Disk Usage limit: What is the cache forlder for?

[shocker]

I have check my disk usage in cpanel and it tells me that I'm at 95%

My hosting provider says that my cache folder appears to be the culprit.

How is the cache folder ...\zen-cart\cache managed?
What is this folder for?
Is it necessary?
Can I clear its contents without ill effects?

[DrByte]

You can clear it out, except for 2 files: .htaccess and index.php
Leave those 2 files, since they are safeties to protect against snoopers who might try to poke around in the files in that folder.

The cache folder is mainly used to store database cache queries and also to store customer session data, depending on how your site is configured. Periodic cleanup is a good idea.

[shocker]

Thanks Dr. Byte

Is the best way to clear this up via a file manager type program and just delete, or is there a tool on the Admin menu?

"depending on how your site is configured"
How do I understand the setting and how do I configure them?

thanks


Nahid Fashions

[DrByte]

Is the best way to clear this up via a file manager type program and just delete, or is there a tool on the Admin menu?

File Manager or FTP program ... and choose "delete".
There is no admin-provided tool for doing this.

"depending on how your site is configured"
How do I understand the setting and how do I configure them?

You're probably doing file-based caching ... and probably doing it "for a reason". Thus, I don't recommend making any changes.
The settings for whether to use file or database-based caching and what folder to do it in are contained in your configure.php files.
I recommend not changing those settings without specific reason.

[shocker]

I'd like to pretend I'm smart enough to know the "reason" to your file-based caching, but I'm not.
But I take it that this something I don't have to worry about. Just clear the files from time-to-time.

thanks again

[DrByte]

What is history of your Zen Cart site?
ie: what version did you *first* install?
Who installed it?
Who performed upgrades on it?
What is your Version History on the Admin->Tools->Server Info page?

[shocker]

Zen Cart 1.3.7
Database Patch Level: 1.3.7
v1.3.7 [2007-06-24 12:39:52] (Fresh Installation)

I installed this and have performed some upgrades (user mods).

That's it, quite basic

[DrByte]

Okay, by default, the cache setting is set to "database".
I'm not sure why you selected "file" instead when you did the installation.
It's usually best to use "database"-based caching etc

In your configure.php file, you have two entries affecting this.
MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR 2 CONFIGURE.PHP FILES BEFORE CHANGING ANYTHING.

Since you're the site owner, and you did the install, and thus it was *you* who changed the setting in the first place, you could try changing them as shown below in order to switch to database-based storage:

  define('STORE_SESSIONS', 'db');
  define('SQL_CACHE_METHOD', 'database');

Beware that if your database is on an overloaded shared-hosting server, this might slow down your site somewhat. If this happens, put the settings back to what you had earlier.

Be sure to change BOTH configure.php files if you're going to do these changes.

[shocker]

both configure.php files:

includes\configure.php
admin\includes\configure.php

already had the following settings

  define('STORE_SESSIONS', 'db'); // use 'db' for best support, or '' for file-based storage

  // The next 2 "defines" are for SQL cache support.
  // For SQL_CACHE_METHOD, you can select from:  none, database, or file
  // If you choose "file", then you need to set the DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE to a directory where your apache
  // or webserver user has write privileges (chmod 666 or 777). We recommend using the "cache" folder inside the Zen Cart folder
  // ie: /path/to/your/webspace/public_html/zen/cache   -- leave no trailing slash
  define('SQL_CACHE_METHOD', 'database');

[DrByte]

hmmm

what kind of filenames were you seeing in your cache folder then?