PUBLIC

2020-02

Creating and managing catalogs

Ariba Network for Suppliers
© 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

THE BEST RUN

Content

Getting started with catalogs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Catalog workflow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Benefits of uploading catalogs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Making catalogs available to your customers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Catalog notifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Catalog expiration and deletion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Test catalogs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Accessing pricing and availability updates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Maintaining catalog versions for different customers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Additional resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

How to create and publish catalogs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Publishing catalogs for CMS-enabled customers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

How to upload and publish catalogs for CMS-enabled customers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

How to view catalog validation errors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

How to fix errors and revalidate a catalog in your customer's site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Validation and statuses for catalogs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

How to correct errors in CIF files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

How to edit CIF catalogs online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

How to update or delete your catalog files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

How to view and download your catalogs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Working with the Excel CIF template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

How to edit the Excel CIF template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

How to open CIF files in Excel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

How to save Excel files as CIF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Excel CIF template fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

How to set up a PunchOut catalog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Creating and managing catalogs

2 PUBLIC Content
Getting started with catalogs

Catalogs are text files stored on Ariba Network or on your own company’s website that describe the products and
services your organization offers and the prices you charge. You can create catalogs for any product or service,
regardless of how it is measured, priced, or delivered.

Your customers access your catalogs through their procurement solutions to see what you offer and to make
purchases from you. Catalogs are the main communication channel between you and your customers.

Ariba Network supports the following catalog types:

● CIF (Catalog Interchange Format): You can create CIF catalogs [page 26] with any word processor, text
editor, or spreadsheet application.
● cXML (Commerce eXtensible Markup Language) format: You can create cXML catalogs using any XML or
text editor.
● PunchOut catalogs: PunchOut catalogs [page 29] are interactive catalogs that use cXML to support two-way
communication of electronic commerce details. A PunchOut catalog resides on your website; you provide your
customers with a URL with which to access it.
● BMEcat (Bundesverband Materialwirtschaft, Einkauf und Logistik e. V. catalog): You can publish BMEcat
catalogs [page 11] only to customers who use the content management system (CMS) in SAP Ariba solutions
to manage their catalogs.
● Excel (Microsoft Excel): You can publish Excel catalogs [page 11] only to customers who use the content
management system (CMS) in SAP Ariba solutions to manage their catalogs.

Ariba Network supports any catalog in CIF or cXML format. A CIF catalog can be either a text file saved with a .cif
extension or an Excel file saved with a .xls extension. You can upload a catalog using either the Ariba Network
catalog wizard or the cXML CatalogUploadRequest transaction. The cXML CatalogUploadRequest
transaction supports CIF, cXML, BMEcat, and Excel catalogs. It also supports both new catalogs and updates to
existing catalogs.

For help in deciding which catalog format is best for your company, search for Catalog format reference in
the help center.

Catalog workflow
The following is a typical example of the interaction between catalogs and your customer's purchasing solution:

1. You create catalog files [page 8] that describe products and services. You can download the CIF file template
[page 26] or the CIF and CXML example files that are available in the Ariba Network catalog wizard to create
catalogs.
2. You specify how to publish the catalog. In the Ariba Network catalog wizard, you:
1. Designate a catalog as either private or public.
2. View your customer’s catalog preferences [page 16].
3. You upload the catalog files for a customer that has an active trading relationship on Ariba Network. If your
account is suspended, you can't publish catalogs to specific customers. Ariba Network doesn't show your
customers at the bottom of this page.

Creating and managing catalogs

Getting started with catalogs PUBLIC 3
 After the catalogs are validated, Ariba Network publishes them to customers. You can verify the status [page
16] for your uploaded catalogs.
4. If your uploaded catalog has errors, correct the errors [page 19], and upload the catalog again.
5. Ariba Network notifies the customer by email that new catalogs are available.
6. Your customer’s purchasing site downloads and approves catalogs for use.
7. Users in your customer's organization browse the catalogs for products and services and initiate purchase
requisitions, which are routed through their organizations for approval.
8. Upon approval, the purchasing site automatically sends purchase orders to Ariba Network.

Benefits of uploading catalogs

Storing your catalogs on Ariba Network provides the following benefits:

● Security: Ariba Network offers robust catalog security. After you upload catalogs, you publish them to
individual customers or groups of customers. No other customers or suppliers can see them.
For additional security, Ariba Network uses Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) so catalogs are
encrypted across the Internet. Ariba Network also uses HTTPS when customers download catalogs.
● Versioning: Ariba Network stores all versions of your catalogs, so you don't have to maintain local copies on
your computer. Catalog versions are maintained on a "last in/first out" basis. When you upload a new catalog
version, Ariba Network maintains it as the current version. When you delete a version, Ariba Network removes
the most recently uploaded catalog.

 Note

While uploading a catalog, you must ensure that you always use the same filename for all versions of the
selected catalog. Using the same name makes catalog management easier for customers.

 Note

Catalogs published for CMS-enabled customers [page 11] aren't stored on Ariba Network.

Making catalogs available to your customers

After you create your CIF or cXML catalog, you store it on Ariba Network and publish it to your customers. Your
catalogs don't automatically appear in your customers’ purchasing systems immediately after you publish them.

Your customer’s administrator must first validate, approve and activate catalogs before users can view them. A
catalog subscription creates a link between your customer and your catalog so that you can send updated versions
directly to your customer’s purchasing system.

Creating and managing catalogs

4 PUBLIC Getting started with catalogs
Catalog notifications
If customers request notification of catalog changes, any future modification you make to that catalog
automatically triggers another notification to the customer.

For private catalogs, customers receive notification only if you select them and they request notification.
Customers that you don't select won't receive notification, even if they request it.

Publishing a catalog sends an automatic notification to the selected customer. Customers can download catalogs
manually from Ariba Network, or you can set up subscriptions so that Ariba Network automatically updates your
customer’s existing catalogs when new versions are available.

Catalog expiration and deletion

Catalogs that have never been published and contain more than one version expire 180 days after they were last
viewed by the supplier. If a catalog has been published or contains only one version, it never expires.

When Ariba Network deletes catalogs, it deletes them permanently. There is no way to retrieve deleted catalogs,
either through the Ariba Network user interface or by contacting SAP Ariba.

