14
ESL User Manual
4. Back Office
The back office triggers the ESL server application by placing a file containing either only product
modifications or a complete product database in a predefined folder. Only one file may reside in this
folder to enforce sequential handling. This means that the Back office may only store another file,
when the current file has been processed and moved to a different folder.
To avoid read/write conflicts the database files should first be copied into the specified folder under a
temporary name (i.e.,
*.tmp
) and renamed to the correct name afterwards. The ESL server
application will only trigger on “rename file” events. If any database file is placed in the folder while
the server application isn
ʼ
t running, the file will be processed as soon as the server application is
started again.
4.1 Database format
Currently the only supported database format is CSV (comma separated values) with the
following properties:
•
Allowed field separator(s):
1) semi-colons
•
Methods: 1) modification database (add, replace, delete) and 2) complete database
•
Each product in the database must contain a unique product ID field to allow linking of an
ESL to a product
•
If there
ʼ
s a 1-to-many relation between the unique product ID and the barcode on this
product, then the same product should be added to the database multiple times for each
unique barcode, but all other fields must be identical. Also any product modifications (like
price) should be applied on each record for this product
•
The adding of a product barcode field to the database isn
ʼ
t mandatory. However it is
recommended, since it adds the possibility to quickly link ESLs to a product by simply
scanning the barcodes on the product and the ESL using the barcode terminal.
•
If any, comment lines should start with
ʻ
#
ʼ
When using a
modification database
, the modification field should be located at the beginning
of each line.
As modification code, the characters
ʻ
I
ʼ
(Insert),
ʻ
R
ʼ
(,) and
ʻ
D
ʼ
(delete) should
be used
.
The typical record format of a product modification database would be:
<Modification code>;<Unique ID>;<Barcode>;<Description>;<Field
4>;<Field 5>;etc.
When a
complete database
is used (meaning any new database file replaces the previous
one), the
first (modification) field of each line must be left empty
.
The typical record format of a complete product database would be:
;<Unique ID>;<Barcode>;<Description>;<Field 4>;<Field 5>;etc.
