EasyPopulate Questions

[dancingbay]

I have been having a discussion on this on another thread called "Delete all products?", but that's just part of my problem, so thought I'd start a more targeted thread.

I have EasyPopulate CSV for v1.5.1 installed, but am having a bit of trouble finding any documentation on what each column in the .csv files does. If I'm correct, there are 6 .csv files. I want to load the whole works from product variations to meta tags.

This is my first attempt at ZenCart, so when I installed, it on my server last week, I opted for the test database. HostGator is my host, so I just used their install, I think using Fantastico.

Now, I want to get rid of all the test data out of the database which includes all the catagories. I'm not sure how to do this. I did install everything at localhost before I jumped to the live server, so I have a folder called zc_install_DB at localhost which if I remember correctly, I added the _DB on the end after the install instead of deleting the folder. One suggestion I got on the other thread was to pull that folder over to the live server and run zc_install_DB/index.php to reinstall my database. I'm not sure how much I will loose as far as my template and my Local Sales Tax mod goes. The only other module I have installed is the EasyPopulate.

One of the suggestions was to just run EasyPopulate, but will that take care of getting rid of test products and test catagories? If so, how do I set it up to do that? I think using EasyPopulate would be less stressful than reinstalling the database.

Maybe someone needs to write a module to empty out the test data from the database. Unfortunately, I don't think I have the skills to do it.

Thanks,
Alisa

[schoolboy]

Easy Populate deals with loading, editing/updating and removing products from the database.

The easiest way to see what data it uses is to download a "dump" of existing product data, (use the LINK on the EP admin page) then to open up the file in a spreadsheet program.

It is RECOMMENDED that the CSV is opened and edited using OPEN-OFFICE rather than MS-Excel (which has a mind of its own about how data should be formatted).

In any event, I use BOTH programs to view and edit CSV files.

To me, it is a pity that the author of EP v4 chose CSV as the delimiter method. In earlier versions, the delimiter was TAB - which makes more sense, because TAB is a rare (if not non-existant) embedded format in a spreadsheet of "plain text".

Anyway... so you have collected your data dump, and see a row of column headers (v_products_model : v_products_image : v_products_name1 ... and so forth).

These are representative of the fields in the database that hold the data.

At the end of that row of headers you will see one called v_status.

There are THREE possible variables to use there:

- 1
- 0
- 9

1 = Product is active and visible
0 = Product is inactive and invisible (but the data is still in the database)
9 = Delete all the data relating to that product.

So... if you EDIT DOWN the spreadsheet to contain ONLY the products you want to REMOVE, then put a " 9 " into the cells for each product, under the v_status column header.

Then, save as CSV, and run the file through Easy Populate.

PLEASE NOTE... The only version of easy Populate that works with ZC:1.5.x is EP version 4. There is a support thread for it, and the mod can only be collected from github. The github link is referenced in the thread.

The quickest way to delete the demo data is to just delete the categories in your ZC admin console. (I usually delete all except "Gift Certificates" as I often set up shops that need this feature).

NB: deleting a category / product (even with EP) will also delete it image(s).

[schoolboy]

Some years ago I wrote a tutorial for EP version 1.2.5.4 . Much of it still applies to V4.

http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.php/Easy_Populate

[dancingbay]

Unless there's a new version since last week, I have the most current for Zen Cart v1.5.1.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the great information. I had gone to a thread for Easy Populate, but it was pretty old and had a whole lot of pages to it. Some towards the end were fairly recent, but still I wasn't sure if they were talking about the version that I have installed, which was is the latest one that will work with the latest version of Zen Cart. I don't know if I was at the right place, but I kind of felt like I wasn't. I've had some problems searching this forum, and searching thread within this forum to find similar topics to what I'm looking for. It might be that I just wasn't using the right search terms, but I would either get no results or hundreds and couldn't figure out how to narrow my search so that I got a managable number of results.

