Preparing the Frame File

The frame file must be properly formatted for the products to be uploaded to AcuityLogic correctly. This topic explains how to prepare the frame file before performing your initial upload.

  • The following procedure is based on Excel 2016. The user interface may vary in other versions of Excel.
  • The frame file is a macro-enabled document, and you must enable macros in Excel to use the review functionality.
  • The following procedure can also be used to prepare the accessory file.

To prepare the frame file

  1. In Excel, open the frame file template provided to you.
  2. At the bottom of the Excel window, click the Frame File worksheet tab.
  3. At the top of the Excel window, click the Data tab.
  4. On the Data tab's ribbon, click From Text/CSV.

    The Import Data window appears.

  5. In the Import Data window, find the file that contains the data that you want to upload.
  6. Click Import.

    The data appears in the import interface window.

  7. In the import interface window, click Load.

    A new worksheet called Sheet1 appears in the Excel file.

  8. Do one of the following:
    • If the text in columns L or P of Sheet 1 is in scientific notation, go to step 9.
    • If the text in columns L and P of Sheet 1 is correctly formatted, go to step 10.
  9. Correct the text format in columns L or P:
    1. In Sheet1, click the header of the column whose text format you want to correct.

      The column entries are highlighted. For example:

    2. At the top of the Excel window, on the Data tab's ribbon, click the Text to Columns icon.

      The Convert Text to Columns wizard appears.

    3. In the Step 1 of 3 wizard window, ensure that the Delimited file type option is selected.
    4. Click Next.
    5. In the Step 2 of 3 window, do the following:
      • In the Delimiters list, ensure that only the Tab check box is selected.
      • In the Text qualifier drop-down list, ensure that the double-quotation mark ( " ) is selected.
    6. Click Next.
    7. In the Step 3 of 3 window, select the Text option in the Column data format list.

      By default, General is selected.

    8. Click Finish.

      The data format in the selected column is now correct.

      If necessary, repeat these steps to fix the format in the other column.

  10. Copy the frame data to import as follows:
    1. In Sheet1, select row 2 by clicking it.

    2. Select the rest of the data in the worksheet by pressing CTRL + SHIFT + DOWN ARROW.
    3. Copy the selected data to your clipboard by pressing CTRL + C.
  11. At the bottom of the Excel workbook, click the Frame File worksheet tab.
  12. In the Frame File worksheet, right-click cell A12, and select the Values paste option from the pop-up menu to paste your data into the worksheet.

    The Values paste option retains the validation formatting used by the frame file template.

    A large amount of pasted data may take a minute to load into the frame file.

  13. Ensure that macros are enabled.
  14. Validate the data by clicking Check Data.

    If data is invalid or missing, the information is displayed at the top of columns I and J.

    The total number of frames loaded into the worksheet is also displayed.

  15. Review the pasted data:
    • Red cells: Required data is missing. Cells with missing data can potentially cause the file upload to fail.
    • Blue cells: A "zero" measurement must be corrected. Cells with zeros can be uploaded but must be manually corrected at the individual frame level.
    • Yellow cells: Optional data is missing. The missing data is not required for the upload.
    • Row 8 contains a data check field that compares the total number of entries in column A against all other columns in the tab:
      • If a green "Valid" cell appears at the top of a column, the column is not missing data in any of its cells.
      • If a red "Missing Data" cell appears at the top of a column, check the column for red cells.
  16. If price list values need to be added or updated in columns W (Custom Retail Price 1) through Z (Custom Retail Price 4), ensure that you rename the columns as "Retail XYZ" where XYZ is the name of your price list.
    The name of each column must start with "Retail".
  17. Ensure that values are entered for all frames in column AE (Company ID).
  18. Ensure that "Complete" is entered for all frames in column AI (Frame Part).
  19. Save the frame file in CSV format.
    • Ensure that the frame file name includes "Frame".
    • If you are updating frame information, save the file with a different name as your previous frame files. Using a different name for each version of the frame file allows the load process to determine if a file was loaded previously.
  20. Reopen the frame file, delete rows 1 through 9 and 11 and save the file in CSV format.
  21. Open the file in Notepad++ and confirm that the values in columns L (UPC #) and P (Item Number) are not in scientific notation. If the values are in scientific notation, reopen the file in Excel, change the columns to Numbers format with no decimal places, and save the file CSV format.
  22. If the data is acceptable, place the file in the target directory on the FTP server for processing as part of the integration.
    • The file should be placed in the configured target directory in the FramesAndAccessories folder.
    • The AcuityLogic X-Link integration parses the file and places it in the XIF Server\C:\XlinkTemp folder to be processed if it passes preliminary inspection.
    • Successfully processed files are moved from the XIF Server\C:\XlinkTemp folder to the XIF Server\C:\XifArchive folder. If the integration runs and the load process cannot process a file, it remains in the XIF Server\C:\XlinkTemp folder. When the integration runs next, the load process attempts to process the file that could not be processed before attempting to process new or corrected files. To resolve potential processing issues, it is recommended that you remove the file from the XIF Server\C:\XlinkTemp folder. If you are using a hosted server, contact Eyefinity Customer Care to remove the file before attempting to process additional files.
    • Files that cannot be processed need to be corrected, renamed, and placed in the FramesAndAccessories folder for processing.

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