Create a Catalog

Introduction

A catalog is a collection of datasets and attributes. Content Hub enables you to create and manage different types of catalogs by ingesting data from various data sources, processing these and making them available for applications.  

Getting to Content Hub

Navigation:

• From the Blox Home Page -> Click on Content Hub to visit the Content Home Screen.
  • Click on Explore on the navigation bar to access Catalog Listing Screen.
• Alternatively, hover over the Content Hub on the navigation bar and click on Explore.

Creating a new Catalog

A catalog is a collection of datasets and attributes.

1. In the Explore screen, click on “Create new” to create a blank Catalog (no configuration is preselected), or Click on one of the “Suggested” Catalog to create a Catalog with some configuration preselected.
2. Enter an unique Catalog Name

Note: Catalog Name only supports alphanumeric, space & hyphen

1. Select a Catalog Type.
   1. There are 4 pre-set catalog types currently supported in Blox:
      1. Product Catalog
      2. Banner Catalog
      3. Offer Catalog
      4. Documents

Note: Catalog type enables Blox to identify the type of incoming data, so that it can be processed accordingly. In addition to these, any other type of catalogs can be uploaded as well which will be processed as is, with no presets.

1. Select a Segment for the Catalog.
   1. Following segments types currently supported in Blox:
      1. Default/No Segment
      2. Fashion
      3. Grocery
      4. Furniture
      5. Electronics
      6. Beauty
      7. Book
      8. Home & Kitchen
      9. Other
      10. Appliances

Note:

1. Segment type determines the attributes available to be mapped in 'Map Fields' step.
2. It also enables Blox to automatically extract attributes according to the segment type. The default extraction of attributes is only supported if the catalog type is product catalog and the segment type is fashion.

Note:

• You can save your Catalog configuration anytime by clicking on “Continue Later” CTA & clicking on “Save & Exit”. The Catalog is displayed on the listing screen in a draft state. (Partially filled details are not saved).

Configure a Connector

Connector enables you to connect with a data source that is used to fetch data. There are multiple upload methods supported in Blox. Below are some of the supported connectors and how to use them.

1. Enter the Upload Method Name for the connector
2. Choose an Upload method type from the dropdown

Note: Depending on the upload method type selected, the corresponding configuration fields will be displayed.

1. Fill all the mandatory fields for the selected upload method type
2. Click on “Test Connection”.

Note: Test Connection verifies all the details provided are valid. Test connection must be successful in order to proceed to the next step.

Set up sync settings

Sync frequency is the interval with which the data is to be fetched from the configured connector. You can choose to either append or replace the existing catalog with incoming catalog.

1. Once ‘Test Connection’ is successful, optionally you can also configure the Sync Settings.
2. Select a ‘Sync Mode’
   1. Full - All the records sent via the connector is processed and existing records in catalog is overwritten.
   2. Incremental - Existing records in catalog details are updated with new records details. Any new record is simply added to the catalog as a new record.
3. Select a ‘Sync Frequency’
   1. Once Every Few Minutes - configure the minute at which the connector should be synced
   2. Once Every Few Hours - configure the hours interval, time & time zone at which the connector should be synced
   3. Once A Day - configure the day, time & time zone at which the connector should be synced
   4. Weekly - configure the day(s) of the week, time & time zone at which the connector should be synced
   5. Once A Month - configure the date of the month, time & time zone at which the connector should be synced
   6. Yearly - configure the months(s) in the year, date, time & time zone at which the connector should be synced

Note: Depending on the ‘Sync Frequency’ option selected, the corresponding configuration fields will be displayed.

1. Configure all the required fields, to finish setting up Sync for the Catalog

After you finish configuring all the required fields & sync settings for the connector, Click on “Next Step” to proceed to the Map Fields step.

Map Fields

Blox identifies the fields(headers) in your catalog automatically. This step enables you to assign attributes and configure the various parameters for each of the fields. Below are some of the settings and how you can configure them.

1. Choose Language & Primary Key
2. Create Catalog Schema

Choose Language & Primary Key

Primary key is a field that has only unique values and can be used to identify each row in the catalog.

1. Based on the language of your Catalog Content, Select all applicable Languages.
2. Choose the field that you would like to set as the primary key

Note:

• We recommend you to select a field with only unique values as Primary Key.
• Only String data type is supported for Primary Key.
• The Primary Key is automatically indexed, faceted & made searchable.
• Once you submit a Catalog it is not possible to change the Primary Key.

Create Catalog Schema

A schema represents how the Catalog data is organized in the database; the relationship between entities like table name, field, attribute, field type etc.

