Overview

The PIM Manager is a tool (SmartTab / Insight) where subscribers of PIM data can view and import data from the PIM provider into their own Quick3 client. PIM Manager gives the user more control, than the standard "Connect to PIM-model" method found in the "Makes and models" view.

By default this tool is not enabled, and Quick Systems needs to be contacted and grant access before this will appear in a Quick3 client.

Important

Importing a single item can take several seconds. And, importing many items can take minutes. So, when an import has been started, please do not press "submit" several times. Instead, be patient and wait for the import to complete.

Disclaimer

This tool is in early development, which means there might be bugs and unexpected behaviour. As well, the tool is currently only in English.

Location

This module, if enabled for the client, is located below "Entity" and "Insights".

Prerequisite

The PIM Manager tool needs to be activated for the client, and the client needs to have an active PIM subscription for this tool to show any data. As well, some specific client data is needed as well. Which data depends on the use of this tool.

Actions

This tool has several related actions, as shown on the image and described below.

Action: CustomContext Clean-up

Behind the scene, this tool is using a part of Quick3 called "Custom Context" for storing user data. After a wile there will likely be outdated data in this part of the system. This action has been created to clear outdated data from Custom Context. In the time of writing it is only outdated Autosync data (data related to the Autosync feature) that is removed. Use of this action will likely not be needed often, as it is purely meant for administrative purposes.

Action: Run Auto Sync

Executes importing of all items where "Auto Sync" has been set to true.

Action: Manage PIM

Manage PIM is the main action of this tool. This is the action that is used to import items from the PIM provider to the local client.

When the "Manage PIM" action is selected, a window pops up. There are several operations that can be executed from that window:

Operation: Import Item(s)

The main operation is "Import item(s)", that is used for importing one or more items that were selected in the PIM Manager overview grid view. Several choices has to be made for items to be imported:

Price list out

Set the outgoing price list that the item(s) will be using.

Key

Define if the (Quick3) item code or the supplier's item code should be used as unique key. In most cases the correct value to use here is "Item code".

Item group (IG)

Select which item group the capital item should be using after import.

IG accessories

Select which item group the accessory items should be using after import. Note: if the accessories should use multiple item groups, the saved mapping feature needs to be used.

Node tree method

When importing an item, there are different option for how to handle the makes and models node tree, related to the item(s) that are imported. To better understand the different options, an example is provided.

Let us say that the following item is to be imported:

CHILD NODE ONLY

For "Child node only", only the node which the imported item is connected to will be imported. For this method to be used, a root node with the same name as the PIM provider/supplier needs to exist. In our example "BRP" is the name of the PIM provider. So, a root node named "BPR" has to exist in the "Makes and models" hierarchy:

By default, when importing an item using this method, all items are placed under an "UNKNOWN node" which is automatically created on import (note: the name of the default node can be changed in Custom Context, or directly in the node tree in "Makes and models"):

Having imported items ending up under the unknown node, is more than likely not wanted. To control the placement of imported items the "Description" field in the node's settings can be used. In that field it is possible to specify the item number / SKU of the item(s) that should be placed under the respective node. In our example "LYN27-FAVA" can be added to a more fitting node:

Then, when importing the same item as above, this becomes the placement of the new item's node:

It is possible to specify multiple filter / search values in the description field, separated by a comma. It is also possible to use wildcard ('*' or '%'). So, in our example, to have 2026 and 2027 models ending up under the same node, one can write "LYN26-FAVA, LYN27-FAVA". Or, if one wants all items with "FAVA" in the item code, wildcard characters can be used to specify "*FAVA*".

FULL TREE - FROM ROOT

The "Full tree - from root" option creates the entire node tree, starting at the root level. The name of the root node that is imported is used to locate potentially existing nodes in the client's node hierarchy. If no existing root node (a node with the same name as the node that is to be imported) is found, a new node is automatically created.

In our example, the result of an import using this node tree method, would be that the entire tree would be created automatically:

FULL TREE - FROM ANYWHERE

If starting at the root level is not wanted, the "Full tree - from anywhere" method can be used. Then all existing nodes are used to search for existing matches. If no matches are found, a new node tree is created at the root level.

If this method would be used in our example, the following node would be picked for the import:

Note: For all node tree methods, if several nodes exist with the same name, the newest node is selected.

Node tree top

Sometimes, it is not relevant or needed to import the entire node tree. To do a partly import of a node tree, the name of the top can be specified in this field. If an existing node is found with the same name, this will be used. If not, a new node with this name will be created as a new root node.

In our example, we can for example define "Lynx" as the tree top:

The result such an import will be:

Auto sync

Define if the item(s) shall be included in the "Auto sync" routine. Please, note that currently no scheduled worker is importing the items where the auto sync has been enabled. The action "Run Auto Sync" needs to be triggered manually, for all auto sync items to be re-imported.

Operation: Save ... defaults

To avoid having to specify all values on each import, defaults can be saved.  When this option is selected,four different defaults can be saved, as shown here:

Option: Save item group mapping

This option can be used to save mappings in between the PIM provider's item groups and the local client's item groups. Specify the PIM's IG code in the text field, and select the local client's IG from the  dropdown. Upon import, this mapping can be used for setting the item group for all imported items.

In more details:

Every PIM supplier's (capital goods) item has an item group. The item group can been seen in the overview list (in the grid view). As well, a capital goods item can have accessories as well. And each accessory item will also be connected to an item group (the accessories can not be seen in PIM Manager though).

To import an item the PIM Manager needs to know what item group to use. For example, the item might be connected to item group "10" for the PIM supplier. However, locally, when this item is imported, it might be correct to connect this item to item group "1" instead. To tell PIM Manager what item groups to use there needs to be a mapping. In this example, there needs to be an example in between "10" at the PIM and "1" at the local client.

Option: Initialise CustomContext

This option only needs to be executed one time. It has to be done before this module can be used. Doing this the CustomContext part of the system is automatically set up.

Action: Import item(s) using defaults

When default values has been specified, this action can be triggered for a quick import of one or more items. So, after the initial setup has been done, this is the choice to quickly import new items.

Troubleshooting

Value not found! ... PIMMAN ...

A "Value not found!" error, where "customcontextvalue" and "PIMMAN" is mentioned means that configuration data is missing from CustomContext. Fix this by selecting the "Manage PIM" action, and then choosing the "Initialise CustomContext" operation.

Failed to complete action < Import item(s) using defaults >

A "Failed to complete action" error, where "using defaults" is mentioned, means that one or more default values have not been set / saved. Fix this by selecting the "Manage PIM" action, and then choosing the "Save ... defaults" operation.

An item group mapping is missing

The "An item group mapping is missing" error means that there is missing a mapping (connect in between the PIM item's item group and the local client's item group. The code that there is missing a mapping from is presented last in the error message. In this example the code "10-PIM" is missing.