the clipboard. Try to keep the number of records to a reasonable number; a couple of dozen is plenty. More Information. One of the handiest applications of this option is to be able to drop an HTML table or a portion of spreadsheet directly into AnyOrder's Item Area. Let's take a look at the steps you would follow to create a profile to do this: 1. Copy one line from the table to the clipboard. 2. Select EDIT and IMPORT FROM CLIPBOARD. 3. When the first dialog box appears, click on "Create New Profile. 4. In the second dialog box (Import Profile), give the profile a name and select "Text - Tab Delimited." Then click on "Show Import File Fields" 5. Place a checkmark beside: "Product Only Profile" and build your profile. 6. Save the profile. Click on "Other Options." Place checkmarks beside "Clipboard Override" and "Product Only Import - Import Records to Current Invoice Only." 7. Save everything. Return to the first dialog box and click on "Start Import Process." The product should appear in the Item Area. Try selecting several products from the table. All of the products should appear in the Item Area.
Other: Incoming Product Prices Have Been Totaled - Convert to Price Per Item - Level 4 and Higher Level 4 and Higher. If you are importing product prices, AnyOrder expects that the price is per item. You may run into import files in which the prices have been totaled. In other words the price in the file is the total of quantity times the price. For example, let's say you sell a book for $10.00 and you've sold 5 books. The price per item is $5.00. The total price is $50.00. When AnyOrder imports the price, it wants the $5.00 figure. If the prices in your file have been totaled, you'll need to tell AnyOrder to convert the total price to price per item. To do so, check this box. If the prices in the file are per item, then leave this box unchecked. Important: if you check this box, you must make sure that quantity appears before price in the third box, the Profile Box (for more information on profiles, see Import Profiles (Second Dialog Box)). In other words "1st Product Quantity" must appear before "1st Product Price," "2nd Product Quantity" must appear before "2nd Quantity Price," and so on. If you review the profile and find price before quantity, use the UP and DOWN buttons to make the appropriate adjustment. (The reason for this is that when AnyOrder does the conversion, it divides the price by the quantity. As AnyOrder loops through the fields in the import file, it will save the quantity. When the price comes along, it has the necessary information to do the conversion.)
Other: Turn ON Product Repeating Pattern Mode - Level 4 and Higher Level 4 and Higher. This is one of the methods to use for importing data from a website shopping cart. (It can also be used to import a file provided by a third party contractor.) It is not as common as the Product Group Mode (which is another method of importing which uses one file), but it is found to some degree with shopping carts. In this system, the shopping cart program is configured to generate one file which contains customers and products sold. Each record of the file includes the customer, the customer's address, shipping information, and the products sold to the customer. Using this method, there is no limit to the number of products that you can import, but the products must be in a regular pattern. A regular pattern means that once the fields for the first product appear in the file, then the fields for each succeeding product need to be spaced at a constant interval. For example, let's say that the field numbers for the first product are as follows: Quantity (First Product) - Field 30 Catalog Number (First Product) - Field 31 Product Name (First Product) - Field 32 Price (First Product) - Field 33 To maintain a regular pattern, the second product would need to have the following field numbers: Quantity (Second Product) - Field 34 Catalog Number (Second Product) - Field 35 Product Name (Second Product) - Field 36 Price (Second Product) - Field 37 And the third product would need to have the following field numbers: Quantity (Third Product) - Field 38 Catalog Number (Third Product) - Field 39 Product Name (Third Product) - Field 40 Price (Third Product) - Field 41 Note that each product field repeats every fourth field. For example, each Quantity field repeats every four fields. Each Catalog Number repeats every four fields, and so on. The four field separation between corresponding fields is called the Pattern Interval. In the example above, the Pattern Interval is 4. As long as the file maintains a regular Pattern Interval, then you can use this method to import the file. There is one other term associated with this type of import: Total Patterns. Total Patterns is the same as the number of products that a file can hold. For example if your shopping cart software generates a file that can hold as many as 20 products per record, then you have 20 Total Patterns. Not all of those 20 fields may used. One record may only use fields for 3 products, and another record may only use fields for 4 products, but, if needed, there's room for 20. Note that AnyOrder will assume that each file that you receive from the vendor has the same Pattern Interval. If the Pattern Interval varies from file to file, AnyOrder will be unable to properly do the import. Fortunately, such variability is not common, but it's good to be aware of this limitation. To turn on the Repeating Pattern Mode, a checkmark beside: "Turn ON Product Repeating Pattern Mode." There two ways such files are constructed. Some have a StartProducts and EndProducts field. If so, you will need to indicate three