Open Catalog Interface (OCI) - Manual For Open Icecat XML and Full Icecat XML

Open Catalog Interface (OCI): Manual for Open Icecat XML and Full
Icecat XML
Revision date: October 20, 2019, Version 2.48
This document describes the XML method of Icecat’s Open Catalog Interface (OCI): a set of
standards and file formats used in the Icecat XML repository. In summary, it gives the
basics of how to use the Icecat repository or how to publish data to Icecat conforming the
OCI.
Other Integration Methods

If you want to integrate product data without frames, conforming your CSS, then use Icecat
Live, which is the modern variant of the good-old URL integration method. If you want to
have full control over the data, then make use of the XML (read further below), JSON, or
CSV download methods. See the full overview of methods and manuals.
Further, check out the Add-On page for popular platforms already integrating Icecat data,
which we regularly update.
Are you interested in adding product reviews? Then check out our reviews manual.
Brand owners that look into pushing data into Icecat, please, look into our Push-API or for
manual data-entry Icecat’s Free Vendor Central.
Importants Notes about Icecat XML

1. In case of Open Icecat, please check the Open Icecat sections.
2. The links and files in the download directories are to be downloaded with scripts (from
server to server). If you try to download them via your browser, you may sometimes
experience memory problems. This does not mean that on our side the data is not accessible
or correctly available. In case you experience any problem, contact us via the contact form.
3. We show by default a daily index file when you only enter the directory name. This,
Open Catalog Interface (OCI): Manual for Open Icecat XML and Full Icecat XML | 1
Icecat XML
because it is more efficient for testing and viewing in a browser. To get the complete index
file with products for Open Icecat users and all described products for Full Icecat users,
include in the path the full file name of the complete index: files.index.xml (in Open Icecat
or Full Icecat).
After a rip of our general site, an IP address may be temporarily blocked. A rip is not
acceptable as it may hurt site performance and can be a copyright infringement.
Our Global Mission

Icecat’s global mission is to provide e-commerce partners with high-quality product
information that helps their buyers make better purchase decisions, in any world language,
in any country and on any device or media.
Advantages of upgrading to Full Icecat

The JSON interface may be accessed by all Icecat Data (XML, CSV or JSON) users, with at
least an Open Icecat account. Open Icecat users can access the data of the sponsoring
brands.
Full Icecat users can access the data of all brands in the Icecat database, and get a free
Vendor Central (PIM) service included.
However attractive the free Open Icecat database is, the Full-Icecat database still contains
many, many more brands: 10,000s (see https://icecat.biz/menu/vendors/index.htm). If you
want specific brands to be included into free Open Icecat, please, recommend Icecat to your
manufacturer contacts.
Read more about the main advantages of Full Icecat over free Open Icecat and see the
Icecat Susbcription Plans.
In case you want to upgrade to Full Icecat, please contact us via the contact form, or click
on the “request Full Icecat access” link after the User Login.
Icecat XML
Open Icecat Fair Use Policy

We require any user of Open Icecat product data – in a free Open Icecat subscription or as
part of the Full Icecat data – to respect the Open Icecat Fair Use Policy.
Explicitly relevant for website development is:
to mention explicitly the “Specs Icecat” on all product datasheets, with a link to the
Icecat.biz web site
to include explicitly an “AS IS” disclaimer, an example of which can be found
at https://www.icecat.biz/menu/disclaimer/index.htm (available in several languages).
International Standards Supported

