An export file is missing lines or won't open

When a saw, CNC or design program rejects an Allmoxy export, or a line you expected isn't in it, the cause is almost always one of three things: the exporter, the part's export settings, or the part's quantity on that item. This page goes through the problems we're asked about most, each with what to check and the fix. How exporters and export formulas work is in Exporters: send part data to your machines and software.

Applies to: employees who set up exporters or maintain the catalog. Changing exporters and part formulas needs the Manage Catalog permission.

In this article

There's no export link on the order
A part doesn't write a line
Export one material or another, depending on the options
Lines repeat, or a quantity is doubled
An XML file won't open: names with &, < or quotes
Still stuck
Things to know

There's no export link on the order

The Export Data For: links are in the Send To panel on the left of any output page, one per exporter. If the one you expect is missing:

No part on the order writes to that exporter. A link only appears when at least one part on the order has that exporter in Choose Exporter. Check the products on the order.
The exporter is switched off. On Settings (gear) > Operations > Exporters, make sure Active is ticked.
A customer can't see it. Customers only get links for exporters with Show Customers ticked.

More on finding the file: Find and save an export file.

A part doesn't write a line

Open the product (Settings (gear) > E-commerce > Products), go to the Parts tab and open the part. Check:

Choose Exporter is set to the exporter you're downloading. Each part writes only to the exporter picked there.
Part Export Formula isn't empty. A part with no export formula writes nothing.
The part's quantity is more than 0 for that item. The part attribute marked This attribute measures the quantity of part needed decides how many of the part the item has. When it works out to 0, the part isn't on that item and writes no line. Make sure it gives a number, not a blank, when the part is needed.

To see what each part worked out for a real order, open the product's Parts tab, add ?dev=1 to the end of the address, and use Test Live Data with the order number. See Use the dev view to see how a price was worked out.

Export one material or another, depending on the options

A common need: every door exports its normal panel line, and some doors also need an extra line whose material depends on the options chosen (for example, MDF for one profile and wood type, and a labels-only line for everything else).

The recommended way is a helper part for each extra line, each with its own export formula and a quantity formula that is 0 when that line isn't needed:

On the product's Parts tab, add a part for each possible line, such as Panel MDF and Panel Label. Pick the same exporter in Choose Exporter and write each part's export formula with the material it should send.
Give each part a quantity attribute, tick This attribute measures the quantity of part needed, and write a condition that returns the count when the line is needed and 0 when it isn't. For example, for Panel MDF:

(panel_profile.export_name == text(Reverse Back Cut) && wood_type.export_name == text(Paint Grade MDF) ? panels : 0)

and the opposite for Panel Label:

(panel_profile.export_name == text(Reverse Back Cut) && wood_type.export_name == text(Paint Grade MDF) ? 0 : panels)
Leave the main panel part as it is, so its line always exports.
Test with Test Form (Parts tab with ?dev=1) for each combination before saving, then download the export from a test order.

Comparing an option's text column with text(...) works the same way in quantity formulas as in any other part formula. The text inside text() has to match the option's column value exactly, including capitals and spaces.

If you only need one value on a line to change (not a whole extra line), use a part attribute that outputs text instead, such as (width < 10 ? text(slim) : text(wide)), and put that attribute in the export formula. A part attribute can output text or a number, not both. See Parts: how a product is calculated.

Lines repeat, or a quantity is doubled

One line per item or one per part. On the exporter, One line per item writes a single line for the item, and One line per part writes a line for each piece, so a part with quantity 3 writes three lines. Pick the one your software expects.
Quantity counted twice. If the quantity attribute has This attribute measures the quantity of part needed ticked, Allmoxy already multiplies it by the item quantity. Don't also put quantity in that formula, or the number is multiplied twice.
Extra header lines. An exporter's header and footer, and a product's own Exporter Header/Footer, each add their own lines. With Generate headers and footers between each order ticked, a batch repeats them for every order.

An XML file won't open: names with &, < or quotes

XML files can't hold a bare &, < or " inside a value. If a company name like "Smith & Sons" or an order name with quotes breaks the file, the fix is in how the exporter is written:

Use Plain Text with an .xml extension for an XML file you build yourself in the header and part formulas. Plain Text writes your lines exactly as you typed them. The XML data format treats each part line as text and escapes it, so tags written in a part formula don't come through as tags.
Put names and other typed text inside CDATA. Anything between <![CDATA[ and ]]> can hold &, < and quotes safely, for example <JobNumber><![CDATA[_]]></JobNumber>.
Keep typed text out of XML attribute values. A value inside quotes, such as <Project Name="Allmoxy LLC">, can't use CDATA. Use something that never holds those characters there, such as the order number, and put the name in a CDATA element instead.

Company names you control when you set up the company. Order names are typed by your customers, so CDATA is the safer fix than asking them to avoid characters.

Still stuck

Send us the order number, the exporter name, what the file shows and what your software expected, through the Report a Bug tab of the Support Center: Report a bug to Allmoxy. For a new exporter for nesting or design software, see Export files for nesting and design software.

Things to know

No link means no part writes to that exporter, or the exporter isn't Active.
A part with quantity 0 writes no line. That's how helper parts export conditionally.
Text in text() must match exactly, capitals and spaces included.
Don't multiply by quantity twice when the quantity box is ticked.
Build XML by hand as Plain Text with an .xml extension, and wrap typed text in CDATA.
Summations don't export. Only part and order variables go into a file.