Automated data mnipulation software

I'm looking for software that can pick up a file, say , csv format, manipulate the data according to a set of rules, and save it in another csv format.

This would be used to convert the output from one system to an input file for the next. Free/low cost is better, as I'm an itty bitty business with just enough sales to cover the annual hosting fees. I'm willing to look at demos of commercial stuff, but the more expensive it is, the longer it'll take before I could get it.

I'm not having much luck in google searches. I hear Kronos Connect is good, but it's part of the full Kronos package, they don't sell it separately.

Thanks or help/recommendations!

 

Really need more information in what you are trying to achieve.

 

That part of your statement doesn't make sense. CSV is a format.

Do you have Microsoft Excel? It works well for parsing CSV data. A macro could be saved in Excel to automatically a file of a particular name and parse, i.e. separate, that data and then save it to a file.

 

So what I want to do is pick up an xls from one directory and a csv from another. After doing some comparisons, I'd like to output to a third file in a format I can drop on my web server for uploading into my site so the online inventory gets updated. I can get teh files to drop into place in a scheduled way, so I'd like to get the comparison and translation done in an automated, no interaction fashion so I can just set it and forget it.

Does that help?

 

So, why not use a SQL server. If you are using .xls, which leads me to that you are using Access, you are using the wrong software to achieve what you are doing. As for your reply, I am still really confused in what you are trying to achieve. Is this a business website, or some website through a third party, that people are purchasing goods from?

 

The original file is a excel file that comes from an upstream supplier. I want to compare the items in this excel with the items in my web store, and update prices, quantities on-hand, etc. My web store requires a csv to import into the existing shopping cart script.

The upstream supplier's excel file drops into a directory on a scheduled basis. I want an automated solution to pick it up, process it and spit out a csv with the data in the right columns to import into the shopping cart.

Does that clarify at all?

 

You would have to use a macro to do the import & export. Also, it is best to always verify the data, than just let the system automatically update, since this is how problems happen, when it comes to pricing. When you look at large retailers, they take the info and load it into a database through sql. From there, the stores pull from that database to update the local information.

Depending on how many products you have in your inventory, I would keep it simple, and try to work with a database, and using the info from the .xls to save to the .cvs file after you verify. It also comes down to what software you are using locally to maintain the files on your end. You the only one that will be able to figure out what you want to do with the data, in order to make it work for you, with your database that you are trying to maintain.