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Flexible Job File (FJF) for Batch Processing

Create print catalogs with no human intervention

Launch Publishing
Jobs from a File

The Flexible Job File (FJF) allows you to launch publishing jobs from a file (Excel or tab delimited). Each job specification includes the configuration you want to use, a list of SKUs, and other parameters as needed.

Multiple Jobs
per FJF

The FJF structure allows you to submit any number of publishing jobs from a single file. The jobs can be entirely separate, using different configuration, parameters, and SKU lists.

Launch Manually

An FJF launch page is available that allows you to specify your file. You can either upload the file directly, or specify a URL.

Launch Programmatically

Coming soon, you will be able to launch an FJF from any other system via our API.

Use Configurations
in the Same Way

The concept of creating a publication via an FJF is not much different than the standard approach. You create and use your configuration the same as if you were launching from the user interface. Your FJF simply specifies which configuration to use.

Any Products,
in Any Sequence

You can use the FJF to include as few or as many SKUs as you want (the limits of your plan apply). You can also control the sequence of the SKUs via the FJF.

Option to
Restrict Categories

If any of your products are contained in multiple categories, all occurrences of those products will appear. If that is not what you want, the FJF allows you to specify which categories are to be included in the publication.

Integrate FJF with
Any Enterprise System

The FJF structure is simple, and can be generated programmatically. This is the perfect way for you to use your CRM or other system to automatically launch and handle publications created by Catalog-on-Demand.

How To Use Flexible Job Files (FJF) to Submit Multiple Jobs —  Manually or via API

Part I: Purpose of Flexible Job Files (FJF)

Flexible Job Files (FJF) allow you to:

  1. Submit jobs without having to manually select products. This can be done two ways:
    1. Manually via a user interface to upload an FJF file
    2. Programmatically via API calls
  2. Control the sequence of product families and SKUs in a publication
  3. Supplement products with additional attributes
  4. Supplement your publication with additional products that are not in your database

Part Ii: Using the FJF for product selection and sorting

Introduction

This is the simplest application of the Flexible Job File.

You can launch a publishing job with an FJF file that lists the SKU numbers that you want to publish. The SKUs will be published in the order that they appear in the FJF file. An example file is below. The file can be either tab delimited or Excel. (Note: If you use Excel, save it in the 97-2003 format.)

Configuration Changes

Your configuration is almost exactly the same as if you were using it without the FJF. The only difference is that you must select this Plug-In: Sort SKUs per Flexible Job File (FJF). To do this, go to Miscellaneous > Plug-Ins. Move the Plug-In from the left to the right side.

Be sure and save your configuration after making this change.

File Structure (sample here)

  • Cell A1: Must contain “Job ID”
  • Cell B1: Blank
  • Cell C1: The ID of your job. This ID is for your reference only. It does not appear in the publication. You must use letters, numbers, dash, or underscore. No spaces or special characters are permitted.
  • Cell A2: Must contain “Configuration”
  • Cell B2: Blank
  • Cell C2: Enter the exact name of the Catalog-on-Demand Configuration that you want to be used (we suggest that you copy/paste).
  • Cell A3: Must contain “Variable Data”
  • Cell B3: Must contain “Title”
  • Cell C3: Enter the title of the publication, which will appear on the cover page.
  • Cell A4: Must contain “Include Categories”
  • Cell B4: Blank
  • Cell C4 … C(n): Categories that you want to be included in your catalog. For example, a SKU might be found in three different categories, but you only want one of those categories to be published. The category levels must be delimited by #$#. For example, Furniture#$#Living Room#$#Coffee Tables.If you do not enter any categories, Catalog-on-Demand will pull products from all categories.
  • Blank row
  • After blank row: Column A must contain “itemNumber”
  • Next rows: Column A contains the list of SKUs that you want to publish
  • Blank row after the SKU numbers
  • After last blank row: Column A must contain “#$#”

You may submit multiple jobs from one file by repeating the above after the row containing #$#. The A column of the last row must always contain #$#.

How to Submit an FJF Job

  1. Go to this page: http://app.catalog-on-demand.com/fjf-upload
  2. Sign in with your normal Catalog-on-Demand user id and password (sign-in is automatic if you are already signed into Catalog-on-Demand)
  3. Choose your file.
  4. Click the Process button to start your job.

Note: The capabilities described on this page are available only to Catalog Edition Annual Plan subscribers.

Plug-Ins — If you are interested in the subject of batch jobs, you may also want to look into the use of Plug-Ins for Catalog-on-Demand. This is a powerful way to use JavaScript to transform your product data in just about any way you can imagine.