Apart from XML, Icecat is compliant with an increasing number of international standards.
See, here a quick overview of such supported standards.
Coverage analysis
To decide to make use of Full Icecat or Open Icecat it may be important to analyze the
coverage of your portfolio or the portfolio of your supplier. You can always ask us to give
you an overview of the coverage of (stock) portfolio of your suppliers (i.e., distributors) at
any given moment. We strive to cover at least 90% of the stock portfolio (stock > 1) of
mainstream distributors and work together with partners to monitor this coverage daily.
If you want to analyze coverage, you can do two things:
1) Register and upload your catalog to Icecat via the Login. In the match analysis you get
the match percentages back for Full Icecat and Open Icecat. And you can get a list of the
unrecognized products. An advantage is that you can also optionally display your offers -
using this method- on the Icecat.biz price comparison sites. NOTE: if you follow this method,
Icecat also provides you automatically with your private Icecat index.
Icecat XML
2) If you do in-depth coverage analyses, please use the following matching file, which is a
plain dump of everything in our catalog: https://data.Icecat.biz/prodid/prodid_d.txt.gz (a
very large file with all known products in the Icecat database, described and standardized
or not in gzipped archive). NOTE: Market presence=Y in the matching file indicates that we
notice that the product is currently present in at least one distributor’s catalog.
Quality=Icecat means that Icecat editors have standardized the data-sheet.
Quality=SUPPLIER means that the data-sheet comes from a manufacturer’s CMS (or a
brand editor created a product data-sheet manually via Icecat PIM), and might be queued
for standardization. Quality=NOEDITOR means that our editors did not create a data-sheet
yet, nor did we auto-import manufacturer data; so, it is only the raw data as we received it
from channel partners.
TIP: discuss with the Icecat team a service level for your portfolio.
1. Icecat Repositories
The Full Icecat XML repository is a set of product data files and an index file, which includes
all pointers to individual product files and gives some basic information as timestamp
updated, content quality level, etc. The Icecat XML repository contains product information
for products of all brands, and categories that subscribers want us to support. The current
content can be best reviewed on the public Icecat website
The Open Icecat repository is the part of the Icecat XML repository that is sponsored by
manufacturers and is provided for free to the channel. Open Icecat is distributed under the
Open Content License Agreement. Which brands are included in Open Icecat? The most
recent list is here. Open Icecat is also useful during development and testing.
2. Directories
Icecat XML
2.1 Access
To obtain access to the repository, you will need a login/password, provided to you by
Icecat. If you don’t have these, please register online for free Open Icecat. NOTE: During
the registration you need to choose for the Live (url, JS) or Data (xml, json, csv) version. If
you want to make use of XML, make sure that you choose the Open Icecat Data
subscription. You can always change this afterwards, or create a second subscription for the
Live version (URL links to hosted data-sheets) method. For Full Icecat access, a separate
contract is needed. You can request this contract here.
Take care that you provide us with the right IP addresses of your content servers, as the
access is secure. You can test the login/password combination by entering it by hand in the
BASIC HTTP authorization pop-up screen, which appears automatically when the directory
URL is entered. In this case, we need to have added the IP address of your workplace as
well to your profile. If you don’t know this IP address, just type in your browsers
https://www.whatismyip.com/ or https://www.getip.com/ and fill it in the IP addresses field
after Login via the Icecat website (multiple IPs need to be entered space separated).
Of course, for professional use, server access need to be set up. In case of little experience
in this field, we advise you to make use of the URL versions (links to pictures and
datasheets) or ask us for assistance.
2.2 Individual Product XML (Meta) Requests

(real-time)
For smaller catalogs and for testing XML with small data-sets, it may be handy to make use
of our realtime interface (URL2XML) for retrieving Product XML from the (Open) Icecat
repositories.
The general format of the call is:
Requesting a product XML by Brand and Product code:
Icecat XML
https://data.Icecat.biz/xml_s3/xml_server3.cgi?prod_id=<prod_id>;vendor=<ve
ndor_name>;lang=<lang>;output=<output>
or
Requesting a product XML by GTIN (EAN or UPC):
https://data.Icecat.biz/xml_s3/xml_server3.cgi?ean_upc=<EAN or
UPC>;lang=<lang>;output=<output>
Where:
prod_id – the manufacturer product code of the requested product, vendor_name – name
of the manufacturer of the requested product, ean_upc – the EAN or UPC code to identify a
product,
lang – the language code (INT – for the international/standardized repository, EN, NL, FR…
– for local ones),
output – the type of the response. It can be productxml (the product xml file) and metaxml
(the index or meta information on the Brand + ProdID/M_Prod_ID or EAN/UPC).
For example, if you need to get an xml file of product ‘WM527 mouse Bluetooth Laser 1600
DPI Right-hand’. Manufactured by DELL, with product number WM527-BK, in English, the
call will be:
https://data.Icecat.biz/xml_s3/xml_server3.cgi?prod_id=WM527-BK;vendor=dell;lang=en;ou
tput=productxml
In case you want to retrieve data on the basis of an EAN or UPC code:
https://data.Icecat.biz/xml_s3/xml_server3.cgi?ean_upc=5397063929863;lang=en;output=p
roductxml
Icecat XML
The meta data:
https://data.Icecat.biz/xml_s3/xml_server3.cgi?prod_id=WM527-BK;vendor=dell;lang=en;ou
tput=metaxml
XML Server 3 access works via the basic HTTP authorization, also used for other HTTP
requests.
TIP 1: Use the Presentation_Value parameter in localized data-sheets for display of a data-
sheet, and use the standardized Value parameter for search & compare on standardized
values.
TIP 2: LocalValue is a transformation of the international Value according to the local

