Database I/O Manager (DbIo) Plugin [Support Thread]

[dbltoe]

Just a side thought here.

reusing, deleting, and etc of database items can only result in problems.

A customer of 10+ years would have many items in their records that would not like having their data manipulated in such a manner.

With today's available storage, a few outdated db items hanging around should have little or no effect on operation.

IMHO, it's better for the customer to see "Sold Out" than "No Product Found".

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

[mcqueeneycoins]

lat9--unless I'm doing something wrong, even if I change product data in the csv file, it assigns it a new product ID on upload creating a new product and leaving the old product in place. Please let me know if there is a workaround I'm missing.

Just a side thought here.

reusing, deleting, and etc of database items can only result in problems.

A customer of 10+ years would have many items in their records that would not like having their data manipulated in such a manner.

With today's available storage, a few outdated db items hanging around should have little or no effect on operation.

IMHO, it's better for the customer to see "Sold Out" than "No Product Found".

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

dbltoe--again, correct me if I'm wrong, but I am under the impression that a customer's order history will be saved based on the item they purchased at the time. If I update the product title, etc. I did not think that would also change the product information saved in their order history/data.

My issue is that I'm adding ~500 products a month to replace items that sold. If I just keep adding new products, I'm having to scroll through hundreds of pages in my admin to make any changes. Unless I deactivate the products, my customers will be faced with the same issue--scrolling through hundreds of pages of sold out products just to find what they're looking for--not a user friendly experience. Even doing this with DBIO creates a cumbersome (and large) file that takes longer to upload/update and more potential for error in my opinion. What I am hoping to do is essentially replace old products with new, and update the "date added" field so customers see it as a new product, but without taking up extra database space and cleaning up old products in the process.

[carlwhat]

...
dbltoe--again, correct me if I'm wrong, but I am under the impression that a customer's order history will be saved based on the item they purchased at the time. If I update the product title, etc. I did not think that would also change the product information saved in their order history/data.

no, you are quite correct. customers detailed order data is stored in the orders_products table.

My issue is that I'm adding ~500 products a month to replace items that sold. If I just keep adding new products, I'm having to scroll through hundreds of pages in my admin to make any changes. Unless I deactivate the products, my customers will be faced with the same issue--scrolling through hundreds of pages of sold out products just to find what they're looking for--not a user friendly experience. Even doing this with DBIO creates a cumbersome (and large) file that takes longer to upload/update and more potential for error in my opinion. What I am hoping to do is essentially replace old products with new, and update the "date added" field so customers see it as a new product, but without taking up extra database space and cleaning up old products in the process.

you have a very real problem. that said, i'm not a fan of your solution. i would do modifications of the database select statement to present far less data to you. in that manner, one would not have to sort through hundreds of pages of sold out items on your admin pages. depending on what version of zc you are on would indicate where one might put said code. this is something i have done before...

with regards to what to display to the customer, that is another tricky one that i have addressed with various solutions.

the potential problem you have, and perhaps something else could chime in, might be in some of your SEO implications in your suggested solution. depending on whether you have an URL rewriter, you may get penalized for duplicate content.

but there are more creative solutions to the problem of having a tremendous number of products in your products table.

that said, i have seen various manufacturers reuse UPN numbers; so it is not like what you are thinking about doing is unprecedented.

best.

[mcqueeneycoins]

Thanks, carl--using 1.5.8a at the moment. With an existing 1.5.4 site I have url rewriter and have been manually replacing products like what I describe above, but trying to be more efficient with the new 1.5.8a site I'm working on. At the end of the day, if the database product ID does not change, but everything else about the product is updated (model, name, price, etc.) AND url gets rewritten once updated, would this not be any different than creating a brand new product using a newer product ID? Customer order history is saved separate and can be recalled as needed. As long as I don't anticipate needing to reactivate an old product, I guess I'm failing to see the downside to what I'm proposing, but I'm not the expert and hence the reason I'm reaching out for advice. I just want to make sure if I execute on my plan using DBIO (assuming I can), I'm not overlooking something that will create problems.

Right now, when I update product information for a given product, including model, name, and category, what I hope will replace the old product with the new product just ends up creating a linked product. Is there a way to instruct DBIO to "move" the product rather than "link" it?

[carlwhat]

i do not use dbio so i can not comment on its use.

i was only commenting on your method of solving your problem.

best.

[GoldBuckle]

I just installed Dbio on 2.0.1. I have exported ProductsAttribsRaw and gave it a look over. I have an Excel spreadsheet which I use to price attributes. In order to import a csv file of my price spreadsheet I am thinking I need to add "v_products_attributes_id", "v_products_model" and "v_options_values_price"...should that be all I need or will it create new duplicate entries if I don't have all the values in it to match the Dbio export exactly?

[lat9]

I just installed Dbio on 2.0.1. I have exported ProductsAttribsRaw and gave it a look over. I have an Excel spreadsheet which I use to price attributes. In order to import a csv file of my price spreadsheet I am thinking I need to add "v_products_attributes_id", "v_products_model" and "v_options_values_price"...should that be all I need or will it create new duplicate entries if I don't have all the values in it to match the Dbio export exactly?

Using a v_products_attributes_id would be very problematic, that's why the handler uses v_products_id, v_options_id and v_options_values_id to locate the attributes-id.

If you haven't already, you might consult the DbIo wiki for that handler's usage notes: https://github.com/lat9/dbio/wiki/Ha...ribsrawhandler

[GoldBuckle]

I have read through the wiki but I'm still not clear on which option in the DBIO would be best for what I am trying to accomplish. I want to update db values in the following field:

v_options_values_price

1. As a test I created a csv file with values in the v_options_values_price field that I wanted to update.

2. I added the required fields (v_products_id, v_options_id, v_options_values_id) listed in the Wiki's ProductsAttribsRawHandler along with it.

3. I got a successful upload message at the top of the DB Manager Page but none of the values updated on the products when I checked. I'm not sure what I did wrong, even looked in the tables and there were no new values created.

Eventually when I get the upload right I would also like to update these fields as well:
v_products_attributes_weight
v_attributes_price_onetime

Thanks in advance!

Best,
Goldbuckle

Using a v_products_attributes_id would be very problematic, that's why the handler uses v_products_id, v_options_id and v_options_values_id to locate the attributes-id.

If you haven't already, you might consult the DbIo wiki for that handler's usage notes: https://github.com/lat9/dbio/wiki/Ha...ribsrawhandler

[lat9]

I have read through the wiki but I'm still not clear on which option in the DBIO would be best for what I am trying to accomplish. I want to update db values in the following field:

v_options_values_price

1. As a test I created a csv file with values in the v_options_values_price field that I wanted to update.

2. I added the required fields (v_products_id, v_options_id, v_options_values_id) listed in the Wiki's ProductsAttribsRawHandler along with it.

3. I got a successful upload message at the top of the DB Manager Page but none of the values updated on the products when I checked. I'm not sure what I did wrong, even looked in the tables and there were no new values created.

Eventually when I get the upload right I would also like to update these fields as well:
v_products_attributes_weight
v_attributes_price_onetime

Thanks in advance!

Best,
Goldbuckle

Are you trying to add a new attribute price or update an existing one? Perhaps if you'd post the contents of the CSV you're using, that would help as I've successfully updated an attribute's price using the method you described.

[GoldBuckle]

Update existing ones. Double checking my csv, will post a sample if the issue persists.

Are you trying to add a new attribute price or update an existing one? Perhaps if you'd post the contents of the CSV you're using, that would help as I've successfully updated an attribute's price using the method you described.