Thanks,
Alisa

[dancingbay]

I just checked and I am looking at the correct thread for Easy Populate CSV, if you go by clicking the link to the support forum, but it was started in 2006 and has 363 pages. On the last page, SchoolBoy and refers to Easy Populate Version 4. Looks like it's still in beta testing, but SchoolBoy also says that EP CSV is shaky. Don't know how to uninstall EP CSV to install EP v4, or if I even should right now. However, I need to get my store populated and sooner would be better than later.

Thanks,
Alisa

[schoolboy]

You have the incorrect version for zencart 1.5.x

You need Easy Populate Version 4 developed by Chadderuski.

As far as I am aware, the mod is still in BETA, so Chad puts a file on GITHUB and people can go there to download it off GITHUB.
(https://github.com/chaddro/EasyPopulate-4.0)

You should UN-INSTALL the version you currently have. Use the README for instructions. If I remember correctly, there should be an UNINSTALL link on the Admin Panel Page for EP.

[schoolboy]

Sorry... somehow duplicated the above post...

[dancingbay]

Hi schoolboy,

I've been away for a few weeks, getting ready for a show. I'm back now and ready to get back to work on my website. Last we left it, you said to uninstall Easy Populate CSV and install Easy Populate Version 4 developed by Chadderuski. I've looked around a little and there seems to be no instructions on how to uninstall the CSV version. I've read the install.txt file and the most I can come up with out of that is:

5) Go to Admin -> Tools -> Easy Populate..... If you wish to remove and re-install the default config settings, type ?langer=remove after /easypopulate.php (eg. YOUR_ADMIN/easypopulate.php?langer=remove) and begin this step again.

I've read reference on removing tables from the database and chaning files, but no information about what to change or remove. So, I don't see any clear instructions on how to ininstall the old version before installing the correct version to work with Zen Cart v1.5.1.

Sorry to be so dense about this, but I don't want to screw anything up.

Thanks,
Alisa
Dancing Bay Embroidery

[schoolboy]

To see what FILES to remove, you open up the Easy Populate folder that you should have on your home machine... afterall, you collected the module from the plugins area, unzipped it, and then FTP'd it to your webserver.

So the unzipped module must be on your home computer, right?

Open it up and see what folders/files it contains (write them down if you have to), and then go into your sever, find the MATCHING filenames and CHANGE THE EXTENSION FROM .php to .susp.

BUT... before you do that, do as Langer says.

In the address-bar of your browser, type:

http://www.your_website.com/your_admin_folder/easypopulate.php?langer=remove.

This will get rid of any table changes in the database.

Then you can install the EP version 4 from chadderuski.

Make sure to read the instructions, because there is a file in the zencart 1.5 extra files folder that needs to be sent to the server as well.

There are FIVE folders in chad's mod...

admin (CHANGE THIS TO THE NAME OF YOUR SECRET ADMIN FOLDER NAME)
examples (DO NOT SEND THIS TO THE SERVER)
temp (SEND TO THE SERVER, but consider chad's advice in the README about the location of this folder...)
zencart 1.3 extra files (IGNORE THIS IF YOU ARE USING ZC 1.5)
zencart 1.5 extra files (OPEN THIS TO SEE WHERE THE FILE MUST GO - MAKE SURE IT GOES TO THE RIGHT PLACE ON THE SERVER)

... and a bunch of TXT files (NONE OF WHICH GO TO THE SERVER)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

After successful installation, go and REMOVE all those earlier EP files that now have the .susp extension

[dancingbay]

Thank you schoolboy for your clear and concise instrutions. I easily followed every step. I only found 1 difference. I did not find a temp folder in my download. I did however create a temp folder in my admin folder (recommended in the intall.txt) and the followed the install.txt instructions so that ZC knows where it is.

I only found 1 zencart 1.5 extra files and moved it to this location: admin-xxx > includes > functions > extra_functions > reg_easypopulate_4.php

I am assuming this is the correct location as it was the only path that matched the struction on the download.

Thanks,
Alisa
Dancing Bay Embroidery