Codes and Descriptions

Across all the Merchandising solutions, codes and their descriptions are used to define valid values, reason codes, labels on screens, and a number of other similar functions. These codes are loaded on initial installation of the solution; however, Merchandising supports the ability for codes to be configured in implementations to hide those not relevant, update descriptions to better suit your business, and in some cases add your own codes. These updates can be made through spreadsheet download and upload processes. These processes are accessed through the main Merchandising task list under Foundation Data > Download Foundation Data and Foundation Data > Upload Foundation Data.

To add or update codes, you will select the template type of Administration from the Download Data screen and then the template Codes and Descriptions. Click the Download button and when prompted, choose to either open the .ods file that is generated or save the file and open it separately in the spreadsheet application of your choice. Once opened, there will be three sheets that can be modified - Code Types, Codes, and Code Description Translations.

Note: code types and codes cannot be deleted. If you wish to not have certain codes displayed, then the Used flag should be set to No for the code.

Add a Code Type or Code

To add a new code type, start in the Code Types tab, and, in a blank line in the template, select the action type of Create. Next enter a unique code type (up to 4 characters) and the description for the code type in the primary language (as defined in the Merchandising system options) of up to 120 characters. The Num Code Required column, which determines whether or not the codes in this type must be numeric, must be set to either Yes or No.

Next, the codes that belong in this code type must be added. To do this, move to the Codes tab in the spreadsheet. Again, navigate to a blank row in the sheet and select an action type of Create. Enter your new code type and then the first code (up to 6 characters), along with its description. The description here should be in the primary language (as defined in the Merchandising system options) and can be up to 250 characters. For system required, this should be set to No for any new codes that are added for an implementation. The display order allows you to define in which order you want the codes in this code type displayed and is a required field and must be unique for the codes in the type. Lastly, the Used column indicates whether or not you are using this code actively in the system; valid values are Yes and No. Continue this process until all the new codes for the type have been added. If you are adding a new code to an existing code type, this same process would apply, just using the existing code type instead.

Lastly, if you wish to add translations for the codes in languages other than the primary language, this can be done in the Code Description Translations tab. Navigate to a blank row and select the action type of Create and the language in which the translated description will be entered. Then, enter the code type and code for which the translation applies. Finally, enter the translated description. The translated description can also be up to 250 characters long. This is an optional step.

Update Code Type or Code

If you would like to update any details for existing code types or codes, a similar process will be followed as that described above for creating new codes. First, download the spreadsheet, and then navigate to the tab where you would like to make your updates.

The following columns can be updated in each tab:

• Code Types - Description

• Codes - Description, Display Order, Used

• Code Description Translations - Description

In the tab where you are going to make your updates, select the action type of Update, and then correct the value in the spreadsheet.

Upload Changes

For all actions defined above, once all the updates have been made to the data in the spreadsheet, save the file and close it. Then, return to the Merchandising screens and select Foundation Data > Upload Foundation Data from the main task list. In this screen, select the template type Administration and the template Codes and Descriptions. This will generate a process description automatically, but this can be updated if desired. Lastly, select the Browse button and navigate to the directory where you saved the updated spreadsheet.

Note: because all the tabs in this spreadsheet have a lot of rows, it's recommended that you delete any you are not updating from the template. This will not remove them from the system, but will make your updates process faster. Worksheets and columns in the spreadsheet cannot be removed, however.

To review the status of the upload and check whether any errors occurred, select the Foundation Data > Review Status task from the main task list.

For more information, see "Download/Upload Data from Spreadsheets" in the Oracle Retail Merchandising Do the Basics User Guide.