numbers associated with the Repeating Pattern Mode: "Starting Field of Products," "Ending Field of Products" and "Pattern Interval." If the file instead has a field which tells you how many products are included in each record, then you will need to know the "Number of Products Field," plus you will need the Starting Field of products and the Pattern Interval A. To determine the Starting Field, use the "List" button to view a list of fields in the Import File. Often, the import file will have a field named "StartProducts" or "Products Start" or similar. If so, select the field and the field number will be automatically entered for you. If the "StartProducts" field is not present, select the first field that has product information. B. If there a "Number of Products" field does not exist, then you will need the "Ending Field of Products." It is much like the starting field. Look for "EndProducts" or "Products End" or similar. If you find it, select the field and field number will be entered for you. If "EndProducts" is not present, select the last field that has product information. C. Pattern Interval has been discussed above, and you'll want to look carefully at the Import File fields and determine the interval. Once you determined the number, type it in the appropriate blank. D. If you do have a "Number of Products Field," then use the "List" button to view a list of fields in the Import File and select the appropriate one. Note: small pattern intervals (of less than 4) require special attention. (You don't have to remember the following information. The program will remind you when you click on "Save" but this provides some background details. ) If you have a small pattern interval of less than 4, you need to make the following adjustments: 1. The 'Starting Field' of the products must be the field JUST BEFORE the first product. This may be named 'StartProducts' or similar. If so, select it. If not, select the field (whatever it may be) just before the products start. 2. The 'Ending Field of All Products' must be the last field of the products that actually contains product data. In this case, if you have a field named 'End Products', you would NOT select it. Rather you would select the last field that CONTAINS PRODUCTS. This is only necessary if you have a pattern interval of less than 4. You should otherwise select the starting and ending fields according the directions described above this italicized paragraph.
Some shopping cart software programs will vary the number of products in each file they create. If that's the situation, there are two ways to approach this: A) You can enter the name of the field which signifies the end of the products. As mentioned above, this is often called "EndProducts" or "Products End" or similar. Use the "List" button. Select the field from the list and the name will be automatically entered for you. IMPORTANT: The field name which signifies the last of the products must appear on all records in the file. IMPORTANT: The field name which signifies the last of the products must appear on all records in the file. If every file that you receive from the vendor has the same number of product fields, then it is not necessary to enter anything in this blank. However, if the "EndProducts" field exists in your import file, it's a good idea to enter it, just in case the vendor does change things on you. B) You can use the "Pad Fields" option. This is the best solution to the problem. Look down on the Profile Options dialog box (the dialog box that you are in now). You'll see: "Pad Fields: Fixes Excel (and others) Last Field Problem. Put a checkmark beside. In addition, you must enter a number beside "Max. # of Fields Possible." To determine that number, you must decide on the maximum number of products that might be ordered by one individual. Once deciding upon that figure, then you calculate how many totals fields that would involve. For example, if the Starting Field is 40, and you have a Pattern Interval of 8, and you decide that 10 products is the most any one person might order. Then, the maximum number of fields possible would be 40 + (8 x 10) or 120. You would enter 120 in this field. A special problem exists with fields which appear after the product fields in the import file. If the number of products change, the field numbers following the products will change. Fortunately, AnyOrder is sophisticated enough to deal with such changes. As long as AnyOrder has the name of the last field, it will automatically adjust your profile to account for the change in field numbers from the original file. But, you should be aware, if you need to make changes in your profile, you should use the same file that you originally used to build the profile. If you use a different file (with a different number of products), the field numbers will be different. Save the original file in a safe place, write down its name, and it will easier for you to make adjustments. If you don't save the original file, and you need to make changes, you'll to re-enter certain fields in third box, the Profile Box (for more information on profiles, see Import Profiles (Second Dialog Box)). The fields that need to be re-entered are any with a field number greater than what's found in the blank: "Ending Field for Products" (discussed above). That also goes for any replacement tables that you've set up. If you have a matching field with a field number greater than the Ending Field for Products, you'll need change those as well. For a step by step procedure on how to import a file using this method see "Use one file to import invoice data and products. (Product pattern required)" in Import Profiles (Second Dialog Box).