Deleting a catalog from Ariba Network doesn't delete the catalog from your customer’s purchasing system.
Customers that previously downloaded these catalogs and imported them into their purchasing system can still
use them. To ensure that customers don't continue to use old catalogs, add an expiration date to your catalogs
(available in CIF 3.0 and cXML catalog formats).

Test catalogs
Test accounts are optional and complementary Ariba Network accounts that allow customers and suppliers to test
catalogs and purchase order generation, routing, and receiving.

Test accounts enable transaction partners to send and receive test purchase orders without the risk of actually
shipping products or disrupting production transactions.

The catalog tester, which is available only in your test account, lets you see how a customer would see the catalog
contents. You can examine your item descriptions and other catalog fields to see how they appear. You can choose
catalog items and add them to test purchase orders. You can also submit these test purchase orders to exercise the
order routing method you configure in your test account.

For more information on test accounts, search for Using test accounts in Ariba Network in the help
center.

 Note

You cannot test catalogs published for customers who use the content management system (CMS) available in
SAP Ariba Procurement solutions to manage their catalog data.

Creating and managing catalogs

Getting started with catalogs PUBLIC 5
Accessing pricing and availability updates
If your customer’s purchasing site supports PunchOut catalogs in both CIF and cXML formats, your customers can
go directly to your website to search for and choose items and services.

In the case of a PunchOut item, the customer can click a link to punch out directly to your website and receive live
pricing and customer-specific information.

Level 2 PunchOut enables customers to search for and find PunchOut items within their purchasing site, instead of
having to search your website directly.

If you use Level 2 PunchOut, Ariba Network allows you to configure and specify a cXML URL for pricing updates,
where customers can request for updates on price and availability of catalog items. After you have published a
catalog on Ariba Network, you might change the price or availability of your catalog items. However, your published
catalog continues to show the older information on Ariba Network until you upload a newer version of the catalog.
When you configure a cXML URL for the price and availability updates, customers can view the updated prices of
catalog items in their purchasing site.

Maintaining catalog versions for different customers

Customers that use SAP Ariba Buying solutions can define catalog validation rules to support unique codes in their
purchasing systems.

You might have customers using a unique set of Unit of Measure (UOM) codes or commodity codes in SAP Ariba
Buying solutions. Ariba Network supports customer-specific catalog validation rules [page 16] and transforms
the values provided by the customer to the equivalent values supported by Ariba Network. This greatly eliminates
the need for suppliers to maintain separate catalogs to support a different set of UOM, country code, commodity
code, and currency code values for each customer. Suppliers can use a single set of values for the catalog each
time an update is made.

For example, customer A supports “Each” as the UOM code and customer B supports “EA." The supplier supports
“Each” as the UOM code. In order to support both the customers, the supplier had to create and maintain two sets
of catalogs for these UOM codes. Ariba Network allows customers of SAP Ariba Buying solutions to define specific
catalog validation rules that allow suppliers to maintain a single set of UOM code to support both these customers.
Using the catalog rules specified in SAP Ariba Buying solutions, SAP Ariba transforms the UOM code “EA” to
“Each” allowing both the customers to receive their value of the UOM code each time the catalog is updated.

Additional resources
The following table lists the resources available for catalog creation:

Creating and managing catalogs

6 PUBLIC Getting started with catalogs
 If you want to… See this guide…

Create CIF or cXML catalogs Catalog format reference (available in the help center)

Explains how to work with the CIF (Catalog Interchange Format) 3.0 and cXML (com­
merce eXtensible Markup Language) catalog formats. It also describes how to use cat­
alog features to reflect your business model and to differentiate your product and serv­
ice content.

Implement a PunchOut website cXML Solutions Guide (available in the help center)

Describes how to implement a PunchOut-enabled website, receive cXML purchase or­

ders, and send cXML invoices.

Learn about cXML cXML User’s Guide (available at [Link]

The definitive source for information on the cXML language. Describes how to send
and receive cXML documents.

Creating and managing catalogs

Getting started with catalogs PUBLIC 7
How to create and publish catalogs

To create catalogs, you can download the CIF file template or the CIF and CXML example files that are available in
the Ariba Network catalog wizard. The catalog wizard walks you through the process of naming, classifying, and
transferring your catalog from your local drive and publishing it on Ariba Network after validation.

Prerequisites

● We recommend that you view your customer's catalog validation rules [page 16] before you upload a catalog.
Validation checks the catalog for syntactic and semantic errors and also for compatibility with the catalog rules
set by specific customers.
● Catalog filenames must contain only the following characters: A – Z, a – z, 0 – 9, period (.), dash (-), and
underscore (_).
● If your customer wants you to upload advanced pricing details with your catalog, you must ensure that the
catalog fields containing advanced pricing details don't violate syntactic validation rules, standards-based
semantic validation rules, or a customer’s catalog rules.
● When using the catalog wizard, the catalog file can't exceed 95 MB or 400,000 lines.
● The CIF 2.1 catalog supports only a basic set of 12 fields. It doesn't support multi-language descriptions, multi-
currency pricing, multiple product commodity codes per line item, catalog expiration dates, PunchOut
catalogs, or parametric searching parameters. These features require either CIF 3.0 or cXML catalogs.
● The maximum size of zipped Excel file that you can upload is 1 MB (uncompressed). If your Excel files exceed
these size, you can convert them to CIF manually and upload the CIF files. Ariba Network uploads the file,
unzips it if necessary, converts it to CIF format, and starts validation. Conversion from Excel to CIF can take
several minutes depending on the catalog size. As Excel files convert, their status is Validating.

 Limitations

○ If you use the Ariba Network catalog wizard, the catalog file can't exceed 95 MB (400,000 line items). If
you use the cXML CatalogUploadRequest transaction, the zipped catalog file cannot exceed 10 MB,
and the unzipped CIF file cannot exceed 95 MB (approximately 400,000 line items). To have this
default size limit increased to 200 MB, contact SAP Ariba Customer Support. Before uploading a
catalog file in Excel format, be sure the catalog file does not exceed 1 MB.
○ Ariba Network doesn't retain the original Excel files you upload. After it converts them to CIF, it deletes
them.
○ Ariba Network doesn't support CIF or cXML contract files, which are catalog files that contain pricing
information only. Ariba Network currently supports index files, which contain both product and pricing
information.
○ If your account is suspended, you can't publish cXML and CIF catalogs to specific customers.