dictionary and the applicable Metric/Imperial value system. Especially, for local
applications,we advise to use LocalValue for search & compare functionalities
2.3 Open Icecat (free) directories, for batch

processing
Open Icecat users have access to: https://data.Icecat.biz/export/freexml/<lang> for access
to the standardized data files (QUALITY=ICECAT). Where <lang> stands for language code
TIP: use the standardized files for searching & comparing.
Please, note, where QUALITY = SUPPLIER only the original product data as imported from
a manufacturer’s CMS is available, the respective data-sheet is not yet standardized by our
editors. When standardized, the parameter changes to QUALITY = Icecat.
The language-specific product data-files are found here:

https://data.Icecat.biz/export/freexml/<lang>/<product_id>.xml, where <lang> stands for
language code and <product_id> stands for Icecat product ID
Please, note that this language-specific content contains the standardized content (same as
Icecat XML
in INT), which is entered by our editors. Or, if no standardized data is yet available, it
contains just the original data (Quality=Supplier) imported from the CMS of a manufacturer
or entered manually via the Icecat PIM by the manufacturer.
In general, we follow the ISO 639-1 two-character country codes, except when a code can
not be unambiguously tied to a language. So we use for example EN_SG, and EN_IN to
identify Singapore English and Indian English respectively
TIP: we advise the language-specific product content (Presentation_Value) purely for the
display of product data-sheets, not for search & comparison. For search & comparison, we
advise the standardized product content of the Value parameter from the /INT or local
language directory. We advise LocalValue for country-specific search & compare
applications.
TIP: Open Icecat is also useful for testing purposes before you upgrade to Full Icecat. The
technical structures are 100% compatible with those of Full Icecat.
2.4 Full Icecat directories, for batch

processing
Full Icecat contains all product data of all 10,000s of brands supported. Often provided with
service levels and coverage guarantees.
For the Full Icecat subscribers, a separate directory structure is in place:

https://data.Icecat.biz/export/level4/<lang>. Where <lang> stands for language code.
Please, note, where QUALITY = SUPPLIER only the original product data as imported from
a manufacturer’s PIM is available, the respective data-sheet is not yet standardized by our
editors. When standardized, the parameter changes to QUALITY = ICECAT.
The language-specific product data-files are found here:

https://data.Icecat.biz/export/level4/<lang>/<product_id>.xml, where <lang> stands for
language code and <product_id> stands for Icecat product ID.
Icecat XML
TIP: We advise the language-specific product content (Presentation_Value parameter)

purely for the display of product data-sheets, not for search & compare. For that, we advise
the standardized product content (the Value parameter) in both the /INT and the respective
local language directories. For country-specific applications we advise LocalValue in stead
of the international Value.
2.5 Languages supported and their codes

Currently, we support most world languages and European languages: in total more than 55
languages or locales (country-language combinations). Our intention is to support eventually
all languages. See our overview of supported languages and locales. If you feel that your
language or the language that you need is missing, feel free to contact us. Probably we can
work something out.
In general, we follow the language codes as given by the ISO 639-1 standard. However, in
some cases, we choose the simpler two-character country codes. For example, when it’s
obvious to which language code it relates (e.g., BR for Brazilian-Portuguese, or US for US
English).
2.6 Use Gzip/mod_deflate

As files become bigger and bigger, and the number of files is growing fast, we support the
gzipping of all interface files. Instead of doing this per file individually, we applied gzipping
to all interface files automatically (mod_deflate). To benefit from it, you have to add one
parameter to your calls.
About mod_deflate: mod_deflate transports our interface files as compressed gzip data, but
will show it transparantly in its original format in modern browsers.
To benefit in your server scripts from gzip, you must use in any HTTP request this additional
parameter:
Accept-Encoding: gzip
Icecat XML
It will enforce gzipping!
Example:
GET /export/level4/EN/10.xml HTTP/1.1
Host: prf.Icecat.biz
Accept-Encoding: gzip
User-Agent: Firefox/1.0
2.7 Use of HTTP like FTP, and an example of