• Field - The header of the columns in the uploaded data source (file/data stream) are displayed under the “Field” column.
  • Note:
    • For each field, select an attribute, the field type, validation and choose whether this field Indexed, faceted, made searchable, & available for personalization.
    • No special characters other than ‘underscore’ are supported.
• Attribute - Helps define the data within each field.
  • Choose an attribute from the available list to map it with the corresponding field.
    • Identifier - Represents the unique identifier of an item in the catalog. This is a Mandatory field.
      • Note:
        • Primary key & identifier can be the same for the catalog.
        • Only 1 field can be assigned to this attribute.
    • Category - Represents a field that captures the category of an item.
      • Note:
        • This field is used in building recommendations, enrich data and also faceting data.
        • Only 1 field can be assigned to this attribute.
    • Availability - Represents the field that contains information about the item being available or not.
      • Note: This field is mandatory when using ‘Incremental’ sync mode. When using ‘Full’ sync mode, all the items available in catalog are considered as available.
      • Only 1 field can be assigned to this attribute.
    • Image_url - Represents fields that contain image URLs for an item.
    • Primary_image_url - Represents fields that contains the primary image URLs for an item. This is a mandatory field for retail industry.
      • Note:
        • This field is used to render recommendation content, enrich data.
        • Only 1 field can be assigned to this attribute.
    • Price - Represents a field that corresponds to price of the item in the catalog.
      • Note: This field is used to render recommendation content, commute metrics.
    • Title - Represents a field that captures the name of the item in the catalog.
      • Note:
        • This field is used to render recommendation content, enrich data.
        • Only 1 field can be assigned to this attribute.
    • Description - Represents a field that contains long form text description of the item in the catalog.
      • Note:
        • This field is used to render recommendation content, enrich data.
        • Only 1 field can be assigned to this attribute.
    • Brand - Represents a field that captures the brand/manufacturer for an item.
      • Note:
        • This field is used in building recommendations, enrich data and also faceting data.
        • Only 1 field can be assigned to this attribute.
    • Ontology - Represents a field that captures breadcrumb/hierarchical organization of the item in the catalog. for eg: Kids > Socks > Cute Socks
      • Note:
        • This field is used in building recommendations, enrich data.
        • Only 1 field can be assigned to this attribute.
    • Gender - Represents a field that captures the gender of the item in the catalog.
      • Note:
        • This field is used in building recommendations, enrich data.
        • Only 1 field can be assigned to this attribute.
    • Region - Represents a field that captures the region of the item in the catalog.
      • Note: Only 1 field can be assigned to this attribute.
    • Page_url - Represents a field that captures the content page url of the item in the catalog.
      • Note:
        • This field is used in building recommendation content.
        • Only 1 field can be assigned to this attribute.
  • Note: Any field without attribute mapping will be used as-is.
• Field Type - Specifies the data type of the field.
• Validation - Denotes how the system should handle the sync process in case of an error with each field.
  • Skip row & sync: Skips the row with an error and continues to sync.
  • Delete cell data and sync: Skips the data of the field value and continues to sync
• Index - Makes the field available for filtering, querying and to retrieve metadata for the corresponding data point.
• Facet - Enable grouping and sorting operations on the field.
  • Note: Only Indexed fields can be faceted.
• Search - Enables the field to be available for text and reverse search. Searching for a value of this field type will show up in the search results.
• Personalize - Enables the field to be used for recommendation and personalisation.
• Click on the ‘delete’ icon to remove this file from the Catalog Schema.

Once you have created the schema, Click on Submit - Submitting a catalog starts the sync process.

• Note: It is not possible to Submit a catalog without mapping all mandatory fields in the catalog.

Note: You can follow the Catalog sync status via the “Status” column in the “Explore” screen.

Glossary

Left Navigation Bar	- The navigation panel present in the left hand side on the catalog creation screen. - The panel contains options for you to navigate  - to the connectors screen  - to the map fields screen. - The navigation bar can be opened and closed.
Download Sample File	Download a sample feed file with a recommended format.

note

SFTP Upload method

SFTP is Secure File Transfer Protocol, a protocol used for transferring files over the web. The configurations needed to establish a successful connection can be set up as shown below.

1. Enter the Upload Method Name for the connector
2. Choose the SFTP as the Upload method type from the dropdown

Note: The configuration fields will be displayed for the SFTP upload method.

3. Choose the file format: either CSV or JSON.

Note: A sample file for the selected format can be downloaded by clicking on the “Download Sample File” CTA

4. Fill all the mandatory fields for the selected upload method type
5. Click on “Test Connection”.

Note: The connection must be successful in order to proceed to the next step. If ‘Test Connection’ fails please check the details provided and try again

note

Manual Upload method

Catalogs can be manually uploaded to Blox. These files can either be in the CSV or JSON formats.

1. Enter the Upload Method Name for the connector
2. Choose the Manual as the Upload method type from the dropdown

Note: The configuration fields will be displayed for the Manual upload method.

3. Choose the file format: either CSV or JSON.

Note: A sample file for the selected format can be downloaded by clicking on the “Download Sample File” CTA

4. Upload the file by either dragging and dropping onto the upload space or by clicking on the browse CTA.

Note: Ensure that the size of the file uploaded is less than 50MB

note

Amazon S3 Upload method

Catalogs can be retrieved from your Amazon S3 buckets. The configurations needed to establish a successful connection can be set up as shown below.

1. Choose the Amazon S3  as the Upload method type from the dropdown

Note: The configuration fields will be displayed for the Manual upload method.

2. Choose the file format: either CSV or JSON.

Note: A sample file for the selected format can be downloaded by clicking on the “Download Sample File” CTA

3. Enter the Secret, Token and Key for the S3 bucket

4. Enter the File path.

Note: Make sure the file path is publicly accessible.

5. Fill all the mandatory fields for the selected upload method type

6. Click on “Test Connection”.

Note: The connection must be successful in order to proceed to the next step. If ‘Test Connection’ fails please check the details provided and try again