Sub-SKU Building System Logic

Note: This document only applies to Yahoo! stores.

Clarification of the differences between the Text File Order import and the Real-Time Order Import with regards to SubSKU building.

Order Manager was originally written to import orders from Yahoo text files. The SubSKU Building System made the assumption that a SubSKU was to be built based on the Order that the options appeared in Yahoo's text file. Seems reasonable enough and still functions this way today (don't want to upset any current users...)

When the Real-Time import was created, we faced a dilemma. When Yahoo "posts" the orders to our server, there is no "order" to the attributes - Yahoo does not provide any type of indicator identifying the order in which attributes are displayed for a product on the Yahoo site, therefore, we had to make assumptions regarding how the attributes should be ordered to provide a consistent SubSKU build. The most logical is to alphabetize the attributes once they are received and build the SubSKU accordingly.

For users who still import using the text file interface, we now have a conundrum - the inventory SubSKU building system will build the SubSKUs based on attributes that are alphabetized but the text file import will build using the order attributes are passed by Yahoo.

To deal with this issue of order vs. alphabet, we include the ability to override the "alphabetical" option by allowing the user to sort the "Option Lists" in the Inventory screen to match the ordering that appears on the Yahoo site. This way the Inventory Build SubSKUs system can be told to build the SubSKU in a specific order which will match the process used by the text file import.

When you switch to the real-time import, the system will continue this practice because it is designed to review the Option List sort order when it builds the SubSKU at time of order import. Should the Option Lists not be present in the inventory, the system will default to an alphabetical build.

With all this confuzzlement said, this is not really a "bug" but more a nightmare by design.

Keywords: order options , build sub sku