Overview #

eCat's product stories file is used to optionally publish long product descriptions to eCat. These can be used to provide background information to support selling, technical specifications, care instructions, and other product information. Product stories are displayed in eCat's 'Details' view and on tear sheets They can also be displayed in PDF catalogs, and in the product email.

Download the stories.csv file template and instructions

Importing product stories #

The stories file upload tool (Tools/Upload Data/Product Stories) can be used to manually upload the stories.csv file.  On the file upload page, click the 'Choose File' button, select the correct file on your computer, then click 'Upload File'. There will be a pause, followed by a confirmation message. After the file is uploaded it may take up to ten minutes for SuperCat's server to check the file and update your eCat database.

The stories file can also be imported by putting it in the '/data' directory of your eCat FTP site. This enables full automation of the file update process.

Error checking #

All data files are checked for errors before they are used to update eCat. After importing a file, check the 'File Import Status' report under Tools/Admin Reports. If errors are discovered in the file, the import date/time stamp will display as a blue link. Click the link to view a list of problems showing the line number and a description of the problem for easy troubleshooting.

There are two types of problem reports, 'errors' and 'warnings'. Errors are problems that could cause eCat to be unreliable or inaccurate. Records with errors are not updated in eCat. Warnings are less serious problems, like fields that are too long. All problems listed in the error report should be corrected.

In order to ensure eCat's reliability, no data will be imported if there is a serious ('fatal') error in the file.

Note: If there are 'errors' during the file import, previously imported records that are no longer included in the new import file will not be removed from your eCat data. Obsolete records are removed only when the file import is error free.