Generic Import Excel Format

Overview

The Generic Import Profile is the default standardized Excel structure for the Data Import AccPack. If your data fits this structure, you can use the default import without any custom configuration. This page explains only the file format. For the XML mapping configuration and custom import structures, see XML Configuration.

The sample files at the end of this page contain a complete demo data set and a minimal sample. Use them as a starting point and fill in your own data.

Sheets

The Generic Import Profile consists of four sheets:

1. Data: all buckets and their content (key values, media assets). One row per bucket.
2. KeyValueTranslation: key label translations. Do not rename or change the header columns.
3. MediaAssetTranslation: media asset label translations. Do not rename or change the header columns.
4. MappingInformation: reference sheet explaining how to name header columns. Not used for import.

Do not rename the Data, KeyValueTranslation, and MediaAssetTranslation sheets.

note

The sample files also contain the sheets Bucket, Attribute, Price, MediaAsset, and MediaObject. These belong to an older import structure and are not part of the Generic Import Profile.

Data Sheet

The Data sheet contains one bucket per row. The columns are grouped into three areas: bucket columns, key value columns, and media asset columns.

Bucket

In the Data sheet, bucket information is defined by columns with the prefix Bucket_*.

Note: if a template or page template does not exist in the system, it will not appear in the UI even if saved to the database.

Key Value

In the Data sheet, key value columns follow this pattern:

• The first column is always named KeyValue_entityKeyValueId
• The following columns are the keys (e.g. headline, intro)
• Key labels can be translated per context using the KeyValueTranslation sheet

Context priority for key values:

• If a *_Context column next to a key column is defined, it controls that key's context
• Otherwise, KeyValue_Context applies
• Otherwise, Bucket_Context applies

Empty values:

• If a key value is empty, it is not saved to the database
• To force-save an empty value, use (empty) as the cell value

Key Value Translation

In the KeyValueTranslation sheet, define translated labels for each key. The sheet has three columns: Key, Label, and Context.

Media Asset

The start column for media assets is always MediaAsset_entityMediaAssetId.

There are two ways to define a media asset:

Simple

• No context, no translated label
• The image label, URL, or path is detected from the row value (e.g. mainimage, productimage)
• Column headers must not contain MediaAsset_ (except MediaAsset_entityMediaAssetId)

Example:

• mainimage value C:\images\baroquenheart\main_green.ai → label main_green, file main_green.ai, path C:\images\baroquenheart\
• productimage value https://superserver.com/icons.jpeg → URL https://superserver.com/icons.jpeg

note

The simple media asset syntax supports server volume paths. A mainimage column may contain the value file-system/aio/main_green.ai, where file-system/aio is the server volume and main_green.ai is the relative path to the file.

Detailed

• Supports multiple contexts, delimited by / (e.g. eng_US/fra_FR)
• Media asset label can be translated via the MediaAssetTranslation sheet
• Column headers must contain the MediaAsset_ prefix

In the sample files, a detailed media asset uses the columns MediaAsset_entityMediaAssetId, MediaAsset_label, MediaAsset_sequence, MediaAsset_filename, MediaAsset_path, and MediaAsset_type. To define more than one media asset per bucket, repeat this column block. The demo data set uses up to four blocks per row.

note

Media asset context is not yet supported.

Media Asset Path and Server Volumes

The MediaAsset_path column accepts two kinds of values:

• A direct filesystem path (e.g. C:/images/baroquenheart/). This path is specific to the operating system of the server.
• The path of a server volume (e.g. file-system/aio). We recommend this option.

With a server volume path, the Excel file contains no OS-specific paths, so the same file works on Windows and Linux servers.

The value must match the path of a server volume defined in the Publishing Server volume configuration (ServerConfig.xml, with custom settings in custom_ServerConfig.xml). See Server Volume Configuration in the installation section. In this example, the volume is an object storage volume, marked with the tag object-storage:

During import, the system verifies the referenced server volume. If it matches a configured server volume, the media asset is marked as object storage content (IN_OBJECT_STORAGE = 1 in the database).

