Numinix Product Fields

[notageek]

bislewl,

Thanks for filling this gap of information.
Notageek

[notageek]

Hi. On restoring to my original zen cart to prepare for another installation attempt of Numinix Product Fields, I am looking at the issue of whether I need to be concerned about overrides, for future upgrades. In a thread at https://www.zen-cart.com/showthread....product+fields, it says at post #8:

1) The above can be accomplished through the use of a plugin designed specifically to add new product fields. (Numinix additional fields)
2) The above modifies files that will be overwritten on an upgrade or require merging, but many of those changes can be in a separate file that will not be overwritten on an upgrade. Ie template override directory instead of template_default.)
3) Language files are not used in cases where the template displays text information. This may not be a problem for a specific site, but if the audience is expanded or in the case of others reading this thread, ideally the construct of a site using ZC should meet those standards. It also becomes easier to maintain consistency throughout as one can change the text in one place and see the result everywhere used.

Then, at post 10, it says:

2. Indicated that there was a potential "problem" with the way it was implemented, but I was attempting to offer some of the solution, which negates the concern in all cases except the collect_info.php, preview_info.php, and update_product.php files which being admin files do not currently have template overrides. (I think/thought that ZC 1.6.0 was going to lead more to that possibility.) I haven't looked in a while, but even the changes needed there may be able to be made outside of the files themselves using an observer class to account for the additional fields.

I know I am overthinking this, but after slogging through what Niminix says is a 10-15-minute install over 3 days, I thought maybe I need to ask what the correct process is when uploading the MODIFIED_CORE_FILES which include the ollect_info.php, preview_info.php, and update_product.php files. What does the fact that these are admin files have to do with the "override" concept, or lack of an "overrides" directory?

The instructions say:

Either copy the files in the MODIFIED_CORE_FILES or merge the changes of the included files

Is this giving me a choice of overwriting the core files with the same name, or going to Winmerge and inserting code by hand? Why would I ever do the latter if I can do the former? What concept am I missing here?

Secondly, the next instruction says:

File uploads will be saved to the media directory so make sure that exists

Just curious, but what does this sentence mean? What uploads is this referring do? Easy Populate uploads, perhaps? As you can see, I have a very vague understanding of what is going on here, so I appreciate tolerance for such questions.

Notageek

[notageek]

Hi. Just to keep the record straight, I am thinking that, in answer to my own question as to why not just copy instead of merging the core files, I am guessing that if I have made no prior changes to those particular files it would be okay to just copy the modified core files.

I am not sure why there is no instruction on making an override directory, though.

As I am always in a hurry, I went ahead and tried to again copy the Numinix Product Fields files into my WAMP server zen-cart test store. When I got to my Your_Admin files, I was again presented with the message "Cannot Copy Files." I had not recalled that it just wouldn't copy, so that is why I had to track down the long-file-path limitation in Windows, and had tried the renaming of the files which seemed to enable them to be copied into the Admin directory after I renamed the Your_Admin file, and then applied the install.sql.

I had asked on the Numinix website support about this problem and on 11/6 received this response:

Assuming you cannot use the automatic install option for each optional field, you would need to use the install.sql inside each of those directories. Manual installation was never intended which is why we don't have instructions for it.

So, I am thinking that maybe when belewl installed this module on a WAMP server in the past, perhaps it was a different version so that the npf files with the too-long path names had shorter path names at that time.

I would like to use the subst command, recommended by Microsoft, and can input this command into the "start, run" screen, but I do not know what to do with it after the shorter path is created:

Use The Subst Command To Assign A Drive Letter To A Specific Folder
You can substitute a specific folder path with a drive letter using the Windows Command Prompt (Start > All Programs > Command Prompt) and the subst command. The command follows the format:

subst <driveletter> <folder path>
For example, if you wanted to the folder path C:\Example\File\Path with the drive letter Y, you would enter:

subst Y: C:\Example\File\Path
Now the Y: drive is "mapped" directly to the folder. Since you have substituted most of the long file path with Y:, it no longer violates the character limit. You can now move the files out of this folder to a folder with a shorter file path.

After you move the files, you can delete the virtual drive by running the subst command with the /d parameter. To delete the Y: drive created in the example above, enter:

subst Y: /d

The above quote is from: http://support.code42.com/CrashPlan/...255_Characters.

