Guide to XML Integration

If using a solution provider, the cost associated to purchase/develop software or subscription services that integrate with the Tech Data XML service.

No, the system can automatically make that selection for you.

I use a price file to supplement my order submissions via the XML service. How can I ensure I receive the “best available” price?

You can submit a Price List or Price/Availability transaction prior to transmitting your purchase order. Alternately, you can omit price amount information from your purchase order and the system will apply the “best available” price.

Besides the code samples we provide, you can optionally investigate some “out-of-the-box” solutions that have experience with the Tech Data's XML service such as ChannelOnline (www.channelonline.com). Please note these are subscription based services which may have an associated cost.

Transaction processing times will vary from one transaction to another. Also, transaction content and system volume will effect performance. But normally, the 'round trip' time between the customer and Tech Data is a few seconds.

Immediately. When you receive the response document of an order submit, your order number is returned. Your order could be placed on a hold for various reasons, this can be found by placing and Order Status (type 02) transaction. Alternately, on the order submit, you can request Order Confirmation which will cause the order response to contain details on the order.

What causes the following message: "Your order is missing End User/License information which is required by the Software Publisher to fulfill this request. Please assure that all required data is completed and resubmit your order."?

Manufacturers may require End User Information on certain items of their product lines. This data is needed to fulfill the order submission.

This tag is used to have various versions of the response document returned from your transaction. As new versions are introduced, full backward compatibility exists, but it is highly recommended that you use the very latest versions. The latest versions return all available data by the applicable transaction. See the DTD Enhancement section for a complete list of the DTD, version and the enhancement.

A customer is able to receive a successful XML reply message "1 Unknown Reason" or "200 Ok" sending a properly formatted XML document, however, why are they not receiving the XML response document?

This is likely due to a firewall/proxy restriction at the remote site. A possible fix is to implement an HTML filter for the incoming IP address (contact us for the URL) and then the XML document should be available to the remote site.

I am unable to view a response on an order status request (I am able to obtain status from other orders).

This could be due to an ampersand "&" character in the address information of the order. The XML document is sent, however, the XML parser used may not be able to interpret the "reserved" ampersand symbol. Refer to the XML Character Encoding section.

The easiest way to have a hold to be placed on your order is to submit the order with a message. Click here to learn how to put a message on your order.

Yes. A purchase order number is required. It is strongly recommended that each purchase order number is unique. This will greatly assist tracking and researching the order after it has been submitted.

Normally within 24 hours. There are circumstances such as End User Information and Ship Via conflicts that can cause a delay, but normally orders are sent from Tech Data warehouses within 24 hours.

Frequently Asked Questions