Creating and managing catalogs

8 PUBLIC How to create and publish catalogs
Procedure

1. On the home dashboard, click the Catalogs tab.

2. Click Create Standard to create a standard catalog. Ariba Network displays the first page of the Ariba Network
create wizard.
3. Enter a unique catalog name and a brief description of your catalog. Customers can search for catalogs using
this information.
4. To classify the products and services in your catalog, do the following:
a. Click Add in the Commodities section. Ariba Network shows the Product and Service Category Selection
page, which lists product and service categories, based on the United Nations Standard Products and
Services Code (UNSPSC).
b. On the Search tab, enter a keyword or search phrase and click Search, or click the Browse the Categories
tab to drill down through commodity families, classes, and individual commodities.
c. Choose a product and service category level, and click Add. The My Selections area shows the selected
product and service category level.

 Limitations

If you are a supplier of all the items in a given product and service category level, choose the name of
the higher-level product and service category instead of adding all of the lower-level product and
service categories. For example, a furniture supplier should choose the category “Furniture and
Furnishings” not the hundreds of individual items it sells. Customers can search for this information.

d. To search for a product and service category by keyword, click the Search tab.
e. Enter a search keyword and click Search. Choose a check box to select a search result, and click Add.
The My Selections area shows the selected product and service category segment.
f. To remove a selected product and service category segment, choose the check box next to the product
and service category segment in the My Selections area, and then click Remove.
g. Click OK.
h. Click Next.
The Subscriptions page in the catalog wizard lists only customers for whom the catalog is qualified. If you
know customers are registered on Ariba Network, but you can't see them, contact them directly and ask
them to grant you permission to see them.
5. Choose who should see your catalog:

○ Private: Ariba Network makes your catalog visible only to customers that you specify. You can choose this
option for catalogs that contain contract prices. This option automatically creates a subscription to the
catalog for all customers you choose.
○ Public: Ariba Network makes your catalog visible to all customers. To receive a catalog, a customer must
establish a relationship with you.

 Note

If you set the visibility to Private, you can choose customers or customer groups, which creates the catalog
subscriptions and automatically notifies the selected customers by email.

6. To punch in to your customer's site and view the catalog content rules specified by your customer, click the
View link in the Catalog Validation Rules column.

Click Done to return to the catalog creation wizard on Ariba Network.

Creating and managing catalogs

How to create and publish catalogs PUBLIC 9
7. Click Next to reach the Content page.
8. Click Browse to choose a catalog file to upload.

You can download the CIF file template [page 26] or the example files from this step.
9. Click Validate And Publish.

 Note

Large catalog files can take a long time to upload, depending on the speed of your network connection.
When uploading very large catalogs, you might encounter timeout errors. To avoid these problems, you can
zip your catalog files to compress them, which substantially decreases upload time. Zip catalogs in CIF and
cXML format that are larger than 10 MB to avoid a timeout error. Ariba Network automatically unzips
catalogs after upload. You can use any zip utility, such as WinZip. Each zip file can contain only one catalog,
and the filename extension must be .zip.

Your web browser uploads the file to Ariba Network, validates and publishes it. Do not navigate in the browser
window until the next page shows up, as interrupting your web browser aborts the upload process. Your
customers are subscribed to the current catalog version and are notified of its availability.

Next Steps

After Ariba Network uploads the catalog, you can do the following:

● Review and fix CIF catalog errors [page 19] (for cXML catalogs, you must edit the catalog file and repeat the
upload process)
● Qualify the catalog for additional customers
● Perform catalog management tasks, such as editing, downloading, and deleting catalogs

After Ariba Network completes validation, it changes the catalog status from Validating to one of the following
statuses:

● Validated means that your catalog is error-free.

● Published means that your private catalog has been validated and published.
● Errors Found by means that Ariba Network detected catalog content that violates syntactic validation rules,
standards-based semantic validation rules, or a customer’s catalog rules.

Creating and managing catalogs

10 PUBLIC How to create and publish catalogs
Publishing catalogs for CMS-enabled
customers

Some customers use the content management system (CMS) avaialble in SAP Ariba Procurement solutions to
manage catalog data. You can upload and publish catalogs in CIF and BMEcat format for customers who use CMS
to manage catalogs.

You can punch in to your customer's site to view content rules and validation errors [page 14] of catalogs that fail
these rules. You can also edit and revalidate the catalog content within the customer's CMS.

Keep the following in mind when publishing catalogs for CMS-enabled customers:

● You can't upload catalogs in cXML format for CMS-enabled customers.

● When uploading private catalogs on Ariba Network, you can choose either CMS-enabled customers or
customers who haven't enabled the CMS feature, but not a combination of both.
● You can't upload public catalogs for CMS-enabled customers.
● You can upload catalogs manually using the Ariba Network catalog wizard or programmatically using the cXML
CatalogUploadRequest transaction.

Publishing catalogs to CMS-enabled customers involves the following high-level steps:

1. An SAP Ariba Customer Support representative enables this feature for your site and the customer's
procurement site.
2. You create catalog files that describe products and services. You can download the CIF and BMEcat file
templates or the example files that are available in the Ariba Network catalog wizard to create the catalogs.
3. You set the catalog visibility to Private and choose the CMS-enabled customers that you want to publish the
catalog to.
4. You can punch in to each of your customer's sites to view their catalog content rules.
5. You return to the catalog creation wizard on Ariba Network, choose the catalog format, and upload the required
catalog and image files.

 Note

Ariba Network doesn't check the catalog for syntactic and semantic errors.

6. The catalog file isn't uploaded to Ariba Network but is sent to the CMS in the customer's procurement site. The
catalog is processed according to the content rules in the CMS.
7. Catalogs that fail any catalog rules set up by the customer in the CMS have a Validation Errors Found by
Customer status on Ariba Network .
8. You can punch in to the customer's CMS, fix the errors, and revalidate the catalog.
9. Validated content documents are pushed from the CMS to the Catalog Manager workspace in the customer's
site for master data validation, approval and activation.
10. The status of approved and activated catalogs is updated in the CMS and on Ariba Network.

Creating and managing catalogs

Publishing catalogs for CMS-enabled customers PUBLIC 11
How to upload and publish catalogs for CMS-enabled
customers
You upload and publish private catalogs for your customers who use the CMS in SAP Ariba Buying solutions.

