Margin Master Handbook
- Prerequisites
- Firewall and Network Requirements
- Microsoft Edge Download Block
- SQL Server Authentication Setup for IT Administrators
- Antivirus and Endpoint Security Exclusions
- SQL Server Tools
- Install or Upgrade SQL Server Express
- Install or Upgrade SQL Server Management Studio
- A Tour of the Main Window
- The Menus
- The Button Row
- The Main Data Grid
- The Summary Section
- Banners and Badges
- The Options Window
- Store Configuration
- Miscellaneous
- Export Options
- Vendor Settings
- POS / Connections Tabs
- Background Service
- AI Assistant (Experimental)
- How POS Import Works
- Supported Point-of-Sale Systems
- Data Import Workflows
- RockSolid POS Import
- Epicor Eagle FTP Import
- Epicor MySQL Compass Import
- Transact POS Import
- Paladin POS Import
- Falcon POS Import
- Spruce POS Import
- Bistrack POS Import
- RockSolid Max POS Import
- ECS POS Import
- Prosperity POS Import
- Catalyst POS Import
- Westlake POS Import
- MI9 POS Import
- AS/400 POS Import
- CounterWorks POS Import
- Dimension POS Import
- PacSoft POS Import
- ProStix POS Import
- Sympac POS Import
- Propello POS Import
- EagleVision POS Import
- MySQL/Compass Connection Configuration
- ECI VPN Requirement (Spruce, RockSolid MAX)
- Propello POS Integration Guide
- MI9 Data Pipeline — Import to Main Table
- Troubleshooting: Epicor Import Brought In 0 SKUs
- PACE POS Import
- Advantage POS Import
- General Store POS Import
- J-3 POS Import
- KeyStroke POS Import
- AutBusSystem POS Import
- Tomax POS Import
- Enterprise POS Import
- Computakey POS Import
- Redisell POS Import
- DART POS Import
- MIB POS Import
- Substruct POS Import
- DMAS POS Import
- RODS POS Import
- Procom POS Import
- Agility POS Import
- Acumen POS Import
- Cruise POS Import
- LSandE POS Import
- Retalix POS Import
- DIBCorp POS Import
- GMROI POS Import
- ECi Advantage POS Import
- Sunray POS Import
- ActivantAutomotive POS Import
- IBS POS Import
- Versys POS Import
- RMS POS Import
- TAMS POS Import
- Integrasoft POS Import
- Dynamic POS Import
- Microsoft ARS POS Import
- CDS POS Import
- Spartan POS Import
- Nitterhouse POS Import
- Jeds POS Import
- Theisens POS Import
- Emery Jensen POS Import
- SMS Pro POS Import
- Burdens POS Import
- Intact POS Import
- Bloom Retail POS Import
- NCR Counterpoint POS Import
- Horizon POS Import
- Cloud Vendor Data Sync
- Data Aging and Freshness Warnings
- Resetting Vendor and POS Data
- Rebuild Data and Rebuild Selection Lists
- Troubleshooting Vendor Sync
- Understanding the Strategy Hierarchy
- Pricing Strategies
- Creating a Strategy Step
- Updating and Deleting Steps
- Reviewing a Strategy and Running It
- Shared (Premade) Strategies
- SKU-Level Exceptions
- Manage Custom Groups
- Strategy Execution Cloud Tracking
- Importing from Excel
- Cost Break Analysis
- Cost Break Strategies
- Min/Max Strategies
- Strategy Backup & Restore
- Add Items from Catalog
- Store Grouping
- Data Diagnostics and Missing Index Recommendations
- System Diagnostics
- Margin Master Cannot Save Settings
- SQL Server 2025 Express vs. Full License
- Support Issue Management
- Catalog Lookup
- What's New After an Update
- Version History
- Documentation and the Help Buttons
- CTLD — Do It Best Catalog File
- MARGIN_MASTER — Ace Catalog File
- PCDITEMXREF — Do It Best SKU Classification File
- SAP_ZONE_PRICE_MARGIN_MASTER — Ace Zone Pricing File
- PCDPRODCLASS — Do It Best Product Classification Hierarchy File
- SAP_STORE_DEPT_ZONE_MARGIN_MASTER — Ace Store Zone Assignment File
- Taxonomy — Ace Product Classification File
- Mapp_Pricing — Ace MAP & IMAP Pricing File
- margin_mstr_plano — Ace Planogram File
On This Page
Add Items from Catalog
What is this?
The Add from Catalog feature lets you manually add items from your vendor's catalog into your Margin Master data. This is useful when your store carries items that are not yet in your POS system or when you want to include catalog-only items in your pricing analysis.
Walk through it in the app: guide 1021 — Adding items from the vendor catalog. Margin Master can walk you through these steps live: turn on Training / Guide Mode from the Help menu, then type 1021 into the Lessons & Guides box — or ask Margin Master support to run it with you.
Items added from the catalog are permanently tracked so they automatically survive data rebuilds. Every time Margin Master rebuilds your main tables, tracked catalog items are re-added using the latest catalog data, ensuring their pricing and details stay current.
Opening / Accessing
Menu: Data > Add Item from Catalog (named for your vendor - e.g. "Add Ace Item from Catalog"; Do it Best stores with no POS see "Add Catalog Item to History")
The Add from Catalog Dialog
The dialog has two panels.