C# script to download files
We often get questions like can we use FTP instead. Actually, this is really not necessary as
http has very similar capabilities to FTP.
Here is example code in C# to download files. You can use it also in ASP.NET code. We
tested it and it works ok:
public static Byte[] DownloadIcecatFile()
string strDownloadURL =”https://data.Icecat.biz/export/freexml/EN/480237.xml”;
string strUser = “Your Login to Icecat Repository”;
string strPWD = “Your Password to Icecat Repository”;
// Creating an instance of a WebClient
Icecat XML
WebClient req = new WebClient();
// Creating an instance of a credential cache,
// and passing the username and password to it
CredentialCache cache = new CredentialCache();
cache.Add(new Uri(strDownloadURL), “Basic”, new NetworkCredential(strUser, strPWD));
req.Credentials = cache;
Byte[] fileData = req.DownloadData(strDownloadURL);
return fileData;
In Classic ASP, MSXML2.ServerXMLhttp can be used Some details are present here
3. Index files *.index.xml
3.1 Purpose
The purpose of the index files is to find the right product XML files for a given product. The
matching between any portfolio and Icecat catalog has to be based on unique product
identifiers and Icecat support few options:
Brand + Product code – The “key” is always Brand name + Product code. The
combination of these identifiers should give a perfect hit.
GTIN (EAN / UPC) – These numerical identifiers are also available in XML index files
at Icecat and can be used as a unique identifier for matching a product. Indication
Icecat XML
“IsApproved=1” means that we received a GTIN either from the manufacturer or from
three independent distributor feeds. In all other cases, we tag a GTIN as
“IsApproved=0”.
Brand + Distributor Product code – Icecat Catalog has an extensive and
dynamically updated database of Product code mappings between product identifiers
that comes from different distributors all over the world and the original manufacturer
product codes. It opens an ability to make a matching by using a distributor Product
code (M_Prod_Id) in combination with a brand name.
3.2 Index Types

There are four types of index files in our XML-OCI:
files.index.xml or .csv – An index file with references to product data-sheets in Open

Icecat and with references to all described product data-sheets in Full Icecat
Path: https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/<lang>/files.index.xml.gz or .csv.gz
daily.index.xml or .csv– a smaller index file with only references to the new or changed
product data-sheets of the respective day
Path: https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/<lang>/daily.index.xml.gz or csv.gz
on_market.index.xml or .csv – an index file with only the products that are currently on
the market, as far as we can see that based on 100s of distributor and reseller price files
Path: https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/<lang>/on_market.index.xml.gz or csv.gz
Tip: use the on_market index file, in case that you think the full index file is too big for you
to process or too inefficient. DISCLAIMER: if our monitor for your market is incomplete, the
on_market index file is probably too incomplete for your purposes.
nobody.index.xml or .csv – an index file with the products that are or were on the market
Icecat XML
for which we only have basic market data, but no complete data-sheet.
Path: https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/<lang>/nobody.index.xml.gz or csv.gz
Tip: In case that you want to recategorize your products, for which we have no data-sheet
(QUALITY=NOEDITOR), make use of the nobody index file
Important note:
<lang> stands for language code
level4 – to access Full Icecat. In case of Open Icecat, use freexml.
The structure of complete files.index.xml and daily.index.xml are identical for a user’s
convenience.
Files include the index information for each product and gives the path to the XML product
file. Below is an example of a file tag in the index file:
The On_Market attribute indicates that a product is still on the market (On_Market=“1”) or
not seen on the market anymore (On_Market=“0”).
Per product, Icecat provides also the GTIN (EAN or UPC) codes, used for logistical
purposes. It is possible that there are multiple GTINs (EANs or UPCs), as this varies with
packaging or importers.
Further, we provide the Product code variants, used in the market, in a sub-list
(M_Prod_ID).
Icecat XML
Finally, the <Country_Market Value=”US”/> indicates that we see the product at the
moment in the catalogs of US channel partners. This tag can be useful to limit your view on
the index file, in case you don’t have distributor imports to do that.
The Model_Name attribute contains the product name. The Product_View attribute
indicates how many times the current product is requested.
We refresh files.index.xml and daily.index.xml every day. You can use daily.index.xml to
update only the data in your local database that has changed or is new in the Icecat
database. files.index.xml, you can use the first time for a full import of needed product
information of active data-sheets for Open Icecat users and all existing data-sheets for Full
Icecat users, and for the regular analysis of coverage of your product database.
Historic and obsolete products can be downloaded via the real-time interface.
TIP 1: download ONLY the xml files that you actually need for your shop or application by
using a daily catalog export from your ERP or shop (or actually the daily imports from your
distributors/suppliers) as a filter. It is useless to import all the global product data files if
you only operate in one geographic area or have an assortment limited to a certain
category.
TIP 2: check the timestamps to only download files that have changed or check only for new
files, to improve update performance cycles.
TIP 3: the daily index file also includes the list of product codes that are removed the day
before (QUALITY=REMOVED). We remove product data-sheets, for example, when editors
map them away. You can use it for cleansing your catalog.
3.2 *.index.xml DTD