Prerequisites

● We recommend that you view your customer's catalog rules before you upload a catalog.
● When entering filenames for the catalog, you must ensure that the filenames don't contain any spaces or
special characters.
● Ensure that the catalog file size doesn't exceed 200 MB.
● Ensure that the catalog images ZIP file size doesn't exceed 200 MB.

Procedure

1. On the home dashboard, click the Catalogs tab.

2. Click Create Standard to create a standard catalog.
3. Enter a unique catalog name and a brief description of your catalog. Customers can search for catalogs using
this information.
4. To classify the products and services in your catalog, do the following:
a. Click Add in the Commodities section. Ariba Network shows the Product and Service Category Selection
page, which lists product and service categories, based on the United Nations Standard Products and
Services Code (UNSPSC).
b. On the Search tab, enter a keyword or search phrase and click Search, or click the Browse the Categories
tab to drill down through commodity families, classes, and individual commodities.
c. Choose a product and service category level, and click Add. The My Selections area shows the selected
product and service category level.

 Limitations

If you are a supplier of all the items in a given product and service category level, choose the name of
the higher-level product and service category instead of adding all of the lower-level product and
service categories. For example, a furniture supplier should choose the category “Furniture and
Furnishings” not the hundreds of individual items it sells. Customers can search for this information.

d. To search for a product and service category by keyword, click the Search tab.
e. Enter a search keyword and click Search. Choose a check box to select a search result, and click Add.
The My Selections area shows the selected product and service category segment.
f. To remove a selected product and service category segment, choose the check box next to the product
and service category segment in the My Selections area, and then click Remove.
g. Click OK.
h. Click Next.

Creating and managing catalogs

12 PUBLIC Publishing catalogs for CMS-enabled customers
 The Subscriptions page in the catalog wizard lists only customers for whom the catalog is qualified. If you
know customers are registered on Ariba Network, but you can't see them, contact them directly and ask
them to grant you permission to see them.
5. Set the catalog visibility to Private, and choose the customers that you want to publish the catalog to.

This step creates the catalog subscription and automatically notifies the customers by email. You can choose
either CMS-enabled customers or customers who have not enabled the CMS feature, but not a combination of
both.
6. To punch in to your customer's site and view the catalog content rules specified by your customer, click the
View link in the Catalog Validation Rules column.

Click Done to return to the catalog creation wizard on Ariba Network.

7. Click Next to reach the Content page.
8. Choose the format of the catalog that you want to publish from the Select Format dropdown.
9. Click Browse to navigate to, and choose a catalog file.

You can compress and upload large catalog files in ZIP file format to avoid time-out errors. The maximum size
of a catalog file is 200 MB.
10. Click Browse to navigate to and choose a catalog image file.

You can upload the catalog images file in ZIP file format only. Ensure that the path names you provide in your
catalogs match the image directory structure. If you choose to zip the folder containing the images, the paths
of the image files in the catalog file must contain the folder name. For more information, search for Catalog
format reference in the help center.

The maximum size of a catalog images ZIP file that can be uploaded is 200 MB.
11. Click Validate And Publish.

 Caution

Don't navigate in your browser window until the next page appears. Interrupting your web browser stops
the upload process.

Next Steps

The catalog file isn't uploaded to Ariba Network but is sent to the CMS in your customer's procurement site. The
catalog is then processed according to the content rules in the CMS and moves to one of the following statuses.

Catalog subscription status Description

Pending Buyer Validation The catalog is uploaded successfully in SAP Ariba Buying solutions and is pending
processing by the CMS.

Validation Errors Found by Customers The catalog violates one or more content rules specified in the CMS.

Validated The catalog is successfully uploaded in SAP Ariba Buying solutions and has passed
all content rules, but isn't approved by the customer yet.

Creating and managing catalogs

Publishing catalogs for CMS-enabled customers PUBLIC 13
Catalog subscription status Description

Approved The catalog is approved by the customer.

Rejected The catalog is rejected by the customer.

Activated The catalog is activated and available in SAP Ariba Buying solutions.

Deactivated A previously activated catalog version is now deactivated in SAP Ariba Buying solu­
tions.

Deleted The catalog is deleted by the customer.

Changed The customer made some changes to the catalog.

How to view catalog validation errors

You view catalog validation errors in order to find out why a catalog failed and how to fix it.

Procedure

1. On the Catalogs tab, click the Validation Errors Found by Customer link in the Status column to punch in to
your customer's site.

The page shows the total number of items that have been imported and the number of items that failed
content rules, grouped by the following statuses: Validation Error, Validation Warning, Cleansed, and
Enriched.
2. Expand each item status group to view the list of rules that caused failures and the item count per rule.
3. Click an item status link to view the items that are in that particular status. For example, click the Validation
Error link to view the list of items with validation errors.

Creating and managing catalogs

14 PUBLIC Publishing catalogs for CMS-enabled customers
How to fix errors and revalidate a catalog in your
customer's site
You can punch in to the customer's site to edit catalogs that have errors and revalidate them.

Procedure

1. On the Catalogs tab, click the Validation Errors Found by Customer link in the Status column to punch in to
your customer's site.

The page shows the total number of items that have been imported and the number of items that failed
content rules.
2. Expand each item status group to view the list of rules that caused failures and the item count per rule.
3. Click Edit Content to edit the catalog.

The page shows the list of items in the catalog. Items that failed one or more catalog rule conditions are
indicated by icons, and the associated field values are shown in red boxes.
4. You can use the options in the See All Items dropdown to narrow the list and view items that are in a particular
status.
For example, choose See All Items > See Enriched Items to see only the list of items that have been enriched.
5. Click the value of the field that you want to edit, enter a new value, and click OK. Your changes are saved
automatically.

 Note

You have to fix errors in each line individually. There is no provision to select multiple lines to edit catalog
fields.

6. (Optional) Click Save to save your changes.

7. Click Revalidate to run the rules again and revalidate the entire catalog.

Creating and managing catalogs

Publishing catalogs for CMS-enabled customers PUBLIC 15
Validation and statuses for catalogs

After you upload a catalog, Ariba Network validates the catalog to ensure that the catalog content is correctly
formed. Then, Ariba Network publishes and qualifies the catalog for the designated customers. You can view the
status of each catalog in the list on the Catalogs tab.