Other: Product Only Import - Import Records to Current Invoice Only This option is available when you are importing products only. Normally, when you import products, you'll do it in two steps: import general invoice data and then import products. (For more information on the two-step process, see the section entitled "Use two files to import invoice data and products" at the bottom of the help documentation for Import Profiles (Second Dialog Box). There is, however, another way of importing products. If you have already created an invoice, you may wish to import one or more products directly to that invoice. For instance, let's say that a customer sends you orders in a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet will likely have each of the products, quantities, catalog numbers and prices listed in tabular format. Using your mouse, you can highlight the product area on the spreadsheet and copy it to the clipboard. Once in the clipboard, the product information can be imported directly to an invoice that you've created for the customer. (See above for a list of steps on how to set things up for this process.) To use this method, you need to set your profile up as a "Product Only Import," (see Import Profiles (Second Dialog Box)). After getting the profile set-up, select "Other Options" and place a checkmark beside "Product Only Import: Import Records to Current Invoice Only." Here's a quick rundown on how the process works. (Note that the process is described in greater detail in the section on "Building the Profile: Products" found at: Import Profiles (Second Dialog Box). 1) First place one line of the spreadsheet or table in the clipboard. (Note that you can import a file using this method, but most commonly this method is used with the clipboard.) Then set up the profile using the contents of the clipboard. To so, select EDIT and IMPORT FROM CLIPBOARD (see Importing from the Clipboard). 2) When setting up your profile, make sure that you place a checkmark on "Product Import Only." AND place a checkmark on "Product Only Import: Import Records to Current Invoice Only" in Other Options. 3) Before importing, create the invoice on which you want to copy the products. The invoice should have a billing name, address, PO Number, etc. 4) Make sure the invoice appears on the invoice screen. 5) Copy the product data from the spreadsheet or table to the clipboard. 6) Finally, import it by selecting EDIT and IMPORT FROM CLIPBOARD and clicking on "Start Import Process." You'll also find this technique useful if you receive orders in the form of an HTML document and the products are listed in a table. You can use this method to copy the table and import the data from the table to the invoice.
Other: Convert Case of Incoming Name & Address Lines - Level 5 and Higher Level 5 and Higher. This feature is only available on Level 5 (or higher) programs. When you place a checkmark here, AnyOrder will take all incoming address data and format it in a consist manner. The address data includes any information which will be placed in the following blanks: Billing Name, Shipping Name, City, State/Province, Country and the two address lines for both billing and shipping. You have three choices: Title Case, Upper Case, and Lower Case. Upper Case capitalizes all letters. For example 3456 South Main will be converted to 3456 SOUTH MAIN. Lower Case removes all capital letters: 345 South Main Street NW will be converted to 345 south main st nw. Title Case capitalizes the first letter of each word, but it also has a series of built-in instructions to apply a consistent address style to names and addresses. The following are some examples: 1St STREET nw >> 1st Street NW 2ND avenue se >> 2nd Avenue SE po box 3459 >> PO Box 3459 cmr 345, Box 12334, apo AE 09250 >> CMR 345, Box 12334, APO AE 09250 rogerson printing, llc >> Rogerson Printing, LLC mcafee graphics >> McAfee Graphics Amazon.COM >> Amazon.com Note that Title Case is unable to distinguish abbreviations specific to universities, government agencies and businesses. You'll need to format those by hand.
