Transmit to Partners
Transmit to Partners sends the ONIX metadata of your titles, and optionally their cover images, straight to the FTP, FTPS or SFTP server of a trading partner. You define each partner once per catalogue (address, credentials, paths, file naming), test the connection, and then transmit the current selection or search results in one click. The transfer runs as a background task, so you can keep working while the file is generated and uploaded.
Where to find it
- On the title list, open the Actions dropdown and choose Transmit to Partners. The dialog is available on ONIX 2.1 and ONIX 3.0 catalogues alike, to every user who can open the list.
- Partners belong to the current catalogue: a partner defined on one catalogue is not listed on another.
- The result of each transmission appears in the Notifications menu of the top bar (see The workspace).
Screen overview
The dialog lists your partners in two tables. The FTP Actions table (Name, FTP address, a checkbox per row) holds the FTP, FTPS and SFTP partners: Add a new partner opens the partner form, and Edit and Delete are shown on the partners created in ONIXEDIT Cloud. The POST Actions table (URL, Caption EN, Caption FR) holds the HTTP endpoints described below, with Add a POST Action, Edit and Delete. The Transmit [[NUMBER]] title(s) to selected partners button stays disabled until at least one row of either table is ticked; the number is the size of your selection, or the number of titles in the list when nothing is selected.
How to define a partner
In the dialog, click Add a new partner (or Edit on an existing row).
Fill in the connection:
Field What to enter Recipient Name A name for the partner; required. Connection Type FTP/FTPS or SFTP. Address The host name or IP address, with an optional port after a colon ( ftp.example.com:2121). An invalid value shows Invalid server address.Username / Password The credentials given by your partner. Explicit FTP over TLS Tick when the partner requires FTPS with explicit TLS. Passive Transfer Tick when the partner requires passive mode (usual behind firewalls). Remote path for ONIX file The folder on the server where the ONIX file goes, for example /Path/To/ONIX.ONIX 3 version ONIX 3.0 catalogues only: ONIX 3.0 or ONIX 3.1 for the file sent to this partner. In the Filename card, choose how the file is named (see below).
In the Cover Images card, tick Copy Cover Images if the partner wants the images as files. The card then enables Remote path for Images (pre-filled with the ONIX path), Image name Mask (pre-filled with
[ISBN13]) and Only keep the cover image link in the ONIX file.Click Test Connection. A green Connection Successful! or a red Connection Failed! message appears; Cancel interrupts a test that hangs.
Click OK to save the partner.
How to name the ONIX file
The Filename card offers three options:
- Filename Mask — a fixed name built from any valid characters and tokens, without the extension, for example
Prefix_[yyyyMMdd]_Suffix. Click Tokens to insert a date token ([yyyyMMdd],[ddMMyyyy],[yyyy-M-d],[yyyy]…), a date and time token ([yyyyMMddHHmm]…) or a date, time and seconds token ([yyyyMMddHHmmss]…), in the day, month and year orders of your choice. - Ask for filename — the mask is disabled and ONIXEDIT Cloud asks you for a name at each transmission (see below).
- Use TitlePage File Naming Conventions for ONIX file extensions (.XOT and .COT) — the file is uploaded with the
.XOTextension and renamed to.COTonce the transfer is complete, as TitlePage requires. This option needs a full timestamp: a date-only token in the mask is replaced by[ddMMyyyyHHmmss], and that token is appended when the mask has none. It also switches off Ask for filename.
The Tokens button of the Image name Mask offers [ISBN10], [ISBN13], [EAN], [REF] (record reference) and [Original-Filename].
How to transmit titles
- Select the titles in the list, or run a search; without either, the whole catalogue is sent.
- Open Actions and choose Transmit to Partners.
- Tick the partners to send to and click Transmit [[NUMBER]] title(s) to selected partners.
- For each partner set to Ask for filename, the Enter a filename for dialog opens with the partner's name: type the Filename (no extension), insert Tokens if you wish, then click Send to partner.
- The dialog closes and a Transmission to partners task is queued. Follow it in the Notifications menu; a failed transfer shows More Details with the reason.
One ONIX file is generated per partner, in the format of the catalogue (ONIX 2.1, or the ONIX 3 version chosen for the partner on an ONIX 3.0 catalogue), and uploaded to the partner's Remote path for ONIX file. When Copy Cover Images is on, the images of the transmitted titles are uploaded to the Remote path for Images under their Image name Mask.
POST actions
A POST action is a partner reached by HTTP instead of FTP: ONIXEDIT Cloud posts one field of each title (its record reference, ISBN13, EAN, ONIX_NOSEQ, a custom field or another ONIX tag) to the URL you enter — the way a web shop or a distributor's API takes orders for new titles. POST actions are defined in the POST Actions table of the Transmit to Partners dialog and can be launched from there, ticked like an FTP partner, or from the Actions dropdown of the title list.
How to define a POST action
In the dialog, click Add a POST Action (or Edit on an existing row).
Fill in the POST Action form:
Field What to enter Caption EN / Caption FR The name of the action as it appears in the Actions dropdown, in English and in French; the interface language picks the one shown. HTTP POST The URL that receives the request. Field The value posted for each title: Record Reference, ISBN13, EAN, ONIX_NOSEQ, ONIXEDIT Custom Field or Other ONIX Tag. Body The name of the custom field or the ONIX Tag to post, when Field is one of the last two. Titles Selection Which titles the partner accepts: Selected Titles Only (the action needs a selection), All or Selected Titles (selection, search or whole catalogue), or No Title Required (the request is sent without titles). Click OK. Delete on a row asks Do you really want to remove this POST Action from the list ? before removing it.
How to post titles
- From the dialog: tick the POST action (and any FTP partner) and click Transmit, as for an FTP transmission.
- From the title list: when the catalogue has at least one POST action, the Actions dropdown ends with Post Selected Products to followed by the caption of each action. Pick one and confirm; the confirmation names the scope — the current selection with its count, the current search, or the whole catalogue up to the task limit (see Actions on titles).
Either way a Transmission to partners task is queued and followed in the Notifications menu.
Tips
Amazon and cover images
When the address contains "amazon" and Copy Cover Images is on, ONIXEDIT Cloud offers to tick Only keep the cover image link in the ONIX file, because Amazon mishandles copied cover thumbnails.
Test before you transmit
A wrong path or password only surfaces as a failed task minutes later. Use Test Connection whenever you change the address, the credentials or the connection type.
Frequently asked questions
Which titles are transmitted?
The titles you have ticked in the list. With no selection, the current search results are sent, and with no search either, the whole catalogue. The Transmit button shows the number before you confirm.
Do I have to create an ONIX file first?
No. The transmission is a background task that generates the ONIX file for each selected partner and uploads it, together with the cover images if the partner asks for them.
Can I send ONIX 3.1 to one partner and ONIX 3.0 to another?
Yes. On an ONIX 3.0 catalogue, each partner has its own ONIX 3 version setting. On an ONIX 2.1 catalogue the file is always ONIX 2.1.
Why can I not edit or delete a partner?
FTP partners that were set up outside ONIXEDIT Cloud are listed for transmission only. Edit and Delete are offered on the partners and POST actions created here.
How do I know the transmission worked?
Open the Notifications menu of the top bar. The task Transmission to partners shows its progress, its result and, on failure, the error details.