Validation by Ariba Network

Ariba Network validates the syntax and semantics of your catalog files:

● Syntactic validation ensures that a catalog’s content is correctly formed. For example, every catalog entry
must have the correct number of fields and the content of each field must match the field’s data type. Every
catalog file must be syntactically correct before you can publish it.
During syntactic validation, Ariba Network checks that:
○ All required fields are present.
○ No field exceeds its maximum field length.
○ All integers and decimals are formatted correctly.
○ Price formats are correct and a currency specified.
○ No two items have the same combination of Supplier ID, Supplier Part ID, and Supplier Part Auxiliary ID.
○ The character set specified in the file is valid.
○ CIF file headers begin with a CIF version number and end with a DATA token. The DATA and ENDOFDATA
tokens must exist and be in the correct locations. The lines between must be of the form key:value.
Additionally, Ariba Network displays an error if the itemcount field does not match the number of items in
the file.
○ No invalid characters are present in any fields.
○ Descriptions are present. Ariba Network issues a warning if it encounters invalid characters in the
Description field.
● Semantic validation ensures that a catalog’s content is compatible with specified catalog standards, such as
UNSPSC commodity codes or standard unit of measure (UOM) codes. If you choose to qualify your catalog for
a specific customer, Ariba Network validates it against that customer’s catalog rules. For example, if the
customer’s procurement system uses a custom commodity code set and the catalog uses a standard
commodity code set, Ariba Network can't validate the catalog for that customer. Your customers can choose to
relax validation rules for UNSPSC, UOM, or zero price values.
During semantic validation, Ariba Network checks the units and codes listed below for each catalog item to
ensure they are compatible with specified catalog standards.
○ Currency: An item’s currency must be valid. Ariba Network maps currencies to translate the incoming
currency names into the customer’s procurement system’s standard currency terminology. A currency is
not valid unless it meets the following criteria:
The value to which the code is mapped in the simple map has a corresponding Currency object. There are
no empty values. Ariba Network generates an alert for items with zero or no cost.
○ Unit of measure (UOM): An item’s unit of measure must be valid based on the UOM code specified in the
catalog header. If a catalog doesn't use the customer’s canonical units of measure, the customer must
define a mapping file to be sure that the incoming terminology is interpreted correctly.

Creating and managing catalogs

16 PUBLIC Validation and statuses for catalogs
 ○ Commodity code: An item must have at least one domain-specific commodity code that maps to a
supported commodity code specified in the catalog header. You can override the commodity code at the
line-item level. Ariba Network supports UNSPSC, eCl@ss, NAICS, and ISICS commodity codes, but only
validates UNSPSC commodity codes. By default, Ariba Network uses ECCMA version 13.5 and UNSPSC
version UNSPSC v9.0501. The UNSPSC codes used in catalogs support version 13.5.
○ Supplier ID: An item’s Supplier ID must match the ANID or D-U-N-S number of your supplier organization
as specified in the catalog header file.
○ URL formats: The Supplier URL and Manufacturer URL must have http:// along with the URL string.
○ Start/Expiration Dates: The item’s Start Date must be before the expiration date.
○ Territory and Language: The Territory and Language codes must validate against the ISO 3166-1 and
3166-2 codes and Java locale codes.

Your customers' catalog validation rules

To view your customers’ catalog validation rules, go to the Subscriptions page of the Ariba Network catalog wizard,
and then click the View link in the Catalog Validation Rules column next to the customer's name.

Alternatively, you can punch into the customer's site to view the catalog preferences.

In some cases, when you punch in to the customer's site for the first time, you might see the following error
message:

Cannot access customer's site. Your buying organization must approve your access to
their system before you proceed with this action. Please try again later.

This error occurs when your customer hasn't approved your access to their procurement site. You should contact
your customer to ask for access to their site.

 Note

Ariba Network doesn't validate catalogs published for CMS-enabled customers.

Validation errors on catalogs

After you upload a catalog file, the catalog might have errors that prevent it from being published to your
customers.

To view details of the validation errors, do one of the following:

● Go to your customer's site to view the error details.

● Check the error information in email notifications sent by Ariba Network.
● On the Catalogs tab, click the Errors Found by Customer link in the Status column.

To resolve a catalog error [page 19], you can either upload a modified version of the catalog that meets your
customer’s requirements or contact your customer to ask them to disable a requirement. After correcting catalog
errors on Ariba Network, you must ensure that you make the same changes to the catalog file on your computer so
the errors don't reappear.

Creating and managing catalogs

Validation and statuses for catalogs PUBLIC 17
  Limitations

For cXML catalogs, you can't fix problems within your account. Instead, fix the file locally on your computer and
click Update content to upload the updated version [page 22].

Catalog statuses

Use the following table to interpret the different catalog subscription statuses.

Status Description

Received, Pending Buyer Validation The catalog is uploaded successfully in SAP Ariba Buying solutions and is pending vali­
dation from your customer. Catalogs published to all other procurement customers
have a Published status.

Validation Errors Found by The catalog failed during validation against your customer’s catalog rules in SAP Ariba
Customers Buying solutions. To view details of the error, click the Validation Errors Found by
Customer link for this catalog on the catalog dashboard and view details of the error
message by punching into your customer’s site.

Validated The catalog is successfully uploaded in SAP Ariba Buying solutions and has passed vali­
dation, but your customer hasn't approved it yet.

Approved Your customer approved the catalog.

Rejected Your customer rejected the catalog.

Activated Your customer activated the catalog and made it available in SAP Ariba Buying solu­
tions.

Deactivated A catalog version activated earlier is now deactivated. Catalogs can change back and
forth between Activated and Deactivated statuses.

Deleted Your customer deleted the catalog.

Changed Your customer made some changes to the catalog.

Creating and managing catalogs

18 PUBLIC Validation and statuses for catalogs
How to correct errors in CIF files

You fix errors in your catalog files so you can reload them and publish them successfully to your customers.

Procedure

1. On the home dashboard, click the Catalogs tab.

2. Click a catalog name to view more information about it, or choose a catalog and click View/Edit.
3. Click the Errors Found status link.
4. To customize your view of the error list, click the table options icon in the upper right of the Catalog Validation
Errors table, and then do one or all of the following:

○ To add or remove columns from view, check or uncheck them in the Show/Hide Columns section of the
table menu.
○ To group errors by a specific column, choose the column name in the Group by Column section of the
menu.
○ To export the errors to Excel, choose an option in the Export to Excel section of the menu.
5. When you are ready to view an error, click a line number or an error description.

