Purpose of the App

Why the app exists, which problem it solves and what a typical day-to-day workflow looks like.

The problem

Suppliers in the building trades deliver their catalogues as DATANORM files: text files with fixed record types where each line describes an article, a price, a long text or a part list line. A full catalogue easily runs into several thousand articles, and every price round brings a new file.

Without a tool that means transferring data by hand or maintaining a bespoke import script. Both are error-prone, and neither scales once several suppliers deliver several times a year.

What the app takes over

The app reads the file, maps each record type to the matching Business Central fields and puts the data into intermediate tables first – staging. Items, price lists and BOMs are only created once you approve.

That intermediate step is the heart of the design: you see what arrived before it touches your item master.

From the file	becomes in Business Central	Details
A and B record	Item	Import Process
T record	Extended text on the item	Import Process
P and Z record	Purchase price list for the vendor	Purchase Price Lists
R record	Discount group	Discount Groups
S record	Product group	Product Groups
J record	Assembly BOM on the set item	DATANORM Sets

A typical workflow

1

Receive the file

The supplier makes the file available – by email, download or on an SFTP server. With SFTP the app collects it on its own, see Automated SFTP Import.

2

Import and assign the vendor

As you read the file in you pick the vendor it belongs to. That assignment applies to every article, price and set in the file and later determines which price list the prices are written to.

3

Review staging

You see every imported line with its status. Reported duplicates are resolved here, before anything is written to the item master.

4

Approve and synchronise

After approval, items, price list lines and BOMs are created. This step can also run automatically.

Who the app is for

Role	Responsibility
Purchasing / master data	Read files in, review staging, approve
Administration	Setup, vendor assignment, SFTP, price list options
Business users	Use items and BOMs in day-to-day work

Which permission set covers what is described under User Roles & Permissions.