The latest version of the DTD is here: https://data.icecat.biz/dtd/files.index.dtd
Each product has its own data file in XML format. Its location is defined by the attribute
Icecat XML
“path” in the *.index.xml.gz. The file content includes all the available product information
for the respective product.
The “Prod_ID” attribute is a manufacturer’s unique identifier for a product, often called
Brand Product Code (Manufacturer Part Number, code de fabricant, Produkt-Kode,
artikelnummer, etc). In combination with the “supplier_id” (i.e., the brand identifier) it is the
unique key to select a product’s XML file via Icecat’s internal identifier (“Product_id”).
M_Prod_ID consists of one or more manufacturer product code(s) that are present in
distributor or partner feeds but are mapped to the original (correct) Prod_ID.
The EAN_UPC sub-list lists the GTIN codes (EAN or UPC) that refer to this product. There
can be multiple codes, as these are logistical codes depending on packaging types and
geography.
On_Market (1=Yes, 0=No) indicates whether Icecat sees a product somewhere on the
market or not. The Country_Market lists the individual markets (countries), where Icecat
sees that the product is present. This indication can be used to limit the view on our index
file.
DISCLAIMER: Our market view is always imperfect as we depend on the data of connected
channel partners and distributors.
Catid is Icecat’s internal category identifier. For example Catid=”151” refers to Notebooks.
For every category there is a second, external, category identifier based on UNSPSC. In the
reference files or the product XML the meaning of categories can be found.
“Quality” attribute values:
SUPPLIER – This content is received from a brand’s PIM or entered manually by a brand
editor via the Icecat PIM, and is not yet standardized by an Icecat editor. The language-
specific directories are likely to contain the full (unstandardized) data-sheet.
ICECAT – This content is entered and/or standardized by Icecat editors. Such standardized
Icecat XML
data is present in the INT directory and the language-specific directories.
NOEDITOR – The content is received from a merchant (in most cases one of the 100s of
distributors we are daily “polling”) and may be parsed. Editors haven’t described this
product yet. Icecat doesn’t export the NOEDITOR data in XML to 3rd parties.
4. Additional data
4.1 Brand name mapping data

To help you with matching distributor data to the Icecat rich content, we are publishing the
mappings of used variants of manufacturer names to the Icecat Supplier_ID
You can find this file in your repository, named supplier_mapping.xml.
Open Icecat: http://data.icecat.biz/export/freexml/<lang>/supplier_mapping.xml
Full icecat: http://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/<lang>/supplier_mapping.xml
Where <lang> stands for language code
Within this file you’ll find the match between different manufacturer names variations and
the original manufacturer name.
The format is self explanatory. The DTD for the message format is is available at:
https://data.icecat.biz/dtd/ICECAT-supplier_mapping.dtd
4.2 Manufacturer part number mappings

Different distributors often produce different manufacturer part numbers (MPN) for the
same product.
Icecat XML
To help you correct the MPNs from different distributors and to help you to get the best
coverage, we are publishing the available MPN mappings to the official MPN. In every
repository directory, the file with product mappings is published in the index files
(files.index.xml, etc.).
OBSOLETE METHOD product_mapping.xml:
INT/product_mapping.xml
EN/product_mapping.xml
etc…
Note: We advise not to use product_mapping.xml files anymore as it has an obsolete

