Getting interesting cPath URL's lately

[frank18]

ZC 1.3.9f
many mods incl Easy Populate 1.2.5.4

Noted a few interesting URL's in Who's Online lately (mainly generated by search engines) such as

index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_9_38_6_4&products_id=160

Don't have more than one child category in any one cat - the above URL shows 4 sub cats ...

Have used EP 1.2.5.4 in the last week to transfer a bunch of products from a 1.3.8a store to this one. No other changes made or mods installed in the past month.

Any idea what may have triggered these URL's?

TIA

[Ajeh]

That could be bad master_categories_id in the products ...

That could be bad records in the products_to_categories table ...

That could be incorrect parent_id in the categories table ...

There are a lot of things that could lead to this and without review of the database it is hard to say ...

Note: other methods could be incorrect $cPath being generated for sideboxes, centerboxes, listings, etc. where the $cPath is wrong and generates an incorrect URL based on what it "attempts" to do rather than what it should be ...

I have seen that before but I have never pinpoint a specific cause in a clean Zen Cart v1.3.9 to reproduce the problem ...

Note: once a search engine has added an URL with a bad $cPath ... it can follow it and reach a page ... the page may have a moofy breadcrumb, but there is not an error so the search engine has no idea that it is "technically" an incorrect URL ...

[frank18]

That could be bad master_categories_id in the products ...

That could be bad records in the products_to_categories table ...

That could be incorrect parent_id in the categories table ...

There are a lot of things that could lead to this and without review of the database it is hard to say ...

Thanks Ajeh, I had that inkling it may have something to do with bad database records. Will take a look at the live DB and compare it to an earlier backup, may find some clues

Note: other methods could be incorrect $cPath being generated for sideboxes, centerboxes, listings, etc. where the $cPath is wrong and generates an incorrect URL based on what it "attempts" to do rather than what it should be ...

Unlikely as no changes / additions have been made for quite some time.

I have seen that before but I have never pinpoint a specific cause in a clean Zen Cart v1.3.9 to reproduce the problem ...

That's the hard part ....

Note: once a search engine has added an URL with a bad $cPath ... it can follow it and reach a page ... the page may have a moofy breadcrumb, but there is not an error so the search engine has no idea that it is "technically" an incorrect URL ...

Yeah, they still end up at the 'right' page, so in that respect I am not worried at all. I am, however, concerned that 'things ain't quite right'. A comparison of the DB with a backup may or may not reveal anything.

Thanks again - I will keep you posted.

[frank18]

Referring to my first post

index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_9_38_6_4&products_id=160

Thoroughly searched the relevant tables of my live DB for ID's 3, 9, 38 and 6. Result: none of the cat ID's where found anywhere. I know they should not exist -- they did exist back in in 2007/8 before I re-sorted my products allocating a more sensible category structure.

The master_category_ID 4 for product #160 is correct. Hence each of these URL's are taking me to product #160:

index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_9_38_6_4&products_id=160

index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=160

index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=94_4&products_id=160

whereby the latter is the correct path.

So, I am putting it down to a SE problem/issue which is not related to my DB at all.

Case closed as far as I am concerned.

[Ajeh]

Thanks for the update that this most like was due to the SEO/rewrites helping out ...