Parsing YML feeds for importing products into 1C-Bitrix

Parsing YML Feeds for Product Import to 1C-Bitrix

YML (Yandex Market Language) is an XML format developed by Yandex.Market for product feeds. Suppliers often provide YML: the format is documented, structure is known, data is complete. It's simpler than parsing arbitrary Excel, but has its own nuances.

YML Feed Structure

YML feed has a standard structure:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE yml_catalog SYSTEM "shops.dtd">
<yml_catalog date="2024-01-15 10:30">
  <shop>
    <name>Store Name</name>
    <currencies>
      <currency id="RUR" rate="1"/>
    </currencies>
    <categories>
      <category id="1">Electronics</category>
      <category id="2" parentId="1">Smartphones</category>
    </categories>
    <offers>
      <offer id="12345" available="true">
        <url>https://shop.ru/product/12345</url>
        <price>29990</price>
        <currencyId>RUR</currencyId>
        <categoryId>2</categoryId>
        <picture>https://shop.ru/img/12345.jpg</picture>
        <name>Samsung Galaxy A54 Smartphone</name>
        <vendor>Samsung</vendor>
        <vendorCode>SM-A546</vendorCode>
        <description>Product description</description>
        <param name="Color">Black</param>
        <param name="Memory">128 GB</param>
      </offer>
    </offers>
  </shop>
</yml_catalog>

Key elements:

• offer id — unique product identifier from supplier (like XML_ID in Bitrix).
• available — availability: true/false.
• categoryId — reference to category.
• param — product characteristics (any number).

Parsing Categories and Building Tree

Categories in YML form a hierarchy through parentId attribute. On import, create corresponding section structure in Bitrix infoblock.

Algorithm:

1. Load all categories into associative array [id => ['name' => ..., 'parentId' => ...]].
2. Recursively build tree.
3. For each category: find section by XML_ID = 'yml_cat_{id}' or create new.
4. Save mapping [yml_id => bitrix_section_id].

$sectionId = CIBlockSection::GetList(
    [],
    ['IBLOCK_ID' => $iblockId, 'XML_ID' => 'yml_cat_' . $cat['id']],
    false,
    ['ID']
)->Fetch()['ID'];

if (!$sectionId) {
    $bs = new CIBlockSection();
    $sectionId = $bs->Add([
        'IBLOCK_ID' => $iblockId,
        'XML_ID'    => 'yml_cat_' . $cat['id'],
        'NAME'      => $cat['name'],
        'IBLOCK_SECTION_ID' => $parentBitrixId,
        'ACTIVE'    => 'Y',
    ]);
}

Importing Products (Offers)

Main processing loop:

foreach ($xml->shop->offers->offer as $offer) {
    $xmlId = (string)$offer['id'];
    $available = (string)$offer['available'] === 'true';

    // Collect parameters
    $params = [];
    foreach ($offer->param as $param) {
        $params[(string)$param['name']] = (string)$param;
    }

    $fields = [
        'IBLOCK_ID'         => $iblockId,
        'NAME'              => (string)$offer->name,
        'XML_ID'            => $xmlId,
        'ACTIVE'            => $available ? 'Y' : 'N',
        'IBLOCK_SECTION_ID' => $sectionMap[(string)$offer->categoryId] ?? null,
        'PROPERTY_VALUES'   => [
            'VENDOR'  => (string)$offer->vendor,
            'ARTICLE' => (string)$offer->vendorCode,
            // characteristics from param
        ],
    ];

    // Find existing product
    $existId = getElementByXmlId($xmlId, $iblockId);

    $el = new CIBlockElement();
    if ($existId) {
        $el->Update($existId, $fields);
    } else {
        $el->Add($fields);
    }

    // Update price
    updatePrice($existId ?: $el->LAST_ID, (float)$offer->price);
}

Image Download

YML contains image links (<picture>). Download and attach to product:

$imageUrl = (string)$offer->picture;
$tmpFile = CFile::MakeFileArray($imageUrl); // Bitrix will download the file
if ($tmpFile) {
    $el->Update($productId, ['PREVIEW_PICTURE' => $tmpFile]);
}

Image download is the slowest part of import. For 10,000-item feed — downloading 10,000 images. Optimization: check if image changed (by URL hash or content), don't download again.

YML Offer Types

YML supports several offer types with different required fields:

In most cases suppliers use simple type. Specific types appear in niche catalogs.

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