Easy populate tutorial

[zcrt12345mm]

The only tutorial I was able to find is here

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

however it's only for TAB-DELIMITED TXT files

Is there a tutorial for CSV files ?

[kobra]

No
The tab delim is the only free version that has proven to be stable to access & update the Db correctly

Once in excel, what is the difference?

[LRS]

No
The tab delim is the only free version that has proven to be stable to access & update the Db correctly

Once in excel, what is the difference?

Does the tab delim work with large blocks of HTML in product description fields?

It has been a while but I seem to recall that the CSV version worked fine with those but the Tab Delim did not.

All I have used since then was the CSV version but it has been about a year and only with v1.3.8x. I now have 1.3.9h and need to use Easy Populate to update thousands of inventory items. Should I avoid using the CSV version?

[kobra]

I do not use EP as it is too restricting
Maybe one who does can give their experience

[LRS]

I do not use EP as it is too restricting
Maybe one who does can give their experience

Is there a better add on to upload large quantities of inventory?

[kobra]

Is there a better add on to upload large quantities of inventory?

How adept are you with mysql?

[LRS]

How adept are you with mysql?

Enough to be a danger to myself and all bystanders.

Am I asking for trouble with My Populate CSV?

[kobra]

Well I use navicat
But one must understand the DB indexing or can make a real mess of things

[schoolboy]

I use EP 1.2.5.4 on ZC 1.3.9h and have no problems. I also have content-rich product descriptions - some with a lot of HTML.

I have found that if the TXT file is error-free, then EP works a treat. The big problem is that MS-Excel (and to some extent OpenOffice) do NOT save a spreadsheet as 100% clean unformatted text.

What I now do (that seems to help check the integrity of the TXT file) is:

Create the spreadsheet file in MS-Excel, or OpenOffice.

While still in excel, HIGHLIGHT all data and <ctrl+c> (copy) it.

Then <ctrl+v> (paste) it into a blank file in Emerald Editor (you can use any good Plain Text Editor).

This seems to retain the integrity of the data - even if there are large amounts of HTML in the description field.

One caveat... MS-Excel has a cut-off point with the quantity of text/data in a cell. I generally open my EP files in OpenOffice.