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faq:e-commerce_xml_notes

Third Party e-Commerce Integration

PDF on XML style-sheet creation for integration of System Five to an existing e-Commerce web site.

Summary

This document is meant as an overview document to the integration of Windward System Five™ and a third part e-commerce shopping cart. That is the exchange of inventory and category information from System Five and the downloading of sales information collected from a shopping cart.

Known Limitations

  • The existing e-commerce system must be able to import inventory and/or category information

in some delimited or XML format.

  • Windward Software does currently have a method of automating information exchange with third party e-commerce sites, but does require the purchase, installation and configuration of Windward Anywhere ™. Please contact your Account Manager for details.

The manual process in which the user has to: Moving information from the web site to System Five:

  • Login to the web site and perform the required steps to generate the data file containing sales information
  • Save the sales information to a network share, ftp site or email or other cloud transport method.
  • Log into System Five and run an XML import to load the sales information from the stored location.

Moving information from System Five to the web site:

  • The user needs a method to upload the data file from System Five into their e-commerce system.
  • Whether this is done through FTP or an upload form on some page of their sites admin program is up to the customer and their web developers.

Payment Processing

Due to the changes in Credit Card Security regulations and PCI Compliancy, the method of encrypting Credit Card details that System Five uses and an e-commerce solution may use will be specific to those two applications.

In the past, the method of transferring Credit Card details required that communication was done over a secure https connection so that the card number and expiry date were not transmitted in plain text. Any external system would have to follow suit since we have no easy way to decrypt information in the stylesheets.

Depending on the method, we may be able to handle a stylesheet decryption using JScript within the stylesheet. JScript can instantiate all sorts of ActiveX and COM objects. This would require considerable time and effort to implement which has made it impractical solution in the past.

What we Deliver?

Our deliverables for the integration are the style sheets that convert data files between our format and the selected e-commerce shopping cart.

Samples

Sample XML files can be downloaded via the link below: ftp://ftp.windward-ca.com/pub/programmers/XML_Samples.zip

Extract the files in the ZIP to your local hard drive to review.
Below is a list of the Files and Folders contained in the ZIP file:
File Description and 
..\XML_Samples\e_commerce_invoice Folder
..\XML_Samples\categories.xml A sample of the Category data in
xml format.
..\XML_Samples\inventory.xml A sample of the Inventory data in
xml format.
..\XML_Samples\e_commerce_invoice\invoice.xml A sample of an invoice in xml
format.
..\XML_Samples\e_commerce_invoice\invoice_with_notes.txtA copy of the invoice above, with
notes on the structure and content
of the file.
..\XML_Samples\e_commerce_invoice\readme.txt Read me file.
..\XML_Samples\e_commerce_invoice\simpleinvoice.xml A example of simple invoice in xml
format.

The files above are provided as a guide to the format required for integration with System Five™. Windward Software will require copies of the output files from the existing e-commerce system that meet the following minimum requirements. An export from the e-commerce system of the customer and sales information in some delimited (comma, tab, or comparable format) or XML format.

faq/e-commerce_xml_notes.txt · Last modified: 2016/06/30 10:21 (8 years ago) by gmarshall