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QuoteWerks Knowledgebase Topic (Article ID 5805)
Setting up Tech Data LinkThis information applies to : |
Article ID 5805 Created/Updated May 30, 2007 Category Tech Data
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How do I link to Tech Data database? Solution: You must have the Professional or Corporate Edition of QuoteWerks in order to link to the Tech Data Database. Services they offer PRODCOD Product Data Files Tech Data provides their product and pricing information in a DBF database known as 'PRODCOD'. QuoteWerks can link directly to this database once it has been downloaded. Because it is already in database format, QuoteWerks can link to it thereby skipping the need to perform a lengthy import process. This database file is updated daily. The pricing in this file is specific to your account, however manufacturer special rebate pricing (such as "Cisco Gold VAR" pricing) that you may have uniquely qualified for will not be reflected in this file. This file contains all products that Tech Data sells including products that require authorization to sell (even if you do not have authorization to sell those products). 'PRODCOD' can be downloaded from the Tech Data website. You need to have an ID and Password to retrieve this file from the Tech Data website. If you do not already have an ID and Password for their website, you can request one by calling their 'Electronic Commerce Support' number at 1-800-222-7926. FTP Price file download Tech Data also provides to their customers a text file that can be downloaded from their FTP site. An FTP file is not automatically available to you. You must first contact Tech Data 'Electronic Commerce Support' at 1-800-222-7926 and request the file be prepared for you. Since this file is specifically prepared for you, you can request which of the 300,000 plus products that Tech Data carries are included in the file. If you only sell some of those products, you can request that the FTP file only contains items or manufacturer's line that you sell. The file will not contain any products that you are unauthorized to sell. The pricing in this file is specific to your account, and includes manufacturer special rebate pricing (such as "Cisco Gold VAR" pricing) that you may have uniquely qualified for. Important: You must already be a Tech Data customer before you can gain access to their site and product downloads. How to obtain and install the price file The following step-by-step instructions will make it easy for you to obtain their product database files. Please note that the distributor web site designs are changed often, and as such these instructions are subject to those changes. Step 1: Call their Electronic Commerce support number to obtain your ID and password for their web site. If you already have an ID and password, please skip the next step. Step 2: In your web browser, go to www.techdata.com. Select your country from the “Select Country” drop down menu and click on the [Go] button. Step 3: Click on the “Login” link highlighted in yellow to the right to login into Tech Data. Step 4: Enter your ID and Password and click on the [Login] button. Step 5: Click on the “Price Files” link in the Tech Data Tools section of the default login page. Step 6: Select the ProdCOD.exe file from the list of available product files. You will be prompted to Open or Save the file. Please select the Save option. We recommend that you save the file to the QuoteWerks \ TECHDATA folder as a standard although you can save it to a different location if you prefer. After you have downloaded the file, run the PRODCOD.EXE file to uncompress the database files. After the databases are uncompressed, QuoteWerks can be linked to the databases. Note: Tech Data does offer a “GetProd” utility that can be setup to run every morning (using a scheduler like Windows scheduler) that will download this Tech Data ProdCod file. For details, check the Tech Data website, or call the Tech Data Electronic Commerce support phone number listed at the beginning of this topic. How to link to Tech Data Step 1: Go to the Products|Setup Product Sources menu, then select the [New] button on the Product Data Source Setup window. Step 2: From the “Select Database Type” window select “Tech Data” from the drop down menu. Then click on the [Next] button to move to the next step. Step 3: Click on the button to “Select folder where distributor database is located.” Simply navigate to the location where you saved and uncompressed/extracted the ProdCOD.exe file. Click on the [Next] button to move to the next step. Step 4: Once you click on the [Next] button from the previous step, QuoteWerks will begin indexing and linking to the uncompressed database files. Step 5: Once the indexing and linking is complete, you will receive a “Map Columns” window. This window allows you to map the Tech Data database columns to their QuoteWerks counterpart. By default, we have already mapped the Tech Data fields to QuoteWerks fields. If you want to change our default selections, simply select the Tech Data field on the right, then select the QuoteWerks field on the left and choose to map or un-map the fields. Click on the [Next] button to move to the next step. Step 6: On this window you can “Set Column Titles.” Column titles are the names of the columns as they will appear in the Product Lookup window for this product source. For example, in QuoteWerks the Availability field is called ’Availability’. In the Tech Data database the field name is called ‘QTY’. You may want to refer to this field as ‘Inventory On Hand.’ By clicking on the [Change Title] button you can rename the column title. Click on the [Next] button to move to the next step Step 7: Here you can choose to display all of the products in the database when you select this product database from the Product Lookup window. Click on the [Finish] to complete the link to the Tech Data pricelist. Note: It is recommended that you do not select this option for the Tech Data pricelist. Step 8: Lastly, you receive a notification that “The database is now available for use under the Products|Lookup menu. Click [Ok] to be returned to the Product Data Source Setup window. How to obtain and install updates Step 1: In your web browser, go to www.techdata.com. Select your country from the “Select Country” drop down menu and click on the [Go] button. Step 2: Click on the “Login” link to login into Tech Data. Step 3: Enter your ID and Password and click on the [Login] button. Step 4: Click on the “Price Files” link in the Tech Data Tools section of the default login page. Step 5: Select the ProdCOD.exe file from the list of available product files. You will be prompted to Open or Save the file. Please select the Save option. We recommend that you save the file to the QuoteWerks \ TECHDATA folder. After you have downloaded the file, run the PRODCOD.EXE file to uncompress the database files. Once the databases are uncompressed, QuoteWerks can then be re-linked to the databases. Step 6: Go to the Products|Setup Product Sources menu, then select the “Tech Data” data source and click on the [Edit] button. On the “Select Database Type” window, click on the [Next] button. Warning: When processing an update, there should be no users running QuoteWerks. Step 7: On the “Select distributor database folder” window click on the [Next] button to start the re-create of the indexes. Click [Yes] to confirm that you want to re-create the indexes. Note: The Re-Create Index dialog will only appear when linking to Tech Data Step 8: Unless you need to make changes to the “Mapped Columns” or “Column Titles,” click on the [Next] button on each window. Lastly, click on the [Finish] button on the “Finished” window to complete the update of the Tech Data price list. Manufacturers List and Product Categories Once the link to the Tech Data has been established, go to the Products|Lookup menu to launch the Product Lookup window. Select the’ Tech Data’ product data source from the list of product sources on the left. You will see that QuoteWerks has created a list of product categories and manufacturers that will make it easier to find item in this database. The Looking up and adding products to the quote Chapter will explain how to retrieve products from these linked offline price guides. NOTE: When processing an update, there should be no users running QuoteWerks. |
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