Alternatively, someone suggested this on a forum at this location: http://serverfault.com/questions/232...ons-in-windows

For this too-long path: C:\Folder1\Really Long Path\Such Recursion\So Deep\Wow\Still Going\I will run out of ideas soon\I have organizational problems\Obsessive compulsive subdirectory disorder\Here is a guid for no good reason\936DA01F-9ABD-4d9d-80C7-02AF85C822A8\Almost there\Tax Returns\2013\2013_tax_return.pdf

I've been taking an approach similar to subst by using directory junctions, which may be more convenient to cleanup if you're just looking to make a few quick changes. I use Link Shell Extension, but you can just use the mklink command like so: mklink /J C:\Wow "C:\Folder1\Really Long Path\Such Recursion\So Deep\Wow". – juntalis Sep 27 at 3:10

I also do not understand how this would then be implemented when trying to then copy the folders from admin into the WAMP server, i.e., would all the folders be first copied into the C:/wow folder and then YOUR_ADMIN renamed from that folder would be able to be copied and pasted into the WAMP test site?

Thanks for looking at these options.
Notageek

[notageek]

Hi. Solved the long path problem, and I suppose the forums I read on long path names were tackling different problems. With a Zen Cart file path, it is an easy fix.

I simply copied the Numinix Product Field module directly to my C drive. That removed about 126 characters from the path in My Documents where I had copied the module, and I was able to go to the npf_includes and copy it directly into the admin, includes file, intact. Because of the advice that the module installs automatically so that it is not intended to rename YOUR_ADMIN in the prebuilt folders, I did not rename any of the YOUR_ADMIN files in the prebuilt folders. The same was applied to the install.sql files, it was not meant to install them as in this version they install automatically, so I did not implement the install.sql.

I did also check, file by file, to see if everything was copied into the correct folders, and I did find that there was a file which had vastly, inexplicably misplaced itself, and fixed that. I also initially received an error in the log file which related to the fact that I had renamed old NPF module folders, and needed to delete those, instead.

Now, I finally can see these fields in the Catalog dropdown in Admin, when I select Numinix Product fields.

Hooray. Thanks to belewl, and also Jeff at Numinix, for giving me enough clues to get me through this to the point where I had hope of success, and finally a clear enough understanding to forge ahead and complete the install.

I hope this helps someone.

[notageek]

Hi. Back again with another problem. This is on a rebuild to bring my site up to version 1.5.4. Of course, this is regarding efforts to install the Numinix Product Fields module.

When I try to activate one of the prebuilt modules, I receive a message:

The selected field was unable to be installed due to insufficient server permissions, please contact your host.

I checked the properties of the folders, and they all do say read only, but the PHP files do not say read only.

When I try to change the permissions on the folders, it gives me the menus to do so and press apply and ok, but the folders' read only permissions never change.

This is on a WAMP server on my computer running Windows XP.

Does someone understand this permissions error?

Thanks.

Notageek

[bislewl]

Hi. Back again with another problem. This is on a rebuild to bring my site up to version 1.5.4. Of course, this is regarding efforts to install the Numinix Product Fields module.

When I try to activate one of the prebuilt modules, I receive a message:
I checked the properties of the folders, and they all do say read only, but the PHP files do not say read only.

When I try to change the permissions on the folders, it gives me the menus to do so and press apply and ok, but the folders' read only permissions never change.

This is on a WAMP server on my computer running Windows XP.

Does someone understand this permissions error?

Thanks.

Notageek

ok... Just to be clear you shouldn't be running windows XP and it isn't PCI compliant...

you need to make sure your YOUR_ADMIN/includes/npf_includes/ and all sub directories have write permissions. You might need admin access to change it to make them write permissions.

[notageek]

Thanks for the tip, bislewl. I found that in Windows folders remain read only, but the php files are writeable, so since I have admin permissions in Windows and log in to the WAMP server as admin, that source of permissions seems not applicable.

Since the debug was circular starting with a command not appearing in the Tableau template at line 100,

[13-Nov-2015 23:12:08 UTC] PHP Warning: DOMDocument::load(): Empty string supplied as input in C:\wamp\www\musicstudiostore\includes\templates\tableau\templates\tpl_index_defa ult.php on line 100
(this line says: $xml_test = $xmlDoc->load($xml);)

[13-Nov-2015 23:12:08 UTC] PHP Stack trace:

[13-Nov-2015 23:12:08 UTC] PHP 1. {main}() C:\wamp\www\musicstudiostore\index.php:0

[13-Nov-2015 23:12:08 UTC] PHP 2. require() C:\wamp\www\musicstudiostore\index.php:97

