When using a Data Source to import Jobs and keep Products updated, you may run into some issues. The following article goes over common issues and their troubleshooting steps. In addition, we will cover frequently encountered Process How-To's.

This is a quick tip on how to check if a Product is available on the Data Source and also double-check the Product Properties that are available there.

Head to the top menu, then select Production → Jobs → 'Create Job' → 'From Scan'

If you get the following error message, then the product is not part of the Data Source file(s), and we suggest double-checking the file itself to confirm the Products availability.

If the product is available on the Data Source file, you will get the following view after scanning/manually inputting the code:

On the left side, you will see all of the properties that are available on the Data Source– allowing you to double-check the values.

You may have noticed that once a Product reaches the 'Done' status, some properties do not continue to update with the Data Source. One potential reason this would occur is that the properties you are trying to update are 'System Properties.'

While you can update a custom property even after the product reaches the 'Done' status, properties that are set as 'standard' in the system can no longer be changed after the Product has been delivered to the Asset Delivery location.

In addition to these properties that can not be updated after Asset Delivery, some are further protected and can not be updated via Data Source at any point after initial import.

It's also important to remember that Creative Force only supports the encoding type 'UTF-8.' If your data/values are of an alternate type, such as Latin encoding, the data will not be imported or displayed in Creative Force.

To check the mapping columns, go to Studio Settings → Data Source. Hover over the Data Source you want to check and click Actions → Mapping Column.

When you have unmapped columns on a running Data Source, you can remap those and click ‘Save’. You will then see further sync options; the logic for these will be explained in the ‘Mapping Sync Options’ section of this article.

The data you would like to ingest into the system may change from time to time. Depending on the type of data and change required, you may sometimes need to add additional columns to the Data Source file.

There are different ways to achieve this and different steps you should follow based on the file type you use. We’ll guide you through the different methods below.

When using a JSON file to import and keep Products updated, if you would like to add a new property to be mapped:

If you want to have the newly added property available on Products that already exist in the system, you will want to follow the Manual Update Process via the Product-level or Job-level 'Update from Data Source' action.

If you want to add a new property to your existing Data Source file that does not use Delta File updates, you have two immediate options.

When using the 'Update With Delta File' method for your Data Source, and wanting to add new properties.

When you go to the Data Source Mapping menu, you will see the 'Add New’ button.

Enter the column name and select a corresponding property in Creative Force to map, then ‘Save’. You will then see further sync options, which will be explained in the ‘Mapping Sync Options’ section below.

After saving the updated column mapping using the steps above, you will be prompted to select one of the following options:

By selecting this option, the updated column mapping will be automatically applied to all Data Source syncs or updates moving forward. Existing product records from previous syncs will remain unchanged.

This works best if you are planning to capture a new data point moving forward and do not want to affect the existing product data.

By selecting this option, the updated column mapping will be synced to all existing Data Source records, including delta files, if applicable.

Once the sync is completed and the Data Source status returns to 'Data Ready,' then Products and Samples can be manually updated with the new mapping applied by following the 'Manual Update Process' detailed in the next section.

There are two options to perform a manual update, and each is described below.

Head to the Product View → Find the Product you would like to update with information in your Data Source → Then, select the 3-dot menu → and 'Update from Data Source.'

Head to the Job View → Find a Job under a Workspace assigned to your Data Source → Then, select the 'Actions' button → and 'Update from Data Source.'

There are a few common error messages that can come up when working with Data Sources. These errors will be related to an unexpected status being returned in the Data Source section of your Studio Settings.

Despite having the Delta files named correctly, you can sometimes encounter this error. Typically, this is found to be caused by the columns of the Delta files and the Main file no longer matching as expected.

After correcting any variances between the two files, the issue should resolve during the next sync attempt.

When seeing this error message, it can be an indication that the file name of the Delta File has not been set up correctly. Please make sure to follow the naming convention tips as shown below:

A 'Cannot Sync' message will be shown under the status when specific requirements are not being met by the system. Hover over the status to see the related error in full.
​

The error may refer to one of the following limitations or requirements:

A scheduled sync was completed, but the expected file was not found in the path as expected.

To resolve this, please verify that the file is currently in the exact location the path is set to in the Data Source configuration settings.