If the error is in the catalog body, you're taken to a page where you can edit the line item.

If the error is in the catalog header, you'll see a text box for editing just the header.
6. For each error, enter a new value to replace the old value.

 Tip

For information about syntax for CIF files, see the Catalog format reference.

7. Click Update to submit your changes.

Ariba Network validates your changes and, if you selected a customer during upload, qualifies the catalog for
that customer. It also revalidates the catalog against all qualified customers to ensure that you have introduced
no new errors.
8. To delete a line from the catalog, do the following:

○ Click the Content page to view all the catalog items.

○ Click Delete in the Action column for the item that you want to delete.

The line is deleted and the status of the catalog is updated in the catalog dashboard.

Related Information

Validation and statuses for catalogs [page 16]

Creating and managing catalogs

How to correct errors in CIF files PUBLIC 19
How to edit CIF catalogs online

If you have a small catalog or only a few changes to make to an uploaded catalog, you might prefer to make the
edits directly in the uploaded catalog instead of downloading the file and making the updates.

Prerequisites

● If you use Windows Notepad to edit catalogs, do not click the “Save as Unicode” check box. For the same
reason, if you use Microsoft Word, do not select “Unicode Text” as the file type. Raw Unicode (also known as
UCS-2) is not file-safe because its byte order varies depending on the operating system.

 Limitations

○ You can't edit catalogs over 4 MB in size online. Download large catalogs [page 24], edit them on your
computer [page 20], and then upload them to Ariba Network.
○ You can't view or edit cXML catalogs online.
○ You can't edit Excel catalogs online; edit them on your computer in Microsoft Excel and upload them to
your account.

Procedure

1. On the home dashboard, click the Catalogs tab.

2. Click the name of the catalog you want to edit, or choose the catalog and click View/Edit.
3. Click Next to view the Content step of the catalog wizard.

Ariba Network shows a list of line items in the catalog.

4. If the catalog you want to edit has already been published, you must create a new version to edit it. Click
Create New Version, update the information on the Details page, and click Next.
5. Do one of the following:

○ To delete an item, click Delete in the Action column next to the item.
○ To add an item, click Add Item. You'll see a page where you can enter field values for the new item.

 Tip

For information about CIF syntax and format, search for Catalog format reference in the help
center.

6. If you added or deleted any items, click Update Header Data on the Contents page to edit the catalog header
details.
7. After updating the catalog header details, click Next.

Creating and managing catalogs

20 PUBLIC How to edit CIF catalogs online
  Note

If Ariba Network finds any errors, they are indicated on the Errors page. Click the item number of the item
with the error to correct it.

8. On the Subscriptions page, configure the catalog visibility.

9. Click Validate and Publish to publish the new version of the catalog.

Next Steps

After editing catalogs directly in your Ariba Network account, be sure to make the same changes to the catalog files
on your computer so the old values don't reappear.

Creating and managing catalogs

How to edit CIF catalogs online PUBLIC 21
How to update or delete your catalog files

You can update catalog files when there are updates to your offerings or pricing. When a catalog subscription no
longer applies, you can delete if from Ariba Network.

Context

Keep the following points in mind when editing and uploading catalogs:

● You change the catalog by uploading another catalog. A new version of a catalog is created on Ariba Network
when a catalog is edited or a new catalog file is uploaded. Ariba Network continues to store the previous
versions of your catalog, but only the latest version is visible.
● Upload the entire updated catalog, not just the changes; Ariba Network doesn't merge partial catalogs.
● Avoid changing catalog formats (CIF or cXML). While Ariba Network doesn't prevent you from changing catalog
formats during an update, it's important to use the same format for all versions of a catalog subscription.
● If the catalog contains numerous errors, it's easier to fix the original file and upload it again. If you update an
existing catalog that Ariba Network validated in the past, it might no longer pass validation when you upload it
because of one or both of the following:
○ Ariba Network’s semantic validation checking was less sophisticated.
○ Your customer’s catalog validation rules changed after you last validated the catalog.
● When updating a catalog, you don't need to create a new standard [Link] can use an existing catalog, but
make sure not to change the existing name for the catalog subscription when you upload a new version. This
step is critical for your customer to be able to accurately update existing catalogs when a new version is
available.

You can access previous versions of a catalog by deleting the current version. Deleting catalogs removes them from
Ariba Network. Customers can no longer view them online or download them.

When a new version is created or a current version is deleted, Ariba Network sends an automatic notification to all
customers that subscribed to it. Publishing your updated catalog sends automatic notification to any customers
that subscribed to it. For private catalogs, customers receive notification only if you select them and they request
notification. Customers that you don't select won't receive notifications, even if they request it.

Procedure

1. On the home dashboard, click the Catalogs tab.

2. Choose a catalog, and do one of the following:

○ To edit a catalog, click View/Edit.

○ To delete only the latest version of a catalog, choose Delete > Latest Version Only. Ariba Network reverts
to the previous version of the catalog, if one exists.

Creating and managing catalogs

22 PUBLIC How to update or delete your catalog files
  Note

Use this feature if the latest version you uploaded has problems and you want to go back to the
previous version or upload a new version.

○ To delete all versions of a catalog, choose Delete > All Versions. Ariba Network deletes all versions of the
catalog and removes the catalog name.
3. To add product and service categories, click Add in the Commodities section, and then choose from the
available product and service categories on the Product and Service Category page.
4. Click Next to view the Content step of the catalog wizard.

Ariba Network shows a list of line items in the catalog.

5. Click Upload Catalog File to replace the existing catalog file.
6. Click Browse to find the location of the catalog file on your computer.

 Tip

Use the same catalog filename for all versions of a catalog subscription. Using the same name makes
catalog management easier for customers.

7. Click Validate and Publish to publish a new version of the catalog.

Related Information

How to edit CIF catalogs online [page 20]

Creating and managing catalogs

How to update or delete your catalog files PUBLIC 23
How to view and download your catalogs

You might want to download your catalogs from Ariba Network if you have lost your local catalogs or if you need to
verify the contents of uploaded catalogs.

Prerequisites

To download catalogs, they must be in CIF 3.0 format and smaller than 600 KB. You can download catalogs as Excel
files if they are in CIF 3.0 format and are smaller than 400 KB.

