Excel to XML Conversion for Product List Upload

[Wilde1]

I'm unfamiliar with XML. I have a 30,000 item product list in Excel that we need to convert to XML for export to the cart. Could anyone lend us some assistance?

Thank you in advance for your time.

[jmestep]

Do you need to use xml because the products have options? If they don't have options or kits, you can use .csv.

[Wilde1]

Do you need to use xml because the products have options? If they don't have options or kits, you can use .csv.

Thank you for your reply. Of the 30,000 items, 900 have three variants. So, it would seem that we should upload via XML. We have an urgent need to deploy this site quickly. To get things off the ground, could we upload via .csv and then add the variants via XML in the near-term?

[AbleMods]

Does the data client support importing variants? I wasn't aware that it could do that.

[jmestep]

No, Joe. I just found out it doesn't after I did 6500 products. I'm going to check the new one that came out yesterday- maybe it will do it.

[AbleMods]

yeah, I didn't think so. Based on how I understand variants in the data structure, Able is pretty much going to have to write a seperate import option just for variants. The complexity of the data is quite high even for XML.

[jmestep]

Yess!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New dataport does options!!!!!!!!!!!

Still doesn't connect to site on a shared server, but I put the stuff into a test db and will move the tables to the real one.

[Wilde1]

Hi Judy:

It take it you're a developer / consultant? It appears you've also discovered that the newest release addresses variants from within the db?

What would you suggest: Uploading the full 30K item db via .csv followed by a sub-section of the db via XML?

If we were to give you either the full db or the sub-section involving the variants could/would you get it installed on our server?

If you wish to continue with our conversation on a potential consulting basis, you're welcome to email me at jeff@wilde-ideas.com.

Thank you in advance.

[jmestep]

Some of it would depend on data source. Can you generate an xml file from it using something other than the Able store 5.5 export? A few years ago, I generated an xml file for a product feed using SQL Server 2000 FORXML feature and I did it by following the SQL Server Books Online instructions. I can give you an Able 5.5 export file so you can see how it has to be formatted. Let us know what your datasource is.

[Wilde1]

Judy,

The current db source is Excel. I can readily save it as an XML document. We're new to AbleCommerce and we're running v 7.0, so we have zero experience with v 5.5.