Exporting

Once you have Person-related data in Rattail, you can export it “anywhere else” you need. This may be an Excel file, SQL DB, web API etc. but for the sake of this discussion we’ll assume data is to be exported back to the POS system.

In fact the export features do not require you to first import the data to Rattail. Every export that could be done “from Rattail DB” could also be done e.g. “from POS DB”. For instance that’s exactly what happens when data is imported from the POS into Rattail, it is just another way of saying “export from POS to Rattail” and therefore you can export straight from your POS to e.g. some web API for mailing list or online shopping etc.

An export is “reading” data from e.g. Rattail or POS DB, and then “writing” it somewhere else. The reading part is pretty straightforward but the writing part may have limitations depending on your target. As a rule Rattail is willing to read directly from a SQL DB but will always write data via some more “official” route, i.e. documented API. Which means the writing “possibilities” are limited to what the API exposes. Whereas exporting to e.g. Excel file would not have such a limitation, but may have others (e.g. file size).

So how is data exported back to the POS specifically, for example? That definitely will depend on your POS system, and as of writing only 3 are well supported.

If you’re lucky enough to run a SIL-compliant POS then a great deal is possible; Rattail can generate SIL files which add/modify data of nearly any kind.

If your POS exposes a web API then Rattail can use that to write some data. At this point in time these are rather limited though.

If writing directly to POS SQL DB is an option for you, then Rattail can certainly accommodate. It should be stressed that this is not ideal as it would likely bypass any data validation, audit trail etc. that the POS may be doing were an official channel used instead.