Quote Originally Posted by izzysoup View Post
Oh my, I have spent two hours trying to find a solution to get 'stock by attributes' to work properly on 1.5.3. I see some core files have changed significantly from 1.5.1 to 1.5.3 which SBA relies on. I am fairly new to Zen Cart and indeed programming in general, I think my upgrade to 1.5.3 is on hold until I can get this modification to work or it is upgraded.

Does anyone know of an alternative to SBA? As almost all our products have stock by variation and as drop-shippers, we also need the facility to update these 'stocked attributes' via a csv upload.

Many thanks, Izzy
Quote Originally Posted by RodG View Post
It is true that some of the core files have changed between V1.5.1 & V1.5.3 and that the SBA module relies on these files to function.
Now, although I had no problems with SBA working with ZenCart V1.5.3 I have to admit that I *didn't* use the modified core files from the SBA distribution. The reason being is that the site I installed it on already had other modifications needed by other addons, so this meant I needed to look at the changes to the code modified for SBA and make those same changes/additions to my already modified core files. IOW the original ZenCart V1.5.3 core files needed different modifications for two different add-ons.

Whilst doing this I'd noted that the SBA had less modifications needed than the other add-on - In fact the