Google Base Feeder Support Thread [OLD]

[frank18]

You don't have to comment out those lines. ...... Maybe using curl makes the difference?....

Yes, using the curl command makes the difference. If I uncomment line 54 the script stops just there....

On the other hand the wget command ran ok but would not save the xml file.

All good now ...

[advplans]

Hi,

I'm using Zen 1.3.9h, I have the latest version 1.10.0 of the google merchant feeder installed. I just installed this mod recently, having a tough time working out the issues. I've search this thread and this forum, without finding a clear answer to this, so if I've missed this answer somewhere, sorry in advance.

I'm getting the dreaded

description length: 0 - skipped, price below zero, description length less than 15 chars, or title less than 3 chars - failed

error on probably about 2/3 of my products out of several hundred. From reviewing this thread, I gather the most probable cause is illegal characters in the title or description, but here is what is bugging me.

When I try to troubleshoot, I can delete a product description and replace with just a few lines of text, the product makes it through the feed. Then I can add more of the description back to the product, and it still makes it. Then, I can add my original description back and it makes it through again, even though it didn't make it through before. A few times later, it may puke back out when I run the feed, so what I'm having trouble doing is troubleshooting this error down to a root case. So, my question to the community is:

1. Specifically, on the published addon with no mods, exactly which characters in the description are illegal?

2. Specifically, which characters in the title are illegal?

3. Is there any way around that to make everything legal?

4. Is there anything else that would cause that error? Some of my product descriptions are really long, but some of the really long ones have no issues getting through. If that's an issue, is there a way to address that?

If anyone can help, thanks in advance.

[advplans]

Hi,

I'm using Zen 1.3.9h, I have the latest version 1.10.0 of the google merchant feeder installed. I just installed this mod recently, having a tough time working out the issues. I've search this thread and this forum, without finding a clear answer to this, so if I've missed this answer somewhere, sorry in advance.

I'm getting the dreaded

description length: 0 - skipped, price below zero, description length less than 15 chars, or title less than 3 chars - failed

error on probably about 2/3 of my products out of several hundred. From reviewing this thread, I gather the most probable cause is illegal characters in the title or description, but here is what is bugging me.

When I try to troubleshoot, I can delete a product description and replace with just a few lines of text, the product makes it through the feed. Then I can add more of the description back to the product, and it still makes it. Then, I can add my original description back and it makes it through again, even though it didn't make it through before. A few times later, it may puke back out when I run the feed, so what I'm having trouble doing is troubleshooting this error down to a root case. So, my question to the community is:

1. Specifically, on the published addon with no mods, exactly which characters in the description are illegal?

2. Specifically, which characters in the title are illegal?

3. Is there any way around that to make everything legal?

4. Is there anything else that would cause that error? Some of my product descriptions are really long, but some of the really long ones have no issues getting through. If that's an issue, is there a way to address that?

If anyone can help, thanks in advance.

ok, I've stumbled across a fix, so let me post so I can share. I viewed my cache file in my cache directory where my store is located. It kept pointing to an error on line 277 of the google_base.php file in the includes/classes folder, which is fixed by the following post.

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...postcount=2743

Seemed to cure my problem. No idea why, though..... would love it if someone could explain it to my feeble brain, and if there is collateral damage? Of course, I'm not at the point of uploading to google, so maybe thats my next crapola?

[sigung]

You may be aware that recently Google checkout has come up with a new requirement for their data feeds. The feeds are required to include at least two of three unique product identifiers (see web page):

http://www.google.com/support/mercha...?answer=160161

In my case, I decided the easiest thing to do to meet these requirements (since my wholesaler does not provide data like UPCs ISBNs, etc.) was to use a combination of a MPN, (which can be made up by the store owner), and a Brand Name.

I HAD been assigning brand names where appropriate, but I had NOT been entering model numbers, hence I was faced with adding a model number to 595 products, a pretty daunting task manually, so I decided to go the sql statement/query route and try to affect the change I needed in all 595 records (tables) at one time.

Originally, I tried to add an autoincrementing field and update that to the products_model field, but I could not find a statement that would update it sequentially, so I wound up with the number "1" in that field. I finally came up with this solution that took all of .033 seconds to accomplish my goal.

