Get Started with Parsers - Transport

CartonCloud enables automated workflows and operational efficiencies, reducing admin and repetitive manual tasks, giving you and your team time back in your day for the important tasks. One way in which CartonCloud does this is through the use of Parsers. 

What are Parsers?

Parsers are able to read data and then import the data into CartonCloud in a format the system can understand. Using the data, the Parser can create or update a record in CartonCloud, for example, a Sale Order or Consignment. 

Parsers are usually in the format of an excel spreadsheet (xlsx, csv etc.), and the document will contain all the data pertaining to the orders. There are three ways in which Parsers can be uploaded to CartonCloud:

1. Web application upload - from the ‘Parse a file’ page on the web app, the parser file can be uploaded directly to CartonCloud. The customers can also use the ‘Parse a file’ page from their customer login.
2. Email - the parser file can be uploaded via emailing the file to a set email address. Once emailed in, the orders will be automatically created in CartonCloud.
3. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) - for this method, please contact the CartonCloud team for more information.

Benefits of using Parsers

• Eliminates repetitive data entry
• Reduces time spent creating/sending through orders for both your staff and your customers
• Data integrity - as the data only has to be entered once (as you can copy and paste the data into the file or use the file the data is already formatted in), you reduce the chances of error
• Reduce correspondence and admin time spent with the customer as they can email the order straight into CartonCloud, eliminating your involvement in the process

Use cases for using Parsers

• If your customer has a large number of orders which need to be entered.
• If the data for the orders already exist in the format (for example, the software that generates the orders exports them in a CSV format)

Types of Parsers

There are a number of different Parsers you can use with your CartonCloud account. This is great news for Nick from Coffee Warehousing and Distribution because he wants all his customers to send their orders in through email Parsers. This includes their Sale Orders and Purchase Orders.  

One of Nick’s customers, Country Roasters, has invoices that need to be attached to each of their Sale Orders. Country Roasters doesn’t want to have to manually upload each invoice to the corresponding Sale Order in CartonCloud. Nick looks through the list of available Parsers and sees the Sale Order Invoice Parser. With this Parser, Country Roasters will be able to send through the invoice documents via email and they will automatically be uploaded and attached to the relevant Sale Order in CartonCloud. This works by scanning the uploaded document for the reference number and matching it against the Sale Order it is to be attached to.

Please see the list of available Parsers here. 

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How to set your Customer up with Parsers

Now that you know what a Parser is and the benefits they bring to you and your Customer’s operations it is time to learn how to set your Customer’s up with Parsers. 

Nick knows that Country Roasters will be using Parsers to send through their Purchase Orders and Sale Orders. Country Roasters have requested that they email the file in. Nick knows this is possible with CartonCloud, so he downloads the default Purchase Order and Sale Order parser template to send them. He also mentions to them that if they require other fields to be parsed in or would like a custom template, the CartonCloud team can set this up at a cost. 

Before Nick sends the template to Country Roasters, he needs to configure the particular Parsers to the customer. Follow along with Vincent as he steps through the process of configuring a Parser to the Customer. 

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Parsers in action

Now that you know what a Parser is and how to set them up for your Customers it is time to cover how to use the Parsers! 

Ways to upload a Parser

As covered in the first unit, there are three ways Parsers can be uploaded to CartonCloud. 

1. Web application upload - from the ‘Parse a file’ page on the web app, the parser file can be uploaded directly to CartonCloud. The customers can also use the ‘Parse a file’ page from their customer login.
2. Email - the parser file can be uploaded via emailing the file to a set email address. Once emailed in, the orders will be automatically created in CartonCloud.
3. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) - Please contact the CartonCloud team for more information on this method.

We will cover web upload and email in this unit. For information on File Transfer Protocol (FTP), please contact the CartonCloud team. 

This is great for Nick as he can offer his customers options on how they wish to send through their orders, making the order creation process flexible and adaptable to best meet their operational workflows. 

Parsers are not only limited to customers. Nick and his team will also be able to use Parsers and both upload methods if required. This is helpful if a customer cannot upload their orders or there were mistakes with the original orders, and the orders need to be deleted and uploaded again. 

Web upload (‘Parse a file’)

You can upload Parsers through the web app using the ‘Parse a file’ page in CartonCloud. This page is accessible for both Administrator and Customer user roles. 

You will need to ensure you have followed the steps in the ‘How to set your Customer up with Parsers’ unit for your customers to be able to upload Parsers through the web application. If you have not completed this step, please go back to this unit or see this page for steps to set up your customer with the Parser. 

Steps to upload a Parser using the ‘Parse a file’ page

You will need to ensure you have downloaded the template associated with the Parsers and use this template to fill in your order data. Once you have filled in the template, you will upload this file to CartonCloud. 

(1) Download the template 

• Navigate to the relevant Parser by typing Parsers into the Search for anything bar. Click View against the relevant Parser.
• Click Download.
• Alternatively, you can use this page to download the relevant file.

(2) Parse the file 

• Navigate to the Parse a file page, More>Parse a file.
• Select the Customer you wish to parse the file for.
• Select the relevant Parser.
• Select the file.
• Select if you wish to send an import email to the customer.
• Click Upload.

Emailing in Parsers

The second option is to email the file into CartonCloud. This is an efficient and effective workflow for your customers as they can upload their orders in one simple step! They won’t even need to be logged in to CartonCloud. 

To do this, you will need to ensure you have followed the steps in the ‘How to set your Customer up with Parsers’ unit for your customers to be able to email Parsers through to CartonCloud. If you have not completed this step, please go back to this unit or see this page for steps to set up your customer with the Parser. 

Follow along with Vincent as he shows you how to email a Parser into CartonCloud. Watch the video from timestamp 5:43.