MC Import/Export Module

The Import/Export Module allows you to interface to outside systems. Data can be imported into or exported from the Main Course, Service Manager, or McFig. Some examples of how we've utilized this module for our customers include importing orders from a web shopping cart system, synchronizing customer and product lists with and importing invoices from a third-party Service Package, and interfacing to the UPS Worldship program.

Features

  • Imports from or exports to files in one of three formats, xBase, comma separated value or CSV (as defined by Microsoft Excel), and fixed field length ASCII text files (SDF).
  • Export or import on demand or on a schedule. Schedules can be at intervals, e.g. every 5 minutes, daily, weekly or monthly.
  • Extensive log files and archives maintained for imported and exported data with user defined settings for the length of time they are kept.
  • Basic operation creates an export file in a specified directory or polls for the presence of an import file in a specified directory.
  • Import files can have "header" and "detail" data mixed together as long as there is a field that indicates which type of data is present in each record.
  • Imported data can be validated against existing data. E.g, you can reject incoming orders that do not have a valid SKU, shipping method, etc.
  • New control numbers can be generated for incoming data or they can be validated to avoid duplicates. E.g., you could import "web" orders from your existing e-commerce site and assign each one a new internal order number.
  • Exported data can come from any single table or multiple related tables within the Main Course or McFig.
  • Exported data can include only new items, only changed items, or both. In addition a user defined criterion can be entered to force a subset of any of the above options to be exported. E.g., you might want to export from McFig only quotes with a status of "Exported".
  • Exported fields are completely customizeable to allow adapting to disparate systems.