Other: Product Group Mode - Level 5 and Higher This feature is only available on Level 5 (or higher) programs. The Product Group Mode is becoming quite common for importing shopping cart data. It is a "one file" method of importing. In other words, general information and products are all contained in one file rather than separating them into two files. It will also work for any import file which is constructed as outlined below. In this system, the shopping cart program will create a file consisting of a series of records. Each record has one product along with billing, shipping and other information. If a customer orders three products from you, then there will be three records associated with that customer. Each of the three records will have the customer's name, their address, and shipping information. That's information is always the same. But what changes in each of the three records is the product. Here a sample of what such file might look like: "2345","Bill Kelly","102 South St","Jonesville","MA","3","Product 1","10.95" "2345","Bill Kelly","102 South St","Jonesville","MA","3","Product 2","15.00" "2345","Bill Kelly","102 South St","Jonesville","MA","3","Product 1","14.95" "2346","Harry Meyer","123 10th Ave.","New York","NY","2","Product 2","15.00" "2346","Harry Meyer","123 10th Ave.","New York","NY","3","Product 3", "14.95" In order to import this type of file, the records must be grouped together by the customer. It would be very unusual for the records not be grouped in this manner, but if that's the case, you'll need to sort the records by customer before doing the import. To import this type of file, place a checkmark beside "Product Group Mode." Additionally, you need to indicate the "Grouping Field." This is the field which tells AnyOrder which records belong to the customer. You could go by customer name, but with shopping cart data, there's usually an order number in the import file. (In the example shown above, the first field is the order number.) The order number is the best field to use since it is a unique number, tied to that particular order. If there is no order number, then the customer's name is your next best field to use. To select the grouping field, click on the "List' button. A list of import file fields will appear. Pick the appropriate field and the field number will be placed in the blank. Note About Products: When importing products, if the quantity of a certain product is a negative number, AnyOrder will assume that it is a returned item and automatically use a "R" sales code. The item is credited on the invoice. If the quantity is a positive number, AnyOrder will assume that the product is a regular sale and use the "S" code. You can override these settings by importing a sales code from your import file. An Example: Using the Product Group Mode with Amazon and Other Types of On-line Stores. Amazon is an example of an on-line business that will provide you with Product Group Mode import file. Here's an example of how you would set things if you have an Amazon store. Amazon will provide you with a file which contains customer names, quantity, products ordered, etc. Also included in the file will be the shipping charge and an ID Number for every product ordered by the customer. To prepare the Import Profile, go to Other Options (Third Dialog Box) and select the Product Group Mode. Amazon totals the price, so you'll also need to select "Other: Incoming Product Prices Have Been Totaled - Convert to Price Per Item." And, finally, since shipping is treated like a product, you'll need to select both "Activate Shipping Exchange Feature" AND "Add up Shipping Prices." (For more information, see "Shipping Exchange Feature" below). Next comes preparing the profile (found in the Second Dialog box). Start by setting up the profile to import general information such as the customers name and address. The products, shipping charges, Item ID and gift wrapping all deserve special attention: 1. Import Amazon's item quantity, catalog number, item name, and price to the 1st Product Quan, 1st Product Cat #, 1st Product Item, 1st Product Price respectively. 2. Set up a constant of "-1" and import it to 2nd Product Quan (This set the quantity at zero). Set up a constant of "ORDER_ID" and import it to the 2nd Product Cat #. Import Amazon's Item_ID number to 2nd Product Item. 3. Set up a constant of "1" and import it to 3rd Product Quan. Set up a constant of "Shipping" and import it to the 3rd Product Item. Import Amazon's shipping price to 3rd Product Price. 4. Set up a constant of "1" and import it to 4th Product Quan. Import Amazon's Gift Wrap type to 4th Product Item. Import Amazon's Gift Wrap Price to 4th Product Price. By setting things up this way, you'll be able to provide Amazon with an export file described along with the Catalog Limitation Feature in Export Other Options
Other: Use Imported Catalog # and Look-up Item Name / Price - Level 6 - 7 Programs This feature is only available on Level VI-VII programs. The catalog number look-up has two options. You can select one or both. The two options are: "Use Imported Catalog # and Look-Up Item Name in Product Database." "Use Catalog # and Look-Up Price in Product Database." This option is helpful in a couple of situations. It's helpful when an import file contains only a catalog number and you want the item's name and/or price entered as well. It's also helpful if you want to use the item name (and/or the price) from your Product Database rather than the name (and/or price) found in the import file. When you import a catalog number, it is placed in the Item Area on the main invoice. As you know, the Item Area also contains quantities, item name and price. If you select this option, AnyOrder will use the catalog # that is being imported and look for it in the Product Database. If it finds it, it will paste the item name (and/or price) found in the Product Database to the Item Area along with the catalog number. Select one or both by clicking in the checkbox.
