Adding a column to one of the database tables

[sketchhgal]

I'm needing to change the zen cart database slightly for stock choosing really. I need to be able to allocate a location reference to all the items in my stocklist. The way I want this to work is via the orders page in the admin panel. I want to add a text box next to each item in the order which will allow me to enter a location reference for that item. This ref no. will then allow my staff to find the items much easier in our warehouse.

Before I change anything I was looking for your input with this please. I was wanting to know whether it is as simple as adding another column to the orders table in the mysql database or if its more complicated and id I'd need to change more tables than just that one.

If anyone could give me some advice on this it would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[ebaobao]

follow this and you will have what you are looking for. it takes some time but is well worth it.

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showth...+field+invoice

[sketchhgal]

Thanks for the quick reply. I've had a look at the link you posted. Before I start this I just wanted to clarify a few things.

1. Which table would I be better adding the new column to, orders or orders_prducts?

2. If I add a new column to any of the tables will it cause problems with my shop running as this site is still live and I can't afford for it to screw sutff up on the front of the site or stop customers placing orders.

3. If I can get this to work with one extra column there's nothing really to stop my adding another few, right?

Thanks for the help

[kobra]

1. Which table would I be better adding the new column to, orders or orders_prducts?

If you are not using the mdl# entry you could make this the location code

2. If I add a new column to any of the tables will it cause problems with my shop running as this site is still live and I can't afford for it to screw sutff up on the front of the site or stop customers placing orders.

Never do development work on your live shop - - make a test shop with it's own DB for this and keep good notes/steps to repeat a successful alteration

3. If I can get this to work with one extra column there's nothing really to stop my adding another few, right?

Adding "records" to a table is the easy part - - using the data and displaying the data becomes the code writing step(s)

[ebaobao]

Thanks for the quick reply. I've had a look at the link you posted. Before I start this I just wanted to clarify a few things.

1. Which table would I be better adding the new column to, orders or orders_prducts?

2. If I add a new column to any of the tables will it cause problems with my shop running as this site is still live and I can't afford for it to screw sutff up on the front of the site or stop customers placing orders.

3. If I can get this to work with one extra column there's nothing really to stop my adding another few, right?

Thanks for the help

1. You should read the link that I gave you and follow those instructions. You should be adding it to the zen_products table. Which is what I did.

2. Although its not recommended to do anything on live site, I was able to do this while my site was live and it did not have any problems affecting my site. Just be careful.

3. You can as much as you want or do whatever you like if you are good enough. Thats the beauty of zen and open source.

[ebaobao]

1. You should read the link that I gave you and follow those instructions. You should be adding it to the zen_products table. Which is what I did.

2. Although its not recommended to do anything on live site, I was able to do this while my site was live and it did not have any problems affecting my site. Just be careful.

3. You can as much as you want or do whatever you like if you are good enough. Thats the beauty of zen and open source.

this link with crazy_chris info and my previous link will get you going.
https://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57924

[apsona]

The way I understood it, sketchhgal wanted to track extra information associated with each order, not each product, since the intent was to track warehouse locations. Also because an order can have many associated products. So wouldn't it make more sense to add the field to the orders table, not the products table? Or perhaps I misunderstood?

Apsona
http://apsona.com

[kuroi]

As stated sketchhgal's aim is to display the new information with each order, but the data itself is associated with each product (or sku), so adding it to the products table would appear more logical than adding it to orders.

But the requirement does seem a little confused. The suggestion of a text box on the orders page for entering the information seems a little backwards, better to do a lookup on the product when it appears in an order.

Also it's not clear once the information has been entered or looked up what is to be done with it. Presumably it's intended to go on the packing slip, but if this is the intention, then it's the packing slip that needs to change and not the order page.

[ebaobao]

maybe sketchgal can be more clear with what she wants.

the way I have mines setup is like this.
1. able to enter location via admin > catalog > cats/products. the location field is like another field for the products attributes, etc.
2. then when order comes in and order is printed out via packing slip, the order is printed out with the location next to each product.

[apsona]

Ok, but if you put the field in the products table, what happens in the case where you have (say) five different orders pending for the same product? Each order would presumably need a different location for that product, but you can only have one location attached to the product.

Or maybe I completely misunderstood?

Apsona
http://apsona.com