Interesting IMPEX in hybris

Impex:

·         As we know that everything is an extension in hybris, so  integrated text-based import/export extension is called impex .

·         Before going to know impex one must have knowledge on Comma-Separated Values (CSV) data files.

·         Impex file is allowed to create,update,delete and exporting platform related data to and from comma-seperated values(CSV)data files both during runtime and hybris commerce suite initialization or update process.

Key Features:

ü  Import and export hybris Commerce Suite data from and into CSV files.

ü  To feed data into database we go for impex.

ü  Impex file is developed based on the "BeanShell Script".

The ImpEx extension is a converter between items in the hybris Commerce Suite and a CSV file, and the other way round as shown below:

By using Hybris Impex extension it is easy to:

ü                 Update data at run time

ü                 Creating initial data for a project or migrating existing data from one hybris            Commerce Suite into another.

Impex Syntax:

Before going to syntax first we should know terminology used while writing impex file. There are different line types appear  are:

• Headers in header section 
•  Lines of values value line section
•  Comments 
•  Macro definitions 

Header:

An ImpEx header line has the following structure:

mode type[modifier=value];attribute[modifier=value];attribute[modifier=value];attribute[modifier=value][;...];attribute[modifier=value]

• Mode specifies what is to be done with the following value lines (insert, update, and so on)
• Type defines the type of item to be processed (category, product, media, type, and so on)
• Attribute describes which item attributes the columns are mapped to. The value lines supply the actual values for the items that are translated using the header settings.
• Modifier gives additional information for translating a value record to the mapped type attribute.
  
  

Example for header row:

INSERT_UPDATE category;code[unique=true];name[lang=de];name[lang=en];$supercategories;$thumbnail;description[lang=de];order

Red color-Mode

Blue color-item Type

Orange color-Attribute

Violet color- Modifier

$- macros

     This header states that each following value line creates or updates a category   instance, until another header occurs.

Value of line:

The values inserted in attributes level in type are called value of line.

Ex: In the above example true, en etc represents value of line

Comments:

A comment starts with hash symbol #.

Ex: # inserting values into category type---- comment

INSERT_UPDATE  Category ;id[unique=true];name

Macro definitions:

Macro definitions start with the dollar symbol $, and they are referenced by $macro name. impex extension allows definitions of macros. you don't have to type repeating strings into your csv file.

Macro must be first  statement in impex file. We can have any number of macros.

Ex: $catalog=catalog(id)-- macro
$catalogVersion=catalogVersion($catalog,version)--- macro
INSERT Product; code; $catalogVersion--- Header

Wherever the term $catalogVersion appears, it is replaced by: catalogVersion(catalog(id),version)

In hybris, Data feeding can be done in 3 ways: 

1.  Through HAC 
2. Through HMC
3.  Programmatic Way

1.     Through HAC: 

1.               start server and navigate to http://localhost:9001 
2.       Goto console tab -->select ImpEximport 
3.           write or copy impex statement-->click on validate content then if script valid it will display saying that import script is valid. 
4.      After Validating Click on Impex Import Tab. Now Impex Script is imported.

2.    Through HMC:

•      Start server and navigate to http://localhost:9001/hmc/hybris 
•     In tree menu select system-->Extract system-->select Tools 
•     Tools extracted-->select import-->New window is opened 
•     click on import file-->new window opened
•      select choose file-->select that impex file-->next upload file 
•          finally select start button -->your record is successfully uploaded

3.    Through Programmatic way:

As an alternative to populate the data model, we will use the ImpEx approach.

ImpEx files for essential data and project data can be prepared without the need for additional data configuration.

Convention:

During the initialization and update processes, the platform looks for ImpEx files in the <extension_name> /resources/impex folder. In particular:

    For essential data: The platform scans the <extension_name> /resources/impex  folders for files with names that match the pattern essentialdata*.impex and imports the files during the essential data creation.

    For project data: The platform scans the <extension_name> /resources/impex folders for files with names that match the pattern projectdata*.impex and imports the files during the project data creation.

The ImpEx directory does not exist by default. You must create it and copy files to it.

For example, if you have the following folder structure:

    resources/impex/essentialdataOne.impex

    resources/impex/essDataOne.impex

    resources/impex/DataOne.csv

    resources/impex/projectdataOne.impex

The files essentialdataOne.impex and projectdataOne.impex are located and imported during the essential and project data imports respectively.