Other: Activate Shipping Exchange Feature AND Add up Shipping Prices - Level 6 - 7 Programs This feature is only available on Level VI-VII programs. This option is used if the file you are importing treats shipping as a product. For example, both Amazon and Yahoo create export files (which you can import) which do not include a total shipping charge figure. In the first case, Amazon charges shipping on a per-item basis. If a person orders 5 items, Amazon will include 5 shipping charges. Nowhere in the import file does Amazon add up the shipping charge to give you one value (which is what AnyOrder normally expects to find.) Thus, this is a feature that you'll want to use with Amazon import files -- or files in a similar format created by other Internet shopping sites. In the second case, Yahoo creates two files: "Orders" and "Items." (The two-file system is described in more detail in Import Profiles (Second Dialog Box)). The "Orders" file contains the customer's address and general information about the order. The "Items" file contains quantities and what products were ordered. Normally, you would expect to find the total shipping charge in the "Orders" file, but Yahoo includes shipping in the "Items" file. Once again, this is a feature you'll be able to use with Yahoo files or similarly constructed files by other Internet sites. When this feature is turned on, AnyOrder looks for the word "Shipping" in the Item Name or Catalog Number. (That means to use this you don't want to have any actual products that includes the word shipping in the Item description. That would be unusual, but it's good to mention it in the event that you do.) When it finds "Shipping" in the Item Name, it then looks for the item's Price (which will be the shipping charge). Rather than placing the shipping charge in the price column in the Item Area, however, it appends it to the item's name. The Item Area would look something like this: Quan Cat # Item Name Price Total 1 XXXX Product A 10.00 10.00 Shipping = 2.00 0.00 0.00 1 XXXX Product B 20.00 20.00 Shipping = 3.00 0.00 0.00 Note that the shipping charge (2.00) came in as the product's price. With this feature turned on, it was exchanged with a 0.00 for price and appended to the Item Name column, along with an equals sign (=). When you use this feature, order is important when you build the profile. The Catalog Number and Item Name should appear before the item's price. If the next checkbox is selected: "Add up Shipping Prices," then AnyOrder will add up all shipping charges with an Item Name of "Shipping =." It places that number in the Shipping field on AnyOrder's Main Invoice Screen. When you use this feature, you almost always will place checkmarks in both boxes, Activate Shipping Exchange Feature AND Add up Shipping Prices. There are quite of number of advantages of this feature. You are able to show shipping on your invoice in the same way as Amazon's, Yahoo's or other on-line stores that use this method; yet, at the same time, the total shipping figure is placed where it should be on the invoice. It also provides for you and your customer, the total amount of the shipping charge. And, finally, if you need to add tax to the order, AnyOrder will be able to include or exclude the shipping charge depending upon your state requirements (which have been set-up in Basic Program Set-up.) One last note about this process. The import file must contain the word "Shipping" in the Item Name or Catalog Number for the Shipping Exchange feature to work.
