Overview
Paltrack is the pallet-tracking system South Africa's fruit export chain runs on: packhouses, cold stores, transporters and shipping agents exchange EDI files through its D2 transmission service. The Automize connector sends those files – dispatches, cold-store intakes, stock snapshots, day and load instructions, mates receipts – and receives the ones D2 is holding for your depots.
Setting up the connection
Auth type: API Key.
- Sign in to PalPortal and open API Keys. Copy your company's D2 key.
- In Automize, open Settings → Connectors → Paltrack → Add connection and paste it into API key. Automize sends it as an x-api-key header.
- Leave Environment on Live. Choose Test only with a key for Paltrack's QA system, which your Paltrack representative issues.
- Automize tests the connection by listing the files waiting for your depots, which changes nothing in D2.
Data model
Every exchange is a file with a two-letter type: PO/RL (dispatch), PI (intake), PS (stock), DI (day instruction), LI (load instruction) and MT (mates receipt). The Submit actions each send one file as JSON, in the shape Paltrack's field mapping guide gives. Incoming files wait in a queue per depot: Find Payloads lists them, Get Payload downloads one, and Mark Payload Received takes it off the queue.
Available operations
9 operations available. Click any row to jump to its detail.
| Operation | Category | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Find Payloads | General | List the files waiting in D2 for your depots. Changes nothing. |
| Get Payload | General | Download one waiting file. It stays in the queue until marked received. |
| Mark Payload Received | General | Take a file off the queue. Do this only after the process has safely handled it: D2 will not send it again. |
| Submit Day Instruction | General | Send an order-level loading instruction (DI file) |
| Submit Dispatch | General | Send a truck dispatch (PO/RL file) |
| Submit Intake | General | Report pallets arriving at a cold store (PI file) |
| Submit Load Instruction | General | Send ship or truck loading instructions (LI file) |
| Submit Mates Receipt | General | Send a ship discharge record (MT file) |
| Submit Stock | General | Send a full stock snapshot (PS file) |
Operations
Find Payloads
List the files waiting in D2 for your depots. Changes nothing.
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
File type file_type | No | string | Keep only this type, e.g. PO, PI or PS. Leave blank for all. |
Get Payload
Download one waiting file. It stays in the queue until marked received.
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Payload payload | Yes | object | One row from Find Payloads, passed on as it is. |
Tips
- Pass the row from Find Payloads on unchanged. Downloading does not take the file off the queue, so a run that fails here can simply be retried.
Mark Payload Received
Take a file off the queue. Do this only after the process has safely handled it: D2 will not send it again.
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Payload payload | Yes | object | One row from Find Payloads, passed on as it is. |
Tips
- Mark a file received only after the process has saved or applied it. D2 does not send a received file again, so marking it first and failing afterwards loses it.
Submit Day Instruction
Send an order-level loading instruction (DI file)
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
File file | Yes | object | The day instruction (DI file) as JSON, in the shape Paltrack's field mapping guide gives. |
Submit Dispatch
Send a truck dispatch (PO/RL file)
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
File file | Yes | object | The dispatch (PO/RL file) as JSON, in the shape Paltrack's field mapping guide gives. |
Submit Intake
Report pallets arriving at a cold store (PI file)
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
File file | Yes | object | The intake (PI file) as JSON, in the shape Paltrack's field mapping guide gives. |
Submit Load Instruction
Send ship or truck loading instructions (LI file)
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
File file | Yes | object | The load instruction (LI file) as JSON, in the shape Paltrack's field mapping guide gives. |
Submit Mates Receipt
Send a ship discharge record (MT file)
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
File file | Yes | object | The mates receipt (MT file) as JSON, in the shape Paltrack's field mapping guide gives. |
Submit Stock
Send a full stock snapshot (PS file)
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
File file | Yes | object | The stock snapshot (PS file) as JSON, in the shape Paltrack's field mapping guide gives. |
FAQ
- What is the safe order for receiving files?
- Find Payloads, then Get Payload for each row, handle the file, and only then Mark Payload Received with the same row. Until it is marked, the file stays in the queue and the next run picks it up again.
- Where does the shape of a Submit file come from?
- From Paltrack's field mapping guide for that file type. Build the JSON in an earlier step – from a spreadsheet, an ERP export or a form – and pass it to the Submit action's File field.
- Can I try it without touching live data?
- Yes. Ask your Paltrack representative for a QA key and set the connection's Environment to Test.