Export Orders to a Flat File (.dat)

Exporting orders to a flat file is a simple process. Retrieving the data file requires an FTP or remote connection to the server. You may need to check with your host for the available options.

Remember—only batched orders can be exported this way. All orders you back up should already be processed (completed).

The exported orders file will not include payment data.

1. In the Admin Menu, click the + next to the store's Utilities link
2. Click the + next to Export Data
3. Click the Export Orders To Flat File link
4. In the Batch to Export pull-down menu, select the batch you want to export. Optionally, you can opt to export all orders in the store, or all unbatched orders
5. If you want, enter a different name for the export file. By default, the file name will be orders.dat
6. Choose the delimiter.

By default, the orders.dat file (the default file name for exported orders) is tab delimited. This means the text file will contain a TAB SPACE between each field in the orders records. Tab-delimited files can usually be opened by any common spreadsheet or database program. However, you can tell Miva Merchant to use a different delimiter, such as a comma or the pipe character.

7. Choose whether you want to replace any existing data or if you want to append the batch to existing data

By default, each exported batch will append to the existing orders.dat file. This means any orders you export next week will automatically be added to the existing file, which includes orders exported today. If you choose Replace File, then any previous exports to this specific file will be overwritten.

8. Click the Export button
9. Repeat steps 4-5 for each subsequent batch you'd like to export that is listed in the pull down Menu

Should I append or replace data?

Let's say you want to export orders on a weekly basis and import them into Microsoft Excel for analysis. On week one, you export batches for days 1-7, choosing to append the data to the orders.dat file. The next week, since you've already imported the information into the first spreadsheet, you export days 8-14, and choose Replace file, since you only need the information for these particular days (the others are already in the offline spreadsheet).

In this case, each week when you export, you will choose Replace file for the first batch listed, and Append for each thereafter until all seven days are exported.

Now let's say you want to export orders every week, but you want to keep a different .dat file for each on the server. In this case, you would enter a different file name for the exported orders.

Either way you choose, you are able to export each week, even when you batch each day, and import your data into Excel for analysis.