Datanorm (DATANORM)
Datanorm (also written DATANORM) is a fixed-format text file standard, first published in the early 1990s, for exchanging supplier product and price data with wholesalers, installers, and ERP systems in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland — used heavily in electrical, plumbing, and HVAC (SHK) trade distribution. It moves roughly the same payload as BMEcat — item number, description, price, unit of measure — but as a plain-text file with fixed-column positions (version 4) or semicolon-delimited fields (version 5), rather than XML. Development effectively stopped after version 5 in 1999, but it remains a required import/export format for many DACH-region wholesalers, so a PIM or catalog-syndication platform selling into that channel typically has to support it alongside newer standards.
What a Datanorm file contains
A Datanorm file opens with a header record naming the format version and the date the prices in the file take effect, then lists one record per item: item number, a short description (historically limited to around 40 characters per line, with longer text chained across multiple description lines), price, unit of measure, and a discount or price group. Larger catalogs often ship as a small set of companion files rather than one document — an item/price file plus separate text and image reference files that a receiving system reassembles by item number.
That 40-character description limit is a direct holdover from the format's origin: it was designed for floppy-disk distribution and dot-matrix, monospace printers, not for a modern PDP.
Versions: D3, D4, D5
The versions in circulation are D3, D4 (published 1994), and D5 (published 1999), and the format hasn't materially changed since. The main structural difference is how fields are separated: version 4 uses fixed-length column positions, where each field occupies a set number of characters regardless of content; version 5 switched to semicolon-delimited fields, which is more forgiving of variable-length text and is the version most current exports use.
A receiving system has to read the header line to know which version — and therefore which parsing rules — a given file uses, since D4 and D5 files aren't interchangeable without conversion.
Datanorm vs BMEcat vs ETIM
All three show up in the same DACH industrial-distribution conversations, but they solve different layers of the same problem.
| Standard | What it is | Carries classification? |
|---|---|---|
| Datanorm | A flat text file: item number, description, price, UOM | Not natively |
| BMEcat | An XML catalog file with a richer, structured schema | Commonly carries ETIM or eCl@ss codes |
| ETIM | A classification scheme, not a file format | Is the classification |
A Datanorm file on its own typically doesn't carry a structured classification code, so a buyer importing it can't facet or filter the way an ETIM-classified BMEcat catalog allows — that mapping has to happen separately, often by hand, unless the supplier layers classification data on top through a companion file or a different export.
Why it still matters for catalog operations
Despite predating BMEcat and stalling in development twenty-five years ago, Datanorm hasn't been retired by the market it serves. Many German, Austrian, and Swiss electrical and plumbing wholesalers still mandate Datanorm import for price and catalog updates from their suppliers, independent of whatever format that supplier's own systems use internally.
In practice this makes Datanorm a downstream export target rather than a source of truth: a modern PIM holds the real product record, and generating a compliant Datanorm file — correct version, correct field widths or delimiters, description text trimmed to fit — is one more syndication output alongside BMEcat, a flat file, or a direct feed, not a format anyone would choose to author data in today.
Frequently asked questions
What is Datanorm used for?
Exchanging supplier product and price catalogs with wholesalers, installers, and ERP systems, primarily in German, Austrian, and Swiss electrical, plumbing, and HVAC trade distribution.
What is the difference between Datanorm and BMEcat?
Datanorm is a plain-text file with fixed-column or semicolon-delimited fields and a minimal record set. BMEcat is an XML standard with a richer schema that commonly carries a structured classification code like ETIM or eCl@ss alongside each item. Both move roughly the same core payload — item number, description, price, unit of measure — but BMEcat supports more structure.
Which version of Datanorm is currently in use?
Versions D4 (1994) and D5 (1999) both remain in circulation; D5, with semicolon-delimited fields, is the more commonly generated version today. Development effectively stopped after D5, so no newer version exists.
Does Datanorm carry product classification like ETIM?
Not natively. A base Datanorm file typically lacks a structured classification code, unlike a BMEcat file, which commonly carries ETIM or eCl@ss classes. Mapping a Datanorm catalog into a classification scheme usually has to happen separately.
Who still requires Datanorm today?
Many wholesalers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland — especially in electrical and plumbing/HVAC distribution — still require suppliers to deliver catalog and price updates in Datanorm format, regardless of what system the supplier itself uses to manage product data.