(This line 97 says: require($template->get_template_dir('tpl_main_page.php',DIR_WS_TEMPLATE, $current_page_base,'common'). '/tpl_main_page.php');
?>)
[13-Nov-2015 23:12:08 UTC] PHP 3. require() C:\wamp\www\musicstudiostore\includes\templates\tableau\common\tpl_main_page.php :201

(Line 201 says: require($body_code); ?>)

[13-Nov-2015 23:12:08 UTC] PHP 4. require() C:\wamp\www\musicstudiostore\includes\modules\pages\index\main_template_vars.php :366

(This line 366 says: require($template->get_template_dir($tpl_page_body, DIR_WS_TEMPLATE, $current_page_base,'templates'). '/' . $tpl_page_body);
)
[13-Nov-2015 23:12:08 UTC] PHP 5. DOMDocument->load() C:\wamp\www\musicstudiostore\includes\templates\tableau\templates\tpl_index_defa ult.php:100
(this goes back to where we started)

and ending with that same command, I reinstalled the optional_catalog in the Numinix Product Fields module. I was hoping it was a template problem, as I had not yet reinstalled the optional files.

I then went through all of the catalog files and the modified core files again, and found yet another file I had not copied.

The UPC module still won't install, and still says I don't have permission to install it. But I have a clue: Whereas previously in Admin, Configuration, I was able to see that files were saved in the "Media" file, I do not see that message now. So it looks like I have a configuration file problem. However, the config file does appear in
admin/includes/auto-loaders/config.numinix_product_fields.php.

What else could this message mean: "The selected field was unable to be installed due to insufficient server permissions, please contact your host"?

Maybe it is coming up due to repetitive tries to add it, and somehow is going to require that I uninstall and reinstall everything.

Thanks for any thoughts.

[bislewl]

You need to be able to change the permission of that folder. If not you will need to manually create the files and run the SQL.

The error you have above is un-related to the issue with NPF. However is related to Tableau, it appears you don't TABLEAU_BLOG_RSS_URL defined in the admin

[notageek]

bislewl,

Thanks. I was just returning to see what you had said about that Tableau error earlier. I'm not sure what to put in for the RSS feed, or if I can put it in at this stage.

I forgot to mention that I was able to add the Continental Shipping module, so I felt at that point that I did have the appropriate permissions. I looked for hours on a way to change the folder permissions and was only able to find an instruction that the folders themselves could not be writeable, but the files in them would be changed to writeable if I tried to change permissions, and that did seem to be the case.

I was also able to add the date_added field, although that one does not require the install.sql as Numinix advised it was just making an existing field changeable.

So I have spent all day on this, my fifth day on this module, and so maybe I can just try to solve the Tableau RSS feed addition, if you are possibly able to tell me what to do with that at this point. I think I might have to wait until I put the site online to go any further with either of these problems.

It's just odd that the configuration menu worked to show the "media" location when I first installed this module, and doesn't work now.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Notageek

[bislewl]

bislewl,

Thanks. I was just returning to see what you had said about that Tableau error earlier. I'm not sure what to put in for the RSS feed, or if I can put it in at this stage.

I forgot to mention that I was able to add the Continental Shipping module, so I felt at that point that I did have the appropriate permissions. I looked for hours on a way to change the folder permissions and was only able to find an instruction that the folders themselves could not be writeable, but the files in them would be changed to writeable if I tried to change permissions, and that did seem to be the case.

I was also able to add the date_added field, although that one does not require the install.sql as Numinix advised it was just making an existing field changeable.

So I have spent all day on this, my fifth day on this module, and so maybe I can just try to solve the Tableau RSS feed addition, if you are possibly able to tell me what to do with that at this point. I think I might have to wait until I put the site online to go any further with either of these problems.

It's just odd that the configuration menu worked to show the "media" location when I first installed this module, and doesn't work now.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Notageek

Try 2 things.

1) Reverting to the "old"/core YOUR_ADMIN/configuration.php
2) In almost all the numinix modules installers in the YOUR_ADMIN/includes/init_includes/init##########_.php files there is a line usually around line 10, that looks like: (this is from NPF)

$zencart_com_plugin_id = 1495; // from zencart.com plugins - Leave Zero not to check 

Change it so so $zencart_com_plugin_id = 0

Sometimes on WAMP zencart has issues connecting to zen-cart.com to verify plugin. I think this is resolved in upcoming ZenCart v1.5.5