Procedure

1. On the home dashboard, click the Catalogs tab.

2. To change the information you want to display on the Catalog page, click the table options menu icon in the
upper right corner of the Catalog table.
3. If you are viewing the catalog dashboard, interpret the columns using the following table:

Column name Description

Customer Name The name of the customer that has subscribed to that catalog.

The customer’s name is shown for each private catalog. None means it is a public catalog with
no subscriptions. When a customer subscribes to a public catalog, the customer’s name shows
up in this column. When multiple customers subscribe to the same public catalog, each sub­
scription shows up as a new row with the name of that customer.

Catalog Name The unique name of the catalog.

Version The version number of the catalog.

When you edit or update an existing catalog, Ariba Network creates a new version and assigns a
version number. Ariba Network continues to store the previous versions of your catalog, but only
the latest version is visible. You can access previous versions by deleting the current version.

File Name The name of the catalog file.

Type The catalog file type. Catalog files must be CIF, cXML, or Excel files (.cif, .xml, .xls, or .zip).

Size The file size of the catalog.

Visibility Specifies whether a catalog is private or public.

Created By The name of the catalog creator.

Date Created The date the catalog was uploaded to Ariba Network.

Creating and managing catalogs

24 PUBLIC How to view and download your catalogs
 Column name Description

Status The catalog or subscription status of the catalog:

○ Catalog status: Whether the catalog was uploaded and published successfully on Ariba
Network.
○ Subscription status: Whether the catalog passed validation in SAP Ariba Buying solutions.
When the catalog fails validation in SAP Ariba Buying solutions, a status update is sent to
Ariba Network and shown on the catalog dashboard. If Ariba Network doesn't receive a sta­
tus update for the catalog, the Ariba Network catalog status remains.

Date Status Received The date the subscription status is received from SAP Ariba Buying solutions.

4. Do any of the following from the table options menu:

○ To add or remove columns from view, check or uncheck them in the Show/Hide Columns section of the
table menu.
○ To group catalogs by a specific column, choose the column name in the Group by Column section of the
menu.
5. Click the name of one of your catalogs, or choose a catalog and click View/Edit.
6. Click Next to view the Content step of the catalog wizard.
7. Click Download Catalog File.
8. Choose the preferred download option:

○ Download as cXML (available for cXML catalogs)

○ Download as CIF (available for CIF 2.1 and CIF 3.0 catalogs)
○ Download as Excel (available for CIF 3.0 catalogs smaller than 400 KB)
9. If the Download as Excel is grayed out:
a. Click Convert to Excel. This step starts the conversion process, which can take several minutes, depending
on catalog size.
b. Wait for the conversion to complete. Click Refresh Status to see the current conversion status; when
complete, the Download as Excel button becomes active.
c. Click Download as Excel.

If your browser prompts you to specify a location for storing the downloaded file, choose a folder on a local
drive. If your web browser opens and displays the template, choose File > Save As and save the template
to a local drive.

Related Information

How to update or delete your catalog files [page 22]

Creating and managing catalogs

How to view and download your catalogs PUBLIC 25
Working with the Excel CIF template

If you prefer to manage catalog content with spreadsheets, SAP Ariba provides a Microsoft Excel template
containing the required information and an Excel-to-CIF converter. The Excel format CIF template helps you fill in
the various fields for items in your catalogs.

 Note

Your customer's purchasing system recognizes CIF files, but not Excel catalogs. To convert Excel catalogs to
CIF, you can either use the Ariba Network Excel-to-CIF converter, or you can convert them yourself. It can also
convert CIF files back to Excel format for downloading.

How to edit the Excel CIF template

Procedure

1. To get the CIF file template, do one of the following:

○ Create a new standard catalog, and find the template on the Content step of the catalog wizard.
○ Search for catalog template in the help center to find the template.
2. After you download and save the template, open the file in Excel.

 Tip

The CIF template contains useful descriptions of each field. To read them, put your pointer on the red
comment markers.

3. Review the catalog header to make sure the fields are correct. For example:

CODEFORMAT: UNSPSC
CURRENCY: USD
SUPPLIERID_DOMAIN: NETWORK ID

 Note

Specify currency names with ISO 4217 three-letter (CodeA) currency codes.

4. Enter your catalog data into the body fields.

 Remember

For each catalog item, you must enter values for the first seven fields (or columns). Ensure that your entries
don't exceed the field sizes (the Excel CIF template contains comments that indicate the field size).

5. To calculate the number of catalog items for the ITEMCOUNT field, subtract the number of the last line of data
from the number of the first line of data, and then add one.

Creating and managing catalogs

26 PUBLIC Working with the Excel CIF template
6. Save the file as an Excel (.xls) file.

How to open CIF files in Excel

Procedure

1. In Excel, choose File > Open.

2. Choose the CIF file.

Excel shows the Text Import Wizard.

3. Select Delimited and then click Next.
4. Select Comma as the delimiter and quote (") as the text qualifier.
5. Uncheck Tab.
6. Click Next.
7. Select all columns in your spreadsheet, select Text as the column data format, and then click Finish.

 Tip

Treat all columns as text so that Excel retains any leading or trailing zeros.

8. To make the resulting spreadsheet more readable, select all cells and choose Format > Column > AutoFit
Selection.

How to save Excel files as CIF

To convert to CIF manually, you save the Excel file to CSV format and delete extra commas with a text editor.

Procedure

1. In Excel, choose File > Save As.

2. Select CSV (MS-DOS) as the file type.

Excel inserts a comma between each field.

3. Enter an meaningful name for the file.

 Example

The recommended format is <catalog_description>_<customer_name>; for example,

workchairs_acme.

Creating and managing catalogs

Working with the Excel CIF template PUBLIC 27
4. Click Save.
5. To remove extra commas in the CIF file, open the file in Notepad, Wordpad, or another ASCII text editor.
6. Delete extra commas from the header and the body.
7. Ensure that the leading or trailing zeros weren't deleted.
8. Save the file.
9. Change the file extension from .csv to .cif.

Excel CIF template fields

The following table provides an overview of the fields that are available in the CIF template.

