Method and system for importing data

Abstract

A method and system for importing data comprising the downloading of product data from different sources and in different formats; processing the downloaded data by at least comparing it with data downloaded and stored in a product database; and reviewing the results of the comparison to detect differences in the data, the differences potentially being errors. The system and methods further comprise connecting the downloaded data from its supplier specific format into a standard format; comparing the downloaded data in the standard format with a previously downloaded data set saved in the standard format; categorizing the product data based on the results of the second comparison; and processing each category of data independently to automatically update the product database.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] This invention relates to the automation of product and vendor data entry where the product and vendor data is provided by one or more product suppliers and can potentially be provided in many different formats. In particular, this invention relates to methods and systems to automatically import, analyze, and categorize data from different sources and in many possible different formats, and to output the processed data to on-line business-to-business service providers or to any other recipient with an interest in the cleansed data. [0003] 2. Description of Related Art [0004] Computer networks such as the Internet have facilitated the transfer of information among computer users. Business-to-business (“B2B”) service providers, for example on-line shopping service providers, have taken advantage of the networking technologies to more efficiently and economically conduct their business transactions. The use of computer...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This approach enables efficient, automated data entry and maintenance of a unified product database, reducing manual labor and ensuring data accuracy and consistency across various suppliers, thus keeping the database up-to-date with minimal human intervention.

Problems solved by technology

The use of computers to transfer data, however, does not put an end to human intervention in the data transfer process.

Current on-line shopping web sites that offer a variety of products for sale, for example, face the formidable task of having to input and keep an inventory of the data related to the products they sell.

The data format problem is twofold.

The first problem concerns the syntax of the data, which may differ according to the data supplier providing the data.

The second problem, which is harder to solve than the first one, concerns the use of different terminology (semantics) by different product data suppliers in order to describe the same product.

Like the data syntax problem, this problem is associated with data formatting.

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