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Electronic product catalog: installation and configuration of the client application

Volodymyr Vytyshchenko
Volodymyr Vytyshchenko

Trade automation expert at Torgsoft

The Torgsoft Electronic Catalog is a free client application that you (as a seller) can provide to your wholesale or regular retail customers. The client installs this program on their computer and gets direct access to your assortment. In this application, they can see your real stock balances, current prices, and product photos.

Why is this useful for the entrepreneur?

The main goal of this tool is to automate order processing and relieve managers' workload.

Instead of answering phone calls asking "is this in stock", sending Excel price lists, or taking orders via messengers, you give the client a ready-made tool for independent work. The client forms the cart themselves, sees the total amount, clicks the send button, and this order automatically goes to your central Torgsoft database. This eliminates errors in manual data entry and speeds up goods shipment.

For this system to work and the client's computer to exchange data with your database, the application must be configured beforehand. In this article, we will analyze step-by-step how to correctly fill out the TorgsoftClient.ini configuration file and connect it to your FTP server.

Step 1. Configuring the synchronization object in Torgsoft

To get started, you need to configure data transfer from the accounting system.

1
Go to the Warehouse menu — Synchronization with online store and create a new synchronization object.
2
In the Category field, be sure to select Electronic catalog.
3
In the Information delivery address and Photo delivery address fields, select or create connection parameters for your FTP server (specify the address, login, password, and directories).

Step 2. Filling out the client application configuration file

For the correct operation of the client program (which you will pass to the client), it is necessary to configure the TorgSoftClient.ini configuration file.

Open this file using any text editor and fill in its parameters:

FTPServer — address of your FTP server.
FTPLogin — login to access the FTP server.
FTPPassword — password for access.
FTPDir — directory on the FTP server where information is stored.
FotoFTPServer — FTP server address for storing photos.
FotoFTPLogin and FotoFTPPassword — login and password to access photos on FTP.
PhotoFTPDir — directory on the FTP server where product photos are stored. If left empty, the program will access the root FTP folder.
LabelPicture — image file depicting your logo or other information.
Website — link to your website (will be displayed in the lower right corner of the client program).
LoadPhotoPicture — an image temporarily displayed if a photo is on the server, but the client application hasn't downloaded it yet.
LoadPhotoBigPicture — a placeholder image shown during the process of downloading enlarged photos from the server.
NoPhotoPicture — an image shown if there is no photograph for the given product.
NoPhotoBigPicture — an image displayed when attempting to view an enlarged product photo if it's not in the database.

Step 3. Initial data transfer

For the client to see the product catalog through the configured application, you need to upload the data to the server.

1
In Torgsoft, go to Warehouse — Synchronization with Online Store.
2
Click the Update button so the program forms a list of products to upload.
3
Click Perform synchronization.
4
In the window that appears, select the photo transfer parameter: «transfer all photos» (recommended for the first upload) or «transfer new and modified photos». If necessary, you can specify an Rtf file for displaying news in the client program.
5
Click Transfer.

After the successful upload of products and photos to the FTP server, the electronic catalog client program is ready for use and order acceptance.