Other: Activate Tax Exchange Feature AND Add up Tax - Level 6 - 7 Programs This feature is only available on Level VI-VII programs. This option is used if the file you are importing treats tax as a product. For example, Yahoo creates two files: "Orders" and "Items." (The two-file system is described in more detail in Import Profiles (Second Dialog Box)). The "Orders" file contains the customer's address and general information about the order. The "Items" file contains quantities and what products were ordered. Normally, you would expect to find the tax charge in the "Orders" file, but Yahoo includes tax in the "Items" file. When it is imported it shows up listed in the Item Area. When this feature is turned on, AnyOrder looks for the word "Tax" in the Item Name or Catalog Number. (That means to use this you don't want to have any actual products that includes the word shipping in the Item description.) When it finds "Tax" in the Item Name or Catalog Number, it then looks for the item's price (which will be the tax charge). Rather than placing the tax charge in the price column in the Item Area, however, it appends it to the item's name. The Item Area would look something like this: Quan Cat # Item Name Price Total 1 XXXX Product A 10.00 10.00 1 XXXX Product B 20.00 20.00 Tax = 3.65 0.00 0.00 Note that the tax amount (3.65) came in as the product's price. With this feature turned on, it was exchanged with a 0.00 for price and appended to the Item Name column, along with an equals sign (=). When you use this feature, order is important when you build the profile. The Catalog Number and Item Name should appear before the item's price. If the next checkbox is selected: "Add up Tax Amounts," then AnyOrder will add up all tax charges with an Item Name of "Tax =" (if there are more than one.) It places that number in the Tax field on AnyOrder's Main Invoice Screen. (There's more involved with this process. Since the tax rate controls the amount that goes in the Tax field on the Main Invoice Screen, AnyOrder actually does a number of calculations working backward from the tax amount, so when the tax rate is applied to the subtotal, the same tax amount is achieved.) When you use this feature, you almost always will place checkmarks in both boxes, Activate Tax Exchange Feature AND Add up Tax Amounts. Additional information on importing tax information is found in Import Profiles (Second Dialog Box). One last note about this process. The import file must contain the word "Tax" in the Item Name or Catalog Number for the Tax Exchange feature to work.
Other: When Billing Address is Empty, Copy Shipping Address to Billing Address - Level 6 - 7 Programs This feature is only available on Level VI-VII programs. If the import file has only a shipping address, the best procedure is to create the profile so that the shipping address is imported to the Billing Address fields. (In AnyOrder, if an invoice has a billing address and no shipping address, AnyOrder automatically uses the billing address for shipping purposes.) Occasionally, you may run into some import situations in which a full shipping address, and perhaps a Billing Name is imported, but no billing address. Even then, it may be a spotty occurrence: sometimes a billing address is imported and sometimes not. If it's appropriate, this feature allows you to copy the shipping address to the billing address when the billing address is empty. (It won't copy the shipping address when the billing address fields have contents).
Other: Pad Fields - Fixes Excel's (and other programs) Last Field Problem. Unfortunately, many of the largest software companies are sloppy when it comes to creating database files. A database file is composed of records and fields. (Records are equivalent to rows on a spreadsheet. And fields are equivalent to columns.) A database can have any number of records, but it should always have a constant number of fields for each record. If a database file has 10 fields in the first record, it should have 10 fields in every other record in the file. Excel has a particular problem with this. For example, a file created by Excel might have 10 fields in the first record, 8 in the next, 12 in the next, and so on. Occasionally, you'll find other programs (such as some shopping cart software and PayPal's or Amazon's export function) with the same problem. One way to fix this problem is to make sure there is some data in the last field of every record in the file. This forces programs like Excel to create well constructed database files. Information on this procedure is found here: Excel Import. But, in an effort to make things easier for our users, we've devised and have added this new feature to the program. It is still in the testing stage, but it may be helpful when you come across problem files. In order to use it, you can use one of two options: 1. Find the record in your file with the most fields. We'll call this the Maximum Fields Record. Oftentimes, the Maximum Fields Record is the first record. When you determine the Maximum Fields Record, go to the second dialog box in the profile series (the one where you create the profile). Find the record that has the most fields by choosing the record number and clicking on "Show Import File Fields." Then click on Save Profile. Next, click on the "More Options" button and place a checkmark beside "Pad Fields (Fixes Excel's …" 2. Usually it's best to find the longest record as described above since you may