Upload Information for ACNielsen Source Data (SAP Library

Upload Information for ACNielsen Source Data

Data Transfer Methods

ACNielsen U.S. has two standard ways of transferring data to a customer:

IBM 3490/E cartridge

FTP, where ACNielsen sends the flat file extract to the customer's data center. You must have a dedicated line into ACNielsen (that is, T1 or fractional T1). In addition, you must supply ACNielsen with an IP address where the file is to be sent. ACNielsen does not maintain an FTP server.

Caution

Your company must have a subscription license for ACNielsen data before implementation can start.

ACNielsen File Formats

ACNielsen U.S. offers three standard formats for the file delivery of their scantrack data. SAP has selected Tape Format C as the standard format for a physical upload into the Business Warehouse. This format assumes that the order of key figures is fixed.

Alternatively, you can use Tape Format A if you make one modification in the key figure upload. Whereas Format C has a variable length format for key figures, Format A has a fixed length format. If a customer orders more key figures from ACNielsen than fit into a single line (Sequence Number = 1), then ACNielsen adds a new line with "Sequence Number = 2" and so on. Since not all key figures may not fit into a single record, you need to add a routine to the InfoSource 0ACN_FACT_DATA to check the sequence number (0ACN_SEQNO) to ensure that the data is uploaded to the correct key figures.

Note

If you are a customer of ACNielsen U.S., you should contact them for their latest proprietary documentation about the file formats. ACNielsen may change their documentation at any time without prior notice to SAP.

If you are a customer of an ACNielsen affiliate outside the U.S., you should check with your local ACNielsen subsidiary to determine whether files are transferred in the same format.

All InfoSources can be found in the administrator workbench among the InfoSources under Data Provider ® External Market Data ® ACNielsen.

Upload of Master Data (File 1, Tape Format C)

In Tape Format C, ACNielsen sends all the master data and metadata descriptions for a single category in one file – File 1. The information about brands, UPC's, and so forth, has to be extracted from that file by interpreting a "record type" that is placed at positions 10-12 on every record. As such, the master data file would have to be processed several times to update all master data. However, once you do an initial upload, it is likely that only UPC codes change on a weekly or monthly basis: some will disappear, new ones will appear.

Processing details for ACNielsen File 1 records

Record type	Format C description	Upload procedure
010	Copyright	No upload.
020	Client Name	No upload.
030	Category Description	No upload. You can maintain the small amount of category master data manually in BW by entering ACNielsen's product module.
040	Data Type Definition	No upload. For performance reasons, there are no plans for metadata assignment "on the fly." Instead, it is assumed that key figures in File 2 will be in a fixed order. If that order is changed, new key figures are bought from ACNielsen, or existing ones removed, then you will need to adapt the communication and transfer structure accordingly.
120	Date	No upload. Fiscal year periods must be defined in advance in BW Customizing.
130	Characteristic Attribute Description	No upload. As with the data type definition, a predefined sequence of UPC attributes is assumed
140	Market Description	Upload of market codes and their long text.
410	Brand Description	Upload of product module, brand ID, and medium length text.
500	Item Description	This must be processed twice for a separate upload of attributes and long texts. If more than seven Nielsen characteristic attributes have to be uploaded, you must add routines for checking the sequence number (0ACN_SEQNO). It is assumed that ACNielsen always delivers attributes in the same order.
700	Industry Subtotal Description	No upload foreseen in standard business content. Since industry subtotals are individually defined aggregations of UPC's, no standard approach in syndicated data analysis can be offered for them.
800	Description Totals	No upload.

Upload of Fact Data (File 2, Tape Format C)

As with File 1, fact data must be extracted from File 2 by interpreting a record type that is placed at positions 10-12 on every record. In contrast to File 1, however, File 2 must be processed three times: once each for market, brand, and Nielsen item details (Record types '400', '415', and '510' of ACNielsen).

Standard business content has a single predefined InfoSource for File 2: 0ACN_FACT_DATA.

Note

The order of key figures in a category/file is assumed to be fixed. Otherwise, a metadata interpretation "on the fly" would have to have been implemented, which would have reduced performance significantly.

Processing details for ACNielsen File 2 records

Record type	Format C description	Upload procedure
400	Market Detail Record	Uploaded into InfoSource 0ACN_FACT_DATA
415	Brand Detail Record	Uploaded into InfoSource 0ACN_FACT_DATA
510	Item Detail Record	Uploaded into InfoSource 0ACN_FACT_DATA
710	Industry Subtotal Detail Record	No upload foreseen in standard business content. Since industry subtotals are individually defined aggregations of UPC's, no standard approach in syndicated data analysis can be offered for them.
900	End of Report Record	No upload.
999	End of Tape Record	No upload.