Glossary
When you come across a word in this documentation or in the interface that you do not know yet, it is explained here, briefly and with a link to the page that covers it in full. Every entry also names the words we do not use for it. Those are there because your ERP system or your shop often calls the same thing something else, and you should still find the entry.
Terms
Assignment
An assignment is a single line in the transfer plan: it says where a value comes from and which field on the other side it is written to. There are three ways the value can be produced: As Field Assignment from a column of the source, As Fixed Value the same for every record, or As Script Assignment calculated.
Not used: mapping. A mapping is something else in TRADElube, see below.
More on this: Transfer plan
Channel
A channel is TRADElube's connection to exactly one connected system, for instance an ERP system, an online shop or a marketplace. It carries that system's credentials, the list of actions it supports, and the channel mappings of the records already transferred. Several channels of the same type are possible, for example two Shopware shops side by side.
Not used: interface, connector, connection as a substitute for channel.
More on this: Channels
Channel Mapping
A channel mapping records which record in TRADElube corresponds to which counterpart in the connected system. It is created by the first transfer and used by every following one, so that the same record is updated instead of being created a second time. You find them on every record in the Channels section, with the target in the other system, the time of the last transfer and the state.
Not used: object assignment, channel assignment. Not to be confused with a mapping in the channel configuration, which means something else.
More on this: Channel Mappings
Client
A client is your own self-contained set of data in TRADElube, with a database of its own. Products, channels, tasks and settings always belong to exactly one client, and one user account can have access to several of them if needed. A client is created by us.
Not used: customer, instance, tenant.
More on this: Access and client
Connector
A connector is a kind of channel, the reversed kind: TRADElube does not address the connected system, a program on its side signs in to TRADElube and fetches what it needs, at the moment for instance the CAO-Faktura connector. When a transfer happens is therefore decided by that other program. A connector has neither tasks nor a schedule, and its transfer plans sit in the channel itself. You recognize one by the word in the name of its channel type.
Not used: channel as a substitute for connector. A connector is a channel, but not every channel is a connector.
More on this: Channels
ERP system
An ERP system is the system in which you keep articles, stock and documents, for example TriData or CAO-Faktura. For TRADElube it is usually the source of the master data and the target of the order data.
Not used: merchandise management system, inventory system.
More on this: Channels and tasks
Execution
An execution is what a task does once: it works through the records that are due and ends with a short message, Execution finished or the failure. It is started by the task's schedule or by you through the Execute button. Its result does not apply to everything at once: an execution can succeed and still leave individual failed records behind, because the state belongs to the individual record.
Not used: run, pass.
Mapping
A mapping connects a value in the connected system with the matching value in TRADElube, for example the shop's salutation "Mr." with "Herr". It sits on the channel in the Mappings section, one tab per list, with the two columns External and Internal. It covers every pick list that exists on both sides: salutations, countries, languages, order status, payment methods, shipping methods and, depending on the channel, properties and product attributes.
Not used: value table, assignment. Not to be confused with the assignment in the transfer plan or with a channel mapping.
More on this: Channels
Marketplace
A marketplace is a sales platform on which many sellers trade side by side, for example eBay or Shöpping. For TRADElube it is a channel like any other, but its scope is usually smaller: marketplaces often only accept orders and take back the order status, without accepting product data.
Not used: platform.
More on this: Channels and tasks
Master data
Master data is the data that describes your assortment and stays the same over longer periods: products and variants, categories, manufacturers, media, prices and stock. It is usually taken from the ERP system or maintained in TRADElube, and transferred from there into online shops and marketplaces.
Not used: base data.
More on this: Data model
Online shop
An online shop is your own sales presence, run by you, for example on Shopware, WooCommerce or Shopify. In the data flow it is usually the target of the master data and at the same time the source of the order data. Unlike a marketplace it normally takes the full product range.
Not used: shop system, web shop.
More on this: Channels and tasks
Order data
Order data is what arises when something is sold: the order with its line items, payment and shipping method, the order status, and the customer who placed it. It usually travels in the opposite direction to the master data, from the online shop or marketplace to you and on into the ERP system. In TRADElube you find it under the Orders and Customers navigation entries.
Not used: sales data.
More on this: Data model
Property
A property is a field you create yourself for information TRADElube has no fixed field for, such as "material" or "energy class". Every property has a type (Text, Boolean, Integer, Float, Date, Date Time, Option) and can be grouped, with the groups appearing as tabs on the detail page. Properties exist for products, manufacturers, categories, media, orders and customers.
Not used: attribute, characteristic. TriData does call its counterpart an "attribute", so there the word is correct.
More on this: Properties
Store
A store is a place where stock is held. Every stock figure of a product belongs to exactly one store, and several stores side by side are possible. You create them under Settings, via the Stores button. A new client already comes with one, so anyone holding stock in a single place never creates one here.
Not used: warehouse, stock location.
Synchronization
Synchronization is the repeated reconciliation of two data sets, so that the target system matches what is currently valid in TRADElube. It consists of individual transfers and does not run continuously: TRADElube transfers when something in its own data has changed, and does not watch the target system.
Not used: sync.
More on this: Synchronization basics
Task
A task is the unit of execution of a transfer: it combines a channel with exactly one of its actions, for example the Products Upload action, and defines the interval at which that action runs by itself. As long as no task exists, nothing happens on a channel, even when it is fully configured. You can start a task by hand at any time via the Execute button.
Not used: job.
Traces
Traces answer what was transferred when and where to, and why a transfer failed. TRADElube keeps a trace for every pair of channel mapping and task, with the state, the time and, in case of an error, the message from the target system. It is the first place to look when a record is missing in the target system or looks different from what you expected.
Not used: traceability, tracing, protocol, log.
Transfer
A transfer moves data from one side to the other. It always has a direction: an import fetches data into TRADElube, an export hands it over to the connected system. In Traces and on the individual record the word carries its precise sense: there a transfer is exactly one record in exactly one task. That is where it differs from an execution, and with a disruption this is what it comes down to: the execution can succeed while individual transfers inside it failed.
Not used: sync, reconciliation as a noun.
More on this: Synchronization basics
Transfer plan
The transfer plan defines which field of a transfer comes from where and is written to where. It sits on the task and is the place where you adapt a transfer to your own requirements. It consists of individual assignments that sit in sections, one tab per section.
Not used: mapping plan.
More on this: Transfer plan