need to import some of the fields on this record. If, however, you don't need the last few fields, this method works equally well. Plus, it gives you some leeway. In this method, you'll just enter a number in the "Max. # of Fields Possible" blank. For example, let's say you examine your file, and you find that 40 fields are contained in the longest record. To this number, you can add a few fields just to make sure that a future file doesn't have any longer records. In this case, we'll add 10 fields to be safe. That means you would place a checkmark beside "Pad Fields" and enter "50" in the "Max. # of Fields Possible." (Note if you are using this feature with the Product Pattern Repeating Mode, you have some extra considerations when determining the maximum number of fields possible. See " Product Pattern Repeating mode" above for more details on how this is done.) When this feature is turned on, during the import process, AnyOrder will pad import records so they all have the same number of fields as either the Maximum Fields Record, or the value in the "Max # of Fields" blank. (If you don't indicate a number in the "Max # of Fields" blank, then by default AnyOrder will use the Maximum Fields Record). That means that any records with a lesser number of fields will be padded so they have the same number as the maximum. Every record is thus treated equally -- and that's the way databases should be built.
Other: When Shipping Address is Empty - Level 4 and Higher Level 4 and Higher. If the import file has only a billing address but no shipping address, you have three choices. You indicate your choice by entering a number: either "0," "1," or "2." If you make no changes here (in other words, you leave it as zero), AnyOrder will place " ----SAME ---" in the Shipping Name field when there is no shipping name or address in the import file. We recommend this option since it keeps the invoice file to a manageable size. However, you do have two other choices. If the billing address is empty, and you want the same address repeated in the shipping address fields (including name, address1, address2, etc.), then enter a one (1) here. If you want nothing at all in the shipping address name or address blanks, enter a two (2) here. This also has an application when you import to the shipping fields. Let's look at the following two shipping fields "company" and "contact." You'll see them listed in the "Placement" window on the Profile Dialog box. They look like : "COMPANY 45" or "CONTACT 18U." If you are importing to either one, then if this featured is turned on and the shipping name is empty, the billing name will be used. The same goes for the two shipping fields: "ADDRESS_1 46U" and shipping "ADDRESS_2 47U." In this case, if there's no shipping address1 or address2, then the billing address is used.
Other: When Total Due Field from Import File is Less Than Zero (0) then Assume Products Are Returns - Level 4 and Higher Level 4 and Higher. At times you may find that it is difficult to find an appropriate field in the import file that you can use to move an "R" into the Product S-code field. The S-code field is located in the Item Area. The "R" code indicates that the products are returns instead of sales (sales are indicated with an "S" code). Any products listed with an "R" code will have a negative price (indicating a credit to the customer). A replacement table is one option. If there is a return field in the import file, you may be able to use a replacement table to change the contents of the return field so that an "S" is imported. But even that may not be possible. However, if there's a "total" or "total due" field in the import file, and if that field has a negative number when the products are returns, then you can use this feature. If you place a checkmark here, whenever the import file contains a negative total, all products listed on the resulting invoice in AnyOrder will be indicated with the "R" S-code. In order to use it, you must create your profile so that "Total" or "Total Due" in the import file is mapped to AnyOrder's "Total Due."
Other: Don't Import if Zero (0) Found in Total Due Field - Level 4 and Higher. Some import files may contain a number of zero transactions. For example, if you use a fulfillment service, you may be able to download a report file showing all transactions for the past month. Some of those transactions may include books sent to Amazon (or other stores) on consignment. It won't be until Amazon reports back that some or all of the books have sold, that they will show up on the report as a positive transaction. You may not to wish to create invoices when books are sent to Amazon, rather it makes more sense to create invoices only when the books are sold. Another type of zero transaction is when books are out-of-stock and the fulfillment service creates a backorder transaction. The backorder transaction indicates to the customer that books are out of stock. Once again, in the interest of simplicity, you may not wish to import this information. Place a checkmark here if you wish to skip any transaction which has a zero in the "total" or "total due" field of the import file. You must also indicate where the "total due" field is found in the import file. Click on the "List" button. Find the "total due" or "total" field from the list. Select it and the field number will be entered. Be sure to use a checkmark and select from the list. You must do both for this feature to be active.