Keeping in mind that the products_id field is the auto incrementing one ( only ONE autoincrementing field is allowed in any table), as the shopping cart software assigns a new id to each product created, I decided to simply use the product_id as my new Manufacturers Part Number (MPN) to satisfy the new Google data feed requirements. SO, I ran this simple query:

UPDATE zen_products
SET zen_products.products_model = zen_products.products_id

THAT gave me a products_model field with the same values as the products_id field. Next I wanted to append a text prefix to that number so it would look "more official". To accomplish that, I used:

UPDATE zen_products
SET zen_products.products_model = concat(' MPN-',zen_products.products_id)

I hope you find this information useful.

[LVT LTD]

No, I've imported over 2000 products at a time.

Is there a setting I need to change then?

[Hound]

I've scoured this and other threads and come to the conclusion that I don't speak geek fluently enough to grasp this concept!
I need an interpreter!!


I installed the google base feeder. After reading this thread I thought that in order to use UPC's that I would also have to install the Numinex product fields mod as well to get the additional product fields.

Well I did that yesterday and my site has completely blown up.

I'm running Zen 1.39f.

My site is www.wholesomehound.com

When going to a product to edit it in the Admin I get the following error:

1054 Unknown column 'p.products_condition' in 'field list'
in:
[select pd.products_name, pd.products_description, pd.products_url, p.products_id, p.products_quantity, p.products_model, p.products_image, p.products_price, p.products_virtual, p.products_weight, p.products_date_added, p.products_last_modified, date_format(p.products_date_available, '%Y-%m-%d') as products_date_available, p.products_status, p.products_tax_class_id, p.manufacturers_id, p.products_quantity_order_min, p.products_quantity_order_units, p.products_priced_by_attribute, p.product_is_free, p.product_is_call, p.products_quantity_mixed, p.product_is_always_free_shipping, p.products_qty_box_status, p.products_quantity_order_max, p.products_sort_order, p.products_discount_type, p.products_discount_type_from, p.products_price_sorter, p.master_categories_id, p.products_upc, p.products_isbn, p.products_ean, p.products_asin, p.products_condition, p.products_diameter, p.products_weight_type, p.products_dim_type, p.products_length, p.products_width, p.products_height, p.products_ready_to_ship, p.products_actual_weight from zen_products p, zen_products_description pd where p.products_id = '1358' and p.products_id = pd.products_id and pd.language_id = '1']
If you were entering information, press the BACK button in your browser and re-check the information you had entered to be sure you left no blank fields.

I've run the uninstall sql for the product fields mod from numinex. and am still getting this output. Should I just restore my backups and start over or is there something I am missing. I did not install all the possible fields, only the UPC/ISBN.

Help...

[delia]

Folks, if you aren't on 1.3.9h, you can have other problems - finish out your upgrades before installing any else!

[bloomingvine]

Just wanted to let everyone know.. the new shipping requirements to the google base feed have been extended to september.

Just read on the google merchant blog On March 14, we let you know about a new set of data requirements for Product Search merchants. As part of these changes, we communicated that shipping and tax information would be required in your data feeds as of June 6.

However, based on feedback we’ve received from merchants, we are extending the deadline until September 1, allowing you more time to modify your data feeds. We are also permitting estimates for tax/shipping information. However, we recommend reviewing the submission options and submitting the most accurate information that you can, as this ensures the best experience for shoppers.

http://googlemerchantblog..com
So no need to go crazy this monday. Is there anything I need to do or watch for any fix for my feed by then? I am unclear as to weather shipping information as is in the feed will suffice.

[willieWontGo]

My feed runs ok, but I get the following error:

1054 Unknown column 'p.products_upc' in 'field list'

Any ideas how to remedy this issue?

[BlessIsaacola]

My feed runs ok, but I get the following error:

1054 Unknown column 'p.products_upc' in 'field list'

Any ideas how to remedy this issue?

You need to install either the numinix product fields or the other mod in the admin that creates the UPC/ISBN in your product table.

In the log run the Numinix Product fields will be your best bet and the link to the mod is here: http://www.numinix.com/zen-cart-modu...product-fields

Please keep in mind that it's for 1.3.9g so you will have to compare the core files overriden to your current installation if it's newer than 1.3.9g (which should be 1.3.9h).