Questions and Clarifications

Open questions and concerns about the inRiver export format that need clarification from Aperture Labs.

Data Structure Concerns

ChannelNode OutboundLinks Scalability

Issue: ChannelNode entities contain OutboundLinks arrays listing all products in that category.

Observed: Sample ChannelNode (50714) has 9 products in OutboundLinks array.

Concern:

• Production categories could have thousands of products
• Large OutboundLinks arrays could cause:
  • Memory issues when parsing
  • Slow processing times
  • Network transfer overhead
  • Difficulty with incremental updates

Questions:

1. What is the expected maximum number of products per category?
2. Are there categories with 1000+ products?
3. Is there a pagination or chunking strategy for large categories?
4. Would it be more efficient to:
   • Only include InboundLinks on Products (not OutboundLinks on ChannelNodes)?
   • Provide a separate ChannelNode-Product mapping file?
   • Paginate large OutboundLinks arrays?

Impact: E-commerce systems need to plan for memory and processing requirements based on maximum category sizes.

Status: ⏳ Awaiting response from Aperture Labs

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Delivery and Updates

Delta Update Strategy

Question: How are deletions handled in delta updates?

Context: Technical spec mentions "Delta updates only" for entity exports.

Clarifications needed:

1. How are deleted products/items indicated?
2. How are removed category assignments (link deletions) communicated?
3. Is there a "deleted" flag or are entities simply omitted?

Status: ⏳ Awaiting response

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File Format

AttributeFile Frequency

Confirmed: Daily system-wide AttributeFile delivery

Questions:

1. What time of day is the AttributeFile delivered?
2. Should consumers wait for AttributeFile before processing entity updates?
3. How are new attributes communicated mid-day if entities use them?

Status: ⏳ Awaiting response

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Last Updated: February 23, 2026
Contact: Brandon Spor (Aperture Labs)