For each catalog item, you must enter the following values:

Field Description

Supplier ID Your Ariba Network ID (ANID) or D-U-N-S number:

● View your ANID at the bottom of any Ariba Network page or by clicking Company Settings in
the upper right corner of your dashboard.
● Look up your organization’s D-U-N-S number on the Dun & Bradstreet website.

Item Description A description of the catalog item. Don't use abbreviations.

SPSC Code Enter the catalog item’s United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC). To find
the appropriate code, search for catalog standards in the help center.

Ariba Network uses ECCMA version 13.5 and UNSPSC version UNSPSC v9.0501. The UNSPSC ver­
sion UNSPSC v9.0501 corresponds to the ECCMA version 13.5.

The commodity codes used in catalogs support ECCMA version 13.5. However, Ariba Network can
translate any earlier version to 13.5 and vice versa.

Unit Price Enter the price per unit for the catalog item. Specify numbers as you want them to appear to users.
For example, for $19.50, enter “19.50” (include the trailing zero). Do not include the currency symbol
($).

Unit of Measure Enter the unit of measure for the catalog item using the United Nations Units of Measure (UNUOM)
standard. For a list of UNUOM codes, search for UN UOM in the help center.

Creating and managing catalogs

28 PUBLIC Working with the Excel CIF template
How to set up a PunchOut catalog

PunchOut catalogs are interactive catalogs stored on your website that use cXML to enable two-way
communication of electronic commerce details. A PunchOut catalog allows your customer's purchasing system to
communicate with live catalog content on your website, which often provides a better shopping experience for your
customers and reduces your workload.

Prerequisites

You must configure your cXML profile and specify the PunchOut Setup Request URL. Ariba Network uses this URL
to send the PunchOut request documents. For more information about how to configure your cXML profile, see
Configuring document routing.

Context

In your customer's purchasing system, PunchOut catalogs show a hyperlink instead of product or pricing details.
When users click this hyperlink, their web browser leads them to a page from your local website.

Depending on how you implement this page, users can browse product options, specify configurations, and choose
delivery methods. Your customer's system passes organization IDs to your website, and you can use them to look
up previously agreed-upon prices (contract prices). When users finish with this page, they click a button that
returns the order information to their purchasing system. The fully configured products and their prices appear
within the purchasing system on users’ purchase orders.

PunchOut catalogs allow you to leverage existing resources from simple online catalogs to advanced e-commerce
sites. PunchOut catalogs can also use search engines to find items on your website.

Use PunchOut catalogs for:

● Products with a large number of configurations and options; for example, many colors or sizes, or many
delivery methods (overnight, two-day, or five-day).
● Inventories containing more than a few thousand items.
● Products whose prices are based on prearranged contracts (custom pricing).
● Products that must be customized for each customer, such as nameplates or business cards. (Alternatively,
your customers can implement custom catalog forms in the purchasing system, which allow users to attach
personalized data to a purchase order).
● Products whose specifications or prices change often.
● Products with advanced pricing details.

When deciding whether to use PunchOut catalogs, consider the following trade-off:

● They require all users to have full Internet access, which some companies don't allow.
● They require you to implement and maintain an interactive website, accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a
week.

Creating and managing catalogs

How to set up a PunchOut catalog PUBLIC 29
If your account is suspended, your customers can still access your PunchOut catalogs, shop for products and
services, and create a purchase order; however, Ariba Network doesn't send you the purchase order. For more
information about suspended accounts, see Managing subscription services.

PunchOut catalog users don't need to enter a user password for your site. They are pre-authenticated by Ariba
Network.

For information on how to implement a PunchOut website, see the cXML User’s Guide and the cXML Solutions
Guide.

 Note

You must ensure that your PunchOut website’s use of cookies and online tracking is compliant with the General
Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the ePrivacy Regulation (ePR).

SAP Ariba recommends that you use appropriate tools to test your site to ensure that it is GDPR and ePR
compliant. These tools might indicate you to make changes such as, removing all external http references, and
having a single cookie policy for site visitors.

Procedure

1. On the home dashboard, click the Catalogs tab.

2. Click Create PunchOut Only.
3. Enter information about your PunchOut catalog. Customers can search each of these fields. Note the following:

○ You must enter the prefix https:// for the PunchOut URL value. This URL is no longer used, but
purchasing systems require a value for this field.
○ The UNSPSC field adds a commodity code to the PunchOut index catalog. The Commodities field allows
you to classify the types of products or services you offer, which helps customers searching for specific
products or services find your catalog. Click Add to get to the Product and Service Category Selection
page. For more information about classifying commodities, see How to create and publish catalogs [page
8].

 Limitations

Ariba Network uses ECCMA version 13.5 and UNSPSC version UNSPSC v9.0501. The UNSPSC codes
used in catalogs support version 13.5. However, it can translate any earlier version to 13.5 and vice
versa.

4. Click OK.

The PunchOut catalog is now validated and published.

 Note

Ariba Network now forwards all PunchOut requests to the URL specified in your cXML profile. To specify the
PunchOut URL that is actually used, click Company Settings in the upper right corner of your home
dashboard, and choose Electronic Order Routing. In the cXML Setup section, click Configure cXML
setup.

Creating and managing catalogs

30 PUBLIC How to set up a PunchOut catalog
Results

You can review the status of the catalog [page 16] that has been published. If the catalog contains errors, correct
the errors [page 19] and try to publish it again.

Creating and managing catalogs

How to set up a PunchOut catalog PUBLIC 31
Important Disclaimers and Legal Information

Hyperlinks
Some links are classified by an icon and/or a mouseover text. These links provide additional information.
About the icons:

● Links with the icon : You are entering a Web site that is not hosted by SAP. By using such links, you agree (unless expressly stated otherwise in your agreements
with SAP) to this:

● The content of the linked-to site is not SAP documentation. You may not infer any product claims against SAP based on this information.
● SAP does not agree or disagree with the content on the linked-to site, nor does SAP warrant the availability and correctness. SAP shall not be liable for any
damages caused by the use of such content unless damages have been caused by SAP's gross negligence or willful misconduct.

● Links with the icon : You are leaving the documentation for that particular SAP product or service and are entering a SAP-hosted Web site. By using such links, you
agree that (unless expressly stated otherwise in your agreements with SAP) you may not infer any product claims against SAP based on this information.

Beta and Other Experimental Features

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Creating and managing catalogs

32 PUBLIC Important Disclaimers and Legal Information
Creating and managing catalogs
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