Importing price lists has always been a hit/miss type of operation.   For this reason, we have standardized on a single format for all price lists available from this Internet site which is referred to as "Native Format".   All price lists that have been made available for distribution via this Internet site will conform to the "Native Format" standard.

The "Native Format" is also the same format as created by the Shop Trac™ Utility | Export | Price List routine.

Extracting the TXT File

If the price list you plan to import was downloaded from our Internet site, then this downloaded file must first be converted to a TXT file.  If you have received this price list on a diskette, or copied/downloaded it from an update CD, then this step is not required. The EXE file from our Internet site should be downloaded into a temporary location on your hard drive. To do this, after selecting the download link, choose 'Save As' and then specify a temporary location somewhere on your hard drive. To extract the actual price list, execute this downloaded file. For example if you downloaded the DIPACO price list file into the \TEMP directory on drive C: then the following sequence of commands would extract the DIP2000.TXT file from this compressed EXE file and store it on a formatted floppy diskette in the A: drive.

C:
CD  \TEMP
DIPACO  A:

The result of these commands would be that a file called DPC2000.TXT would now exist on the floppy diskette in the A: drive. This is the file that will be imported into either IMS/ACTR/ACTP or Shop Trac™.  Please make a note of the file name that is extracted as this name will be required by the import process.  This file will normally NOT have the same name as the EXE file!

After the TXT file has been extracted, the downloaded EXE file can be deleted since it is no longer required. In our DIPACO example, the commands to do this are:

C:
CD  \TEMP
DEL  DIPACO.EXE

Shop Trac™ Import Instructions

If the price list you will be importing was downloaded from our Internet site, they assume that you have already extracted the TXT file from the downloaded EXE file. See Extracting the TXT File for instructions.   If this price list is being imported from a supplied diskette, the TXT file will already be in expanded form on this diskette.

Shop Trac™ has features where you can import the entire price list, and then use this price list to update your existing inventory. The price list remains online for any future price checks and/or updates.

The price list is created using the Utility | Import | Price List option. This option will display a list of existing price lists in a popup window. If you wish to update an already existing price list then choose it from this list. If you wish to create a new price list, then press the <INSERT> key and specify a name for this new price list. After a price list name has been selected and/or specified a SED with the following fields will be displayed:

Note 1: Use this field to add a prefix to the import file part numbers.

Note 2: The factors given here will leave the prices as they are in the import file. Most price lists show a 'List Price' that is 'Net Price' X 2. You may need to change these factors if your pricing is different, or when converting a US price list to Canadian currency.

Note 3: Price lists downloaded from this web site do NOT include any core pricing. Any core part numbers will already be formatted as required by Shop Trac™ with a 'C' suffix on the original number.

Note 4: The 'Package Prices' field is a Yes/No field. A 'Yes' indicates that the prices are to be divided by the package quantity to result in an 'Each' price. For most suppliers this field will be a 'No'.

Once an on-line price list has been updated and/or created prices of existing inventory are changed using the Edit | Inventory | Price Change | Price List option. See the instructions provided in your users manual.