Integrating Actinic with RMS

[richiehudson]

Has anyone had any joy integrating actinic with Microsoft RMS and which software company did you use?

I'm currently with Nitrosell for my RMS store, but there are more than a few problems so would like to rebuild with actinic.

I know there are a couple of software companies out there that supply a "web integrator" script and wondered if anyone had any experience with them or indeed if anyone has a simple script (i'm willing to buy) that would do the same thing eg. sync up RMS database with Actinic V9 - I'm also willing to upgrade to V10 if need be.

Thanks folks!!

Funny, Banksy & Iconic T-Shirts - that's actinic...
Gothic Punk Clothing - that's not, It needs work

[nileshpa]

Hi,

I'm in a similar situation as yourself. I run a shoe shop and have been using Actinic Business for over 3 years. Recently installed Microsoft RMS V2 & populating it. Have looked at "Web Integration" add-ons for RMS but all simply extract data into CSV files but leave it to us to populate Actinic. so, there is no easy way to do this. For what they offer, the add-ons are not worth it.

My views are as follows: If you have Standard items in RMS, then its simply running an Items report in Store Operations & Importing them into Actinic. Make sure during import the fields map up.
If you are like me where you have Matrix items in RMS, then this adds to more complications. I'm currently looking at the RMS tables called Items, ItemClass & ItemClassComponent which can be used to create attributes & Choices.

Sorry, the above may not be much help to you but willing to bounce ideas & get something going.
BTW- I use Actinic Business V10

Thanks

Nilesh

[richiehudson]

Hi Nilesh, Thanks for your input - definitely up for bouncing ideas. I've been thinking about having a simple, dedicated piece of software that can do this designed (outsourcing the project on odesk/rentacoder etc).
Any other designers / retailers out there that could use this software, get in touch or add to the thread... could save us all a lot of cash and bother

[NormanRouxel]

It certainly can be done. I did a similar thing for another stock control system "Top to Toe" that read the various databases involved and creates a hierarchical import file as the result.

However as the database was not designed with data export in mind a lot of code was involved. About 10,000 lines of Delphi in the inital release and about 30,000 lines now after it evolved into a highly configurable system.

It adds extra capability to Actinic by generating HTML that adds the functionality that's needed for the type of products Top to Toe users sell.

[nileshpa]

Thanks, Norman for the reply.
Was interested on how the "top2toe" version is setup & works but couldn't find any details on your website.

As for RMS, there are some web-integrator add-ons already on the market & all seem to simply extract data into CSV files. If something new is to be developed, then it would be good to see realtime update especially of stock control. I've read on the forum that some users use MSSQL to maintain Actinic stock control. Since RMS utilises MS SqlServer as the backend and the tables definitions seem to be quite straightforward, I'm certain something can be developed to read directly from the RMS database be it via ODBC or anything else.

Above are only my thoughts, so I'm open for any suggestions.

[Andy Porter]

Hi Nilesh,

Have you ever investigated the Actinic epos software ? We have this linked to Actinic business out of the box.

Please call me on 0845 129 4800 option 1 to discuss further. You can download a trial of our epos if you wanted to test it,

Regards,

Andy Porter
Actinic sales

[nileshpa]

Hi Andy,

I did look into Actinic ePos about 6 months ago. In fact, it was my original choice since 2006 when I opened up my shop and purchased Sage Line 50 & Actinic Business. Felt it would all link up nicely. Unfortunately, I found it very limiting mainly surrounding the matrix items. e.g A particular style of shoes, I may stock 4 colours in 6 different size variations i.e 24 permutations but I may only have 18 pairs in stock. To know what sizes are left in a particular colour or what colour needs to be ordered, its very difficult to see without matrix format.

Also, we stock quite a few brands & every season new styles and/or colours are added. We may only have one to two pairs in any combination, but the stock definition increases drammatically. As, both Actinic ePos & eCommerce run on Microsoft Access. I can only see it struggling over time. I noticed the how Actinic Business struggled with just about 10k products defined. Hence, why I discarded it & opted for RMS which runs on MS SqlServer.

Regards,
Nilesh

[eck247]

We recently purchased Actinic Epos and wouldn't recommend it if you intended on trying to integrate with EC with items which contain options & permutations.

Simply doesn't do what it says on the tin.

And the failure to provide a link back to Sage Line 50 , or even be capable of sending orders back to EC was a major blunder.

A tech guy i spoke to at Actinic recons a Sage Link will happen but not within the next 18months. Unfortunately by that time i think a lot of Actinic customers will have jumped ship.....

Mr Actinic , is there an official time scale for any sort of improvements to the EPOS <=> EC link or even a Sage Line 50 Link ? Please dont reply with the standard reply "We're looking into the possibility of a link" !!!!! Your EPOS customers who have spent a lot of money with you deserve a better answer.