structure. All product mapping data is already present in the XML index files.
4.3 References
In product XML feeds, you will find a lot of structures, which are included as references in
the product data files, e.g. categories, features, measures (units), etc.
The reference files are present in the /refs/ subdirectory. For example, for Full Icecat, at
https://data.Icecat.biz/export/level4/refs/ and for Open Icecat at
https://data.Icecat.biz/export/freexml/refs/
The included files (entities) are:
CampaignsList.xml
CategoriesList.xml.gz
CategoryFeatureIntervalsList.xml
Icecat XML
CategoryFeaturesList.xml.gz
DistributorList.xml.gz
FeatureGroupsList.xml.gz
FeatureLogosList.xml.gz
FeatureValuesVocabularyList.xml.gz (translations of certain frequent feature values)
FeaturesList.xml.gz
LanguageList.xml.gz
LogisticsDataList.xml
MeasuresList.xml.gz
RelationsList.xml
SupplierProductFamiliesListRequest.xml.gz
SuppliersList.xml.gz
Almost all files are present in Gzipped format. The typical use of the files is in combination
with data from the INT (international) directory, not the localized directories as there the
language-specific values are already automatically applied to the product XML files
4.3.1 Campaigns list
Brand products can have campaigns for specific period. CampaignsList.xml has the list of all
assigned campaigns.
Example:
Icecat XML
4.3.2 Categories List
This chunk provides information on Icecat categories. Each category may be either
searchable or not. Searchable categories may be used for product lookup by product feature
values, as Icecat editors systematically maintain data integrity to allow smart searches.
Searchable=”1″: This category may be used for product lookup in product list lookup
request
Searchable=”0″: This category is not made searchable (in our own product finder tools)
“Score” attribute in the response reflects the category usage statistic. The higher number
means the higher the usage level.
Example:
Icecat XML
4.3.3 Category feature list request
This chunk provides information about features that are assigned to every single category
and which are used for describing products in the category.
Each searchable feature will have LimitDirection attribute defined, which will give advice
for finding a “better” feature value, either < or >. E.g. for feature “Hard disk capacity” it
would be > relation, and for the feature “Write seek” it would be < relation.
LimitDirection=”0″: The relation is undefined
LimitDirection=”1″: The relation is <
LimitDirection=”2″: The relation is >
LimitDirection=”3″: The relation is =
Class=”0″: Key feature
Class=”1″: Extra feature – tech details
Possible feature values may be restricted to a limited set of values. In that case possible
values for the combination Category-Feature are listed in container RestritedValue.
4.3.4 Features list
Example:
Icecat XML
4.3.5 Language list
Example:
4.3.6 Measure list (units)
Example:
Icecat XML
4.3.7 Relations list
Icecat has dynamic relations (x-sells). They based on the product sets, manually defined.
One product set relates to another one.
Example:
Icecat XML
4.3.8 Supplier product families list request
This chunk provides the list of supplier product families. Each product family may have
information about it’s Name, Description in different languages, and category.
4.3.9 Supplier list request (manufacturers)
From Supplier list users can identify if brand belongs to Full or Open Icecat.
Example:
Icecat XML
4.3.10 Popularity of products
We log all Icecat product requests (real-time requests by end-users and xml requests). This
data gives a product popularity indication, useful for sorting products and analyzing market
trends. This popularity data is daily published on:
https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/data_prod_stat.xml
4.3.11 Standardized Product Summary Description
In response to questions from different clients, we have created a Standardized Product

Summary Description.
The local versions are here:
https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/<lang>/product_overview.txt
https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/<lang>/product_overview.txt.gz
Where <lang> stands for the language code. Column 1 is the Icecat ID, and column 2 and 3
give a short and a long standardized product summary description.
The short summary of column 2 is created as follows:
The extended summary of column 3 is created as follows:
Icecat XML
TIP: Think about the guarantees that you get from your suppliers (distributors), based on
errors made in their product descriptions. It may still be smart to make use of these supplier
(distributor) texts in the ordering process for this reason.
5. Product XML data file
5.1 Repository file DTD

The XML repository files comply to the standard Icecat XML response DTD, which is located
at:
https://data.icecat.biz/dtd/ICECAT-interface_response.dtd
Please, note that the tag “No=” (example: No=”100090″) is a Priority indicator. The higher
the number the more important the feature or feature group is considered to be for buyer
orientation. Thus, we advise you to sort features and feature groups by priority, to get a
more customer-friendly user presentation.
Product code is a deprecated field, earlier it used as product response status. Now, product
code always equals 1.
5.2 XML Schema definitions

