Last updated: March 01, 2010
Give Feedback
ShopSite Shopping Cart Software
Screen: ShopSite > Utilities > Database > Upload/Download
ShopSite's programmatic XML interface allows merchants the ability to write their own applications to automatically upload or download their store information.
Note: |
The information on this page applies to Products and Pages only.
For information on automated XML downloads of Orders, see
Automated XML Orders Download.
|
There are three CGI programs used for the different tasks of downloading, uploading, and publishing the store. Each of these CGIs can be called from an automated script or manually, using a standard HTTP POST function. The following example demonstrates a typical URL used to invoke one of the scripts:
http://mystore.domain/cgi-path/db_xml.cgi?clientApp=1&dbname=products&fieldmap=inventory
In the example above, mystore.domain represents the domain name of the store, and cgi-path is the path to the ShopSite back-office CGI directory. In this example, we are using the db_xml.cgi program, and we are passing the following options: clientApp=1, dbname=products, and fieldmap=inventory. The meaning and use of the options is explained below.
Note: |
Any spaces in values for any options should be replaced with a
plus sign (+) when included in a URL. For example, the value Field Name would
be represented as Field+Name:
. . ./dbupload.cgi?clientApp=1&dbname=products&uniqueName=File+Name |
Developers interested in building client applications to use the automated XML Upload/Download utilities may want to check out the Automated XML Upload/Download SDK.
The database download program allows you to export all or part of a database in XML format. The available options allow you to specify which database to export, what format to use, and which data you want.
Program Name:
db_xml.cgi
Options
Option Description Values clientApp Required. Identifies the client application interface version. 1 dbname Required. The name of the database that is being accessed. pages
productsdownload_shopsite_version Optional. Request the version of ShopSite the store is running, in the format major.minor (for example, 8.3). This allows you to check for version compatibility and make any adjustments based on that. This command was introduced in ShopSite version 8.3. 1 version Optional. The XML format version (based on ShopSite implementation). Using this option will ensure that your application downloads a compatible version of the database, in case future ShopSite versions require changes to the XML format. 8.3 (default), 8.2, 8.1, 8.0, 7.1 fields Optional. A list of fields to download, delimited by the pipe (|) character. For example: fields=|fieldname_1|fieldname_2|fieldname_3| All (default)
any valid field from specified databasefieldmap Optional. A fieldmap lists field number and ID pairs that associate the data in the XML output file with the store data. You can create fieldmaps using the tool provided in the Database Download area in the ShopSite back office (click on Utilities > Database > Upload/Download, then select the database you want to create a fieldmap for, and click Download. In the Download fields section, find the Use field map option, select <New> from the pull-down menu, then click on Change.) any existing fieldmap name
The upload program can be used to upload MIME encoded XML files or to import an XML file that has already been uploaded to ShopSite's HTML output directory. For very large databases (usually over 10,000 records), you can break up the upload into several files and upload them in batches.
Program Name:
dbupload.cgi
Options
Option Description Values clientApp Required. Identifies the client application interface version. 1 dbname Required. The name of the database that you are uploading. pages
productsfilename Optional. Used if the XML file was previously uploaded to the ShopSite HTML Output directory, to indicate the name of the file to import. filename uniqueName Optional. The unique database key field name. This value is used to match records in the uploaded XML data to records in an existing ShopSite database. The (none) option turns off record matching, which allows duplicate entries in your database (new records with the same name as an existing record will be uploaded as a separate record, rather than updating the existing record). Name
SKU (Products)
File+Name (Pages)
(none)newRecords Optional. If the XML upload contains new products or pages, setting this to "no" will ignore those rows during the import process. yes (default)
nodefer_linking Optional. When uploading large databases in batches, setting this to "yes" for all but the last file in the batch will postpone record linking until the full database has been uploaded. no (default)
yesrestart Optional. If an upload times-out or is interrupted, use the restart option to start the upload again from where it left off. 1
After new store data has been imported into ShopSite, it is necessary to regenerate the store pages with the new information. The same options available from the Back Office Publish tool can be included in an automated publish.
Program Name:
generate.cgi
Options
Option Description Values clientApp Required. Identifies the client application interface version. 1 htmlpages Optional. If included, HTML pages will be generated. 1 custompages Optional. If included, Custom pages will be generated. 1 index Optional. If included, the search index will be updated. 1 regen Optional. If included, all store content will be regenerated. If left out, only the content that has changed since the last publish will be regenerated. 1 sitemap Optional. If included, a Google-type XML sitemap will be generated. 1
If a publish times out before completing, you can call generate.cgi with the same options as before, and the publish will restart from where it left off.
|
ShopSite Help and Resource Center Last updated: March 01, 2010 Give Feedback |
ShopSite Shopping Cart Software |