If no matching server volume is found, the import continues without interruption. The media asset is not resolved, and no image is displayed.

• Simple media asset: The system reads the full path from the mainimage column, splits it, and stores the parts in the database (FILE_NAME, FILE_PATH).
• Detailed media asset: The system reads the MediaAsset_label, MediaAsset_path, and MediaAsset_filename columns to locate the image.

The image files must exist in the referenced volume. For uploading the demo images, see the notes in the examples.

Media Asset Label Translation

In the MediaAssetTranslation sheet, define translated labels for each media asset. The sheet has the same three columns as the KeyValueTranslation sheet: Key, Label, and Context.

Context

Context columns (Bucket_Context, KeyValue_Context) use the format language_country (e.g. deu_DE). The country part can be left empty to address only the language (e.g. deu_). The Context column of the translation sheets uses the same format.

Mapping Information

The MappingInformation sheet is a reference guide for naming header columns and supported attributes. It is not used during import and only serves as a reference for the user.

The sheet lists the supported header columns for seven mapping areas:

Area	Header column	Explanation
Bucket	Bucket_identifier	Bucket id
Bucket	Bucket_label	Bucket label
Bucket	Bucket_parentBucketId	Parent bucket id
Bucket	Bucket_entityBucketId	Bucket entity
Bucket	Bucket_template	Bucket template
Bucket	Bucket_pageTemplateId	Bucket page template
Bucket	Bucket_sequence	Bucket sequence
Key value	KeyValue_key	Key of key value
Key value	KeyValue_value	Value of key value
Key value	KeyValue_keyLabel	Label of key value
Key value	KeyValue_entityKeyValueId	Key value entity
Key value	KeyValue_template	Key value template
Key value	KeyValue_sequence	Key value sequence
Media asset	MediaAsset_label	Media asset label
Media asset	MediaAsset_entityMediaAssetId	Media asset entity
Media asset	MediaAsset_origin	Media asset origin
Media asset	MediaAsset_sequence	Media asset sequence
Media asset	MediaAsset_template	Media asset template
Media asset	MediaAsset_filename	Media asset filename
Media asset	MediaAsset_path	Media asset path or URL
Media asset	MediaAsset_type	Media asset type
Price	Price_amount
Price	Price_currency
Price	Price_entityPriceId
Price	Price_groupIdentifier
Price	Price_itemPrice
Price	Price_label
Price	Price_listPrice
Price	Price_minOrderQuantity
Price	Price_oldItemPrice
Price	Price_oldPrice
Price	Price_origin
Price	Price_packagingUnit
Price	Price_price
Price	Price_priceUnit
Price	Price_quantityOfPackingUnit
Price	Price_sequence
Price	Price_template
Price	Price_validFrom
Price	Price_validTo
Text	Text_text	Text value
Text	Text_entityTextId	Text entity
Text	Text_template	Text template
Text	Text_sequence	Text sequence
Cord	Cord_label	Cord label
Cord	Cord_template	Cord template
Cord	Cord_sequence	Cord sequence
Cord	Cord_entityCordId	Cord entity
Cord	Cord_destinationBucketId	Destination bucket id
Content metadata	Meta_entityContentMetaDataId	Content meta data entity
Content metadata	Meta_key	Content meta data key
Content metadata	Meta_value	Content meta data value

Sample Files

• (Official)BaroqueNHeart_Plants.xlsx: the complete Baroque-N-Heart Plants demo data set. The MediaAsset_path values use the server volume path file-system/aio (see Media Asset Path and Server Volumes), so the same file works on Windows and Linux servers. Your volume configuration must contain a volume with this path.
• Sample_NewStructure.xlsx: a minimal sample with a few example rows. It still uses direct filesystem paths.

For an overview of the demo data set and a step-by-step import, see Example.