Other: If the Normal Quantity Field is Zero (0), Yet this Field has a Value Then Use this Field for Quantity Some import files may include two fields which are used for the quantity of the item sold. (This is may be found in some fulfillment service report files.) One field may be "Quantity Ordered" field and the other may be the "Quantity Shipped" field. Different field names might be used but basically you have two quantity fields to deal with it. Normally, you would import the "Quantity Shipped" field directly to AnyOrder's "Quantity" field in the Item Area. However, for some transactions, such as returns, the vendor may, instead, use the "Quantity Ordered" fields. That can throw things off. Let's use an example. Here's what's in the import file: Quantity Shipped: 0 Quantity Ordered: 3 Item: Walden by Thoreau Item Price each: $10.00 Item Total: $30.00 Notice in the example above "Quantity Shipped" is zero (0). That's the normal quantity field that you import. And now since it is zero (0), the invoice would not even include the product in the Item Area. Any item with a quantity of zero is left off the Item Area. Even if it did show, it would show zero (0) quantity sold -- and that's not correct. It should be 3. This option allows you to fix this problem. It allows you to switch to the "Quantity Ordered" field and pick up the correct number. In order to use it, you need a field which indicates a total price for the item (quantity x price). It doesn't matter whether the field has been discounted or not; as long as it is present, AnyOrder will be able to determine whether or not it is an item worth importing. (If the total price was zero (0), it would indicate that the item is not important from a sales or credit standpoint, and doesn't need to be imported). In this example, we would use the "Item Total" field as our indicator. If you use this feature, AnyOrder will run through the imported records. If it finds a record with zero (0) for the normal quantity (Quantity Shipped), it will look at the "Item Total." If "Item Total" is not zero (0), then it will switch and use the "Quantity Ordered" field instead. Since it has a value, it will import the product with the proper quantity of "3." To activate this feature, place checkmark beside it. Click on the first "List" button and the select the field with a value (in this example, it is "Item Total.) The field number will be entered. Click on the second "List" button, and select the alternative field (in this example, it would the "Quantity Shipped" field. Remember that you must include the checkmark and indicate both field numbers.
Other: PayPal Account History - Level 6 - 7 Feature Level VI-VII Feature. PayPal has a peculiar way of exporting. It does not follow any of the usual rules of database construction. Thus, a special import process was developed which allows AnyOrder to import PayPal data. To create the proper file, go to Account History on the PayPal website. PayPal has at least two different web pages from which you can download account history. Look for the "Download History" link to get to the right page. You'll know that you are in the right location when you can select a range of dates for the download, AND you see the following checkbox: "Include Shopping Cart Details." By "details," PayPal means that the export file will include the products that have been sold. If you don't put a checkmark in this box, then you'll only get the customer's name and address. To create the download file (which you'll import into AnyOrder), select the desired range of dates AND be sure to put a checkmark on "Shopping Cart Details." Go ahead and download the file to a directory on your computer. Once you have the file downloaded, you can use it to create your own profile in AnyOrder -- or you can use the sample PayPal import profile which has been included with the program.
Compatibility Some import options are not compatible with one another. For instance, you can't turn on both Overlapping Import and Check for Duplicates at the same time. Overlapping Import deals with existing invoices while Check for Duplicates involves adding new invoices. To help distinguish what combinations are compatible, each option in the dialog box is color coded. As example of how the color coding works, let's say that you are doing a "Product Only" import. It's coded in a blue color. Looking at the blue coding you'll see that Product Only Import is only compatible the "Decimals" option. It will not work with any of the other options.
To continue the step by step procedure: Starting the Import Process More Information on Importing Import Profiles (Second Dialog Box) Working with Import Files in Excel
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