Can I intergrate into Sage Line 50?
Yes, although it is using a third party facility which we do not support directly.

The import module can be purchased at:
http://www.skyewright.co.uk/win32/importplus/

then use the customiser below http://www.skyewright.co.uk/downloads/customiser.cgi?dl=cxcommer-01

That download is a small install wizard.

N.B. that install wizard will only allow installation on a system that already has a copy of ImportPlus (i.e. it checks for a key file in the install folder).

With ImportPlus and the customiser installed, run the ImportPlus Driver desktop shortcut (ImportPlus Driver is an optional front end that I use to build and make command line calls to the "real" program, i.e. Import Plus).

In the operation list of the "Basic" interface you'll see a CXCOMMER section, in which are a series of Operations:
  • Pop3 xml Orders Import
  • Pop3 xml Sales Invoice Import
  • Silent pop3 xml Orders Import
  • Silent pop3 xml Sales Invoice Import
The first pair of those operations are the ones I'd expect you to use during testing. They import your "orders" as Line 50 sales orders (i.e. SOP Module) and as Line 50 sales invoices (i.e. Invoicing Module) respectively. A given user would chose one or the other depending on how they wished to operate their business processes in Line 50.

It's highly unlikely that they'd sometimes use one and sometimes the other, unless they were operating several sites and handled things differently for each.

To see the command line that any operation uses to make the actual call to ImportPlus, [RightClick] the operation, then choose "Show operation command line".

The second pair of operations (the ones starting "Silent") do the same things, but add a couple of extra parameters to turn off all user interface elements (including the final results window) and to define an e-mail setup (which will need editing to provide real details) for sending out a copy of the results if there is a problem. Once you have things importing as you wish, you could use one of these "silent"

operations as the basis for "behind the scenes" import, e.g. by taking the command line and setting it up as a scheduled task.

As supplied the configurations read e-mails from a skyewright testbed pop3, the one that handles e-mails sent to the address I gave you earlier. I'm not using that for anything else at present, so you may use that for initial testing if you wish. At some stage I'll change the password.

To modify the configuration to read from a different pop3:
  1. [RightClick] the operation
  2. Select "Edit operation defintion". First time you do this you will be asked to select an executable to open syma files with (unless you've already set up an association). Wordpad or Notepad would be fine, but if you have a favourite text editor, you might like to choose that.
  3. Once the file is open, you'll see that it uses "ini" file syntax.
  4. Scroll down to the [Download] section, and within that find the -input line. Currently that is:
    -input=pop3.skyewright.co.uk,testbed%pop3.skyewright.co.uk,f4Yw38FS,110

    The basic general form is
    -input=<pop3server>,<mailbox>,<password>

    Optionally you can include a port number, i.e. -input=<pop3server>,<mailbox>,<password>,<portnumber>
  5. Edit that line to specify the pop3 of your choice.
  6. Save.
Having done that all 4 of the CXCOMMER operations would not access the pop3 you have set up, i.e. the [Download] section is common to all 4 operations.

Lower down the ImportPlus Driver screen you can provide the location of the Line 50 data (if you didn't do that ImportPlus would ask at runtime).

You may wish to point that to the Sage demodata folder initially - since the import creates customers & products on-the-fly that should be fine.

If you point it at real Line 50 data please take a backup BEFORE you run the operation!

The operation makes a LOT of changes to your Line 50 data. I believe it does as you intend, but you (and your client) are the real ones to judge that.
You can't have too many backups!

You may also provide a Line 50 user name & password if you use them.
DemoData uses MANAGER and blank (which you don't need to type in as they are the default). If a user & password (other than MANAGER & blank) are required but you leave these fields blank ImportPlus would ask at runtime.

When ready, Click Run.

After that it is all automatic.

The pop3 will be checked for new mail. E-mails with a subject line that starts with "Internet Order" will be downloaded as text files to a working folder in the Skyewright folder hierarchy.

The xml attachments will be extracted and saved to another folder in the Skyewright folder hierarchy. The pop3 source text will be shifted to a 'processed' sub-folder of the pop3 working folder.

The xml files will then be parsed as customer data. Customer records will be set up for any unrecognised customers. Existing customer records will not be updated.

The xml files will then be parsed as product data. Product records will be set up for any unrecognised products. Existing product records will not be updated.

All the above is common to all 4 operations.

Next the xml files will be parsed as either sales order or sales invoice data depending on the operation selected.

If you have not run one of the "Silent" operations, at the end of the process a window will show a summary of the actions taken (the level of detail shown can be adjusted to some extent, for the present I've left it at the standard level). The results are also available as a html file (the window you see is just displaying that file).

If you have run one of the "Silent" operations, the results are still written to a file, but it is not displayed.

If you have run one of the "Silent" operations and there was a problem of some sort, ImportPlus will attempt to send the results file as an e-mail attachment.

In order for the e-mail to have any chance of getting out, the configuration will need editing.

To modify the configuration to have valid e-mail sending details:
  1. [RightClick] the operation.
  2. Select "Edit operation defintion". First time you do this you will be asked to select an executable to open syma files with (unless you've already set up an association). Wordpad or Notepad would be fine, but if you have a favourite text editor, you might like to choose that.
  3. Once the file is open, you'll see that it uses "ini" file syntax.
  4. Scroll down to the [CXCOMMER: Silent pop3 xml Orders Import] section, and within that find the -feedback line. Currently that is:
    -feedback=mailto:-to support@sample.dom smtp.some.dom -u postmaster -pw 2!2!2!

    -to => destination e-mail address
    the next parameter is an smtp server
    -u => user name
    -pw => password

    For more about the syntax, see the "-feedback " article in the ImportPlus help file. Consideration of e-mail starts about halfway down the article.
  5. e) Repeat d) for [CXCOMMER: Silent pop3 xml Sales Invoice Import].font>