Left Panel: Search or Bulk Entry
At the top of the left panel are two controls that apply to all entry methods:
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Store | Dropdown to select which store to add items to. "ALL" is always available at the top to add to every store, or pick a specific store number |
| Mode | Toggle between Search and Bulk entry modes (see below) |
Search Mode
Search mode lets you find and add items one at a time.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Search | Type a SKU number or description (minimum 3 characters). Results appear automatically after a brief delay |
| Search Results | Grid showing matching catalog items with SKU and Description columns |
| Add Selected to List | Button to move the selected search result to the add list. You can also double-click a row |
Bulk Mode
Bulk mode lets you add many SKUs at once without searching individually. Switch to Bulk mode by clicking the Bulk radio button.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Text area | Type or paste a list of SKUs. Separate them with commas, newlines, semicolons, or tabs |
| Import File... | Opens a file browser to load SKUs from an Excel or text file (see Import File below) |
| Look Up & Add | Looks up every SKU in the text area against the vendor catalog and adds matches to the list. Clears the text area when done |
Right Panel: SKUs to be Added
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| SKUs to be Added | Grid showing items queued for addition, with Store, SKU, and Description columns |
| SKU count | Shows the total number of items in the add list |
| Remove | Button to remove the selected item from the add list (appears when an item is selected) |
Import File
When in Bulk mode, the Import File... button opens a file browser where you can select an Excel or text file containing SKUs.
Supported file types:
| Format | Extensions | How SKUs are read |
|---|---|---|
| Excel | .xlsx, .xls | Reads a single column. If the file has a column named "SKU" it is selected automatically. Otherwise, a column picker dialog appears so you can choose which column contains SKUs |
| Text / CSV | .csv, .txt, .tab | Splits the entire file by commas, tabs, newlines, and semicolons |
After reading the file, each SKU is looked up in the vendor catalog. A summary shows how many were added and how many were not found.
Bulk Entry Notes
- SKUs can be separated by commas, newlines, semicolons, or tabs
- Duplicate SKUs in the entry are automatically ignored
- SKUs already in the "SKUs to be Added" list are not added again
- The currently selected Store is used for all bulk-added items
- A summary message reports the count of added items and any SKUs not found in the catalog
What Happens When You Add Items
- Each selected SKU is looked up in the current vendor catalog data
- If the SKU exists in the catalog and is not already in the target store's data, it is inserted into the main table
- If the SKU already exists in a store, it is skipped for that store
- A summary message shows how many items were added
- You are prompted: "Would you like to rebuild Margin Master data now to include these items?"
- Yes triggers a full data rebuild with the complete post-processing pipeline
- No keeps the items as-is; they will be fully processed on the next rebuild
Persistent Tracking
All successfully added items are saved to a tracking table (ManualCatalogItems). This means:
- Items survive data rebuilds and are automatically re-added each time
- The re-add uses current catalog data, so pricing and descriptions stay up to date
- If a tracked SKU is later removed from the vendor catalog, it will simply not be re-added
- Items are tracked per vendor type, so switching vendors does not mix items
Fields Added to Main Table
Ace Hardware / Emery Jensen
| Main Table Field | Source |
|---|---|
| StoreNumber | Selected store or "1" |
| SKU, Description | AceCatalogRecords |
| Dept/Dept2, Class/Class2, ProductGroup/ProductGroup2 | AceCatalogRecords |
| VendorNumber, VendorName | AceCatalogRecords |
| CurrentPrice, Retail | AceZoneRecords.Retail (zone 99999) |
| Level1, Level2 | AceZoneRecords (zone 99999) |
| PricingStrategy | AceCatalogRecords.PS (first char, default "X") |
| VelocityCode | AceCatalogRecords.VC (default "X") |
| Ace_Conv, Ace_Nbr, Ace_Sup, Ace_Ult | AceCatalogRecords |
| DOM, RDOM | AceCatalogRecords |
| Ace_MSURetail, Ace_AceRetailNew | AceZoneRecords (zone 99999) |
Do-it Best (with POS system)
| Main Table Field | Source |
|---|---|
| StoreNumber | Selected store |
| SKU, Description | DIBCatalogRecords |
| Dept/Dept2, Class/Class2, ProductGroup/ProductGroup2 | DIBCatalogRecords |
| VendorNumber, VendorName, MfgNumber | DIBCatalogRecords |
| CurrentPrice, Retail | DIBCatalogRecords.SuggestedRetail |
| Cost, StoreCost | DIBCatalogRecords.Classic1Cost |
| DIB_SuggestedRetail, DIB_PAR1Cost | DIBCatalogRecords |
| DIB_Classic3Cost, DIB_Vision1Cost | DIBCatalogRecords |
| DIB_SuggClassicMargin, DIB_SuggVisionMargin | DIBCatalogRecords |
| DIB_SubstituteItem, DIB_SubstituteItem2, DIB_StatusCode | DIBCatalogRecords |
| DIB_Mult1, DIB_Mult2, DIB_Mult3 | DIBCatalogRecords |
Note: Additional fields (margin calculations, variance fields, zone pricing) are populated by the post-processing pipeline during data rebuild.
Tips
Always click Yes when prompted to rebuild after adding items.
Use the Store dropdown to target specific stores. Choosing "ALL" adds the item to every store.
In Bulk mode, you can paste a comma-separated list directly from a spreadsheet or email and click Look Up & Add in one step.
If a catalog-added item is later discontinued, it will simply not be re-added during rebuilds.
Common Questions
Q: Will my manually added catalog items disappear when I rebuild data? A: No. They are permanently tracked and automatically re-added every rebuild.
Q: Do catalog-added items get zone pricing applied? A: Yes, as long as you rebuild data after adding them.
Q: Can I add items for just one store, or all stores at once? A: Both. Use the Store dropdown at the top of the dialog. "ALL" is always the first option and adds the item to every store.
