Easy Populate CSV with 1.3.9x ?

[LRS]

Is Easy Populate CSV safe to use on ZenCart 1.3.9x?

I am running 1.3.9d, about to updated to h, but I need to use Easy Populate CSV (or something like it) to change a bunch of stock descriptions using delimited / CSV files. I have not installed it yet and want to know if it is going to give me problems or not.


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Here is the problem with the Tab delimited Easy Populate module....

Easy Populate 1.2.5.4 does not work with the "Products Description" text my inventory has. I don't know why, but perhaps it is because they have fairly complex HTML in the descriptions.

I just now installed Easy Populate 1.2.5.4 since my update to 1.3.9d and when I export Model / Attributes I get a really huge file with contents that makes no sense to me whatsoever. It creates hundreds of v_attribute_values_name_X columns for v_products_model that clearly come from other product models and breaks them down into one word or short sentence blocks of text when they should be in larger paragraphs.

When I was running 1.3.8x I was using Easy Populate CSV and it worked flawlessly for everything including the Products Description text for almost every stock item. I had to edit a few that had some weird HTML stuff in them that caused some errors but it was not very many and was easy to fix.


Easy Populate 1.2.5.4 will not do what I want so if Easy Populate CSV isn't going to work SAFELY, is there another module that will do what I want besides one of the Easy Populate iterations?

[schoolboy]

How "complex" is this HTML?

I have used EP1.2.5.4 with ZC 1.3.9h - and have had some "detailed" html in the product descriptions...

... and I 've not had any problems.

What I HAVE found, however, is that the latest version of MS Excel has a mind of its own, and in many cases refuses to behave as it ought to.

EG: when I instruct it to save as tab-delimited text, it does so... then of its own accord it puts double quotes around large chunks of text.

Additionally, if you have LINE BREAKS anywhere in your description text (as well as PARAGRAPH BREAKS), you will destroy the line sequence for Easy Populate.

Generally, I open my tab-delimited txt files in Emerald Editor to check (and reformat if necessary) all the text. I often find that MSExcel has fouled up the formatting.

Use OpenOffice... it's more reliable.

[LRS]

How "complex" is this HTML?

I have used EP1.2.5.4 with ZC 1.3.9h - and have had some "detailed" html in the product descriptions...

... and I 've not had any problems.

What I HAVE found, however, is that the latest version of MS Excel has a mind of its own, and in many cases refuses to behave as it ought to.

EG: when I instruct it to save as tab-delimited text, it does so... then of its own accord it puts double quotes around large chunks of text.

Additionally, if you have LINE BREAKS anywhere in your description text (as well as PARAGRAPH BREAKS), you will destroy the line sequence for Easy Populate.

Generally, I open my tab-delimited txt files in Emerald Editor to check (and reformat if necessary) all the text. I often find that MSExcel has fouled up the formatting.

Use OpenOffice... it's more reliable.

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I am sure that virtually all of my product descriptions have paragraph breaks in them. -- i.e. "<p>" I am not really wanting to have to change thousands of descriptions if I don't have to.

I am going to try Open Office with the tab delimited files and if that doesn't work I will try Easy Populate CSV which has been working perfectly for several years now......unless.....

............there is some reason I should NOT use Easy Populate CSV?

[schoolboy]

I am sure that virtually all of my product descriptions have paragraph breaks in them. -- i.e. "<p>" I am not really wanting to have to change thousands of descriptions if I don't have to.

You misunderstand... <p> is a HTML tag and is ONLY recognised in a browser as representing a paragraph break. I am referring to FORMATTED text that is formatted in a word processing program, for example.

The following "product description text" - full of HTML tags - would load just fine using easy populate...

<div><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.<br /><br />Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.<br /><br >Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.<ul><li>Excepteur sint <em>occaecat</em> cupidatat non proident.</li><li>Excepteur sint <em>occaecat</em> cupidatat non proident.</li><li>Excepteur sint <em>occaecat</em> cupidatat non proident.</li><li>Excepteur sint <em>occaecat</em> cupidatat non proident.</li><ul>Sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.</p></div>

... because it is actually UNFORMATTED.

If you were to notice the following in your excel spreadsheet, then you would probably have problems...

<div><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.<br /><br />Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.<br /><br >Duis aute irure 

dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.<ul><li>Excepteur sint <em>occaecat</em> cupidatat non proident.</li><li>Excepteur sint <em>occaecat</em> cupidatat 

non proident.</li><li>Excepteur sint <em>occaecat</em> cupidatat non proident.</li><li>Excepteur sint <em>occaecat</em> cupidatat non proident.</li><ul>Sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.</p></div>

See the GAPS between the "paragraphs"?

They are indicative of word processor formatting - possibly a LINE BREAK or a PARAGRAPH BREAK.

In my FIRST sample, everything just runs on as one long "string" of text...

[LRS]

Thanks for the help. I have it working now.