Product Groups

Product groups from the S record: how they are created and what you can use them for.

Where they come from

Product groups come from the S record of a DATANORM delivery, usually in a separate file with the extension .WRG. An S record carries the product group number and its description.

On import the app creates entries in DATANORM Product Groups. Articles reference those entries through their product group.

Import order

Read the product group file before or together with the article file. Then articles carry a product group whose description is already known.

Reading the article file first does not cause an error: the articles carry the product group number, only the plain text description is missing. Importing the .WRG file later fills in the descriptions.

Main group and subgroup

Alongside the product group, DATANORM knows a main product group. The app keeps both values on article staging so you can follow the supplier's structure.

Field on article staging	Contents
Product Group	The article's product group.
Main Product Group	The parent group, where the supplier provides one.

Use in Business Central

The DATANORM product group is a structure of its own and does not replace the Business Central item category. New items get their item category from Default Item Category Code in the setup, see Base Configuration.

Product groups are useful to

• follow how the supplier organises their range,
• filter the articles of an import,
• pass the grouping back out on export.

Switching processing off

If you do not need product groups, turn off Process Product Groups in the Record Filters section of the setup. S records are then skipped.