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A Blank XML or Blank CSV feed contains exactly the fields you define, named exactly as you name them, in the order you put them. Nothing is added and nothing is assumed. Use one when a channel wants a file in its own shape, or when you need a spreadsheet of your catalog.

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How it differs from a Google feed

A Google feed is built around Google’s specification — Rogus knows which attributes exist, which are required, and what a valid value looks like. A blank feed has none of that, because the fields are yours and Rogus has no idea what the channel expects. That means: The missing checks are deliberate, not unfinished. You never agreed to Google’s rules for this file, so Rogus does not hold your data to them.

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The field list

Open the feed and stay on the Feed configuration tab. Every row is one field. Each field has:
  • Name — becomes the XML element name, or the CSV column heading
  • Source — a product or variant field, a metafield, or a fixed value
  • Fallback — used only when the source is empty for that item
  • Required — “Skip the variant when empty”
The list order is the file order. Reorder the rows and the file changes to match.

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The Required toggle

Required is off by default and only you can turn it on. It is the only thing that can leave a product out of a blank feed. Turn it on for a field the channel cannot accept a row without — usually the id, sometimes the price. Leave it off for anything optional: the item still publishes, and that field is simply empty for it.
A field marked required with no source set would skip every variant in your catalog. Rogus blocks that before it runs and tells you which field is the problem.

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What Rogus starts you with

A new blank feed comes with six fields already set up, which you can rename, reorder or delete: Note that price here is the current price, not the regular one. That is the right default for a plain export. Google’s convention is the unusual one, and it applies only to Google feeds — see Attribute mapping.

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Naming fields

CSV: the name becomes the column heading exactly as you typed it. Anything goes. XML: the name becomes an element name, and XML has rules — no spaces, and it cannot start with a digit. If you type something XML cannot use, Rogus rewrites it rather than breaking the file: spaces and symbols become underscores, and a leading digit gets an underscore in front of it. That rewrite is a last resort, not a feature. A single bad element name makes the whole document unreadable, and the channel then rejects every item rather than one. If Rogus renamed a field, rename it yourself so you know what the channel is receiving.

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Rows and columns

One variant is one row, the same as a Google feed. A product with ten variants produces ten rows. For CSV, every row is lined up against the header, so a field with no value for that item leaves an empty cell rather than shifting the rest of the row into the wrong columns.

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What a blank feed cannot do

  • It cannot be sent directly to Merchant Center. Google’s API needs Google’s attribute names, and a blank feed does not have them. Use a Google Shopping feed for that, or give the channel the feed URL.
  • It gets no format warnings and no suggested fixes, as explained above.
Both are consequences of the fields being yours. If you want Google’s checks, you want a Google feed.