Each Icecat XML has its XSD definition, you can see it as 2 mandatory attributes in the root
XML tag.
You can find the basic information about XML Schema here. Icecat XSD sources are located
Icecat XML
at https://data.Icecat.biz/xsd/. They can be used for Icecat XMLs validation.
5.3. Example product XML

You can check Icecat product XML example here for EN local
Notes:
Presentation_Value is the processed value as can be displayed in a data-sheet. It is based

on the international (but localized) feature value with the localized measure unit and
localized decimal separator (comma or dot depending on the country) or – if the
international value is absent – on the language-specific value. Also, it contains automatically
transformed unit (for e.g. “665 mm is being transformed to more friendly “66,5 cm” or “66.5
cm” depending on the country).
LocalValue is a local transformation of our international Value attribute. It applies the local
dictionary to Value and transforms values according to local standards. As in Value attribute
LocalValue contains value of the feature and measurement unit as a separate attributes.
Icecat XML
5.4. Other asset tags: 3D, bullet points, and

Product Variants
Icecat supports 3D objects and Product Variants.
Bullet points are available through a separate tag.
See for a full overview: Digital Asset Types as Represented in Icecat’s Open Catalog
Interfaces.
Read further: Manuals, oci, PDS, PIM, XML
Vazha Abramishvili
Chief Operating Officer at Icecat

Open Catalog Interface (OCI) - Manual For Open Icecat XML and Full Icecat XML

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Open Catalog Interface (OCI): Manual for Open Icecat XML and Full

Revision date: October 20, 2019, Version 2.48

Other Integration Methods

Importants Notes about Icecat XML

Our Global Mission

Advantages of upgrading to Full Icecat

Open Icecat Fair Use Policy

Explicitly relevant for website development is:

International Standards Supported

If you want to analyze coverage, you can do two things:

2.2 Individual Product XML (Meta) Requests

The general format of the call is:

Requesting a product XML by Brand and Product code:

Requesting a product XML by GTIN (EAN or UPC):

The meta data:

TIP 2: LocalValue is a transformation of the international Value according to the local

2.3 Open Icecat (free) directories, for batch

TIP: use the standardized files for searching & comparing.

The language-specific product data-files are found here:

2.4 Full Icecat directories, for batch

For the Full Icecat subscribers, a separate directory structure is in place:

The language-specific product data-files are found here:

TIP: We advise the language-specific product content (Presentation_Value parameter)

2.5 Languages supported and their codes

2.6 Use Gzip/mod_deflate

It will enforce gzipping!

GET /export/level4/EN/10.xml HTTP/1.1

2.7 Use of HTTP like FTP, and an example of

public static Byte[] DownloadIcecatFile()

string strDownloadURL =”https://data.Icecat.biz/export/freexml/EN/480237.xml”;

string strUser = “Your Login to Icecat Repository”;

string strPWD = “Your Password to Icecat Repository”;

// Creating an instance of a WebClient

WebClient req = new WebClient();

// Creating an instance of a credential cache,

// and passing the username and password to it

CredentialCache cache = new CredentialCache();

cache.Add(new Uri(strDownloadURL), “Basic”, new NetworkCredential(strUser, strPWD));

Byte[] fileData = req.DownloadData(strDownloadURL);

3. Index files *.index.xml

3.2 Index Types

files.index.xml or .csv – An index file with references to product data-sheets in Open

Path: https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/<lang>/files.index.xml.gz or .csv.gz

Path: https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/<lang>/daily.index.xml.gz or csv.gz

Path: https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/<lang>/on_market.index.xml.gz or csv.gz

Path: https://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/<lang>/nobody.index.xml.gz or csv.gz

<lang> stands for language code

level4 – to access Full Icecat. In case of Open Icecat, use freexml.

3.2 *.index.xml DTD

“Quality” attribute values:

data is present in the INT directory and the language-specific directories.

4.1 Brand name mapping data

You can find this file in your repository, named supplier_mapping.xml.

Open Icecat: http://data.icecat.biz/export/freexml/<lang>/supplier_mapping.xml

Full icecat: http://data.icecat.biz/export/level4/<lang>/supplier_mapping.xml

Where <lang> stands for language code

4.2 Manufacturer part number mappings

OBSOLETE METHOD product_mapping.xml:

Note: We advise not to use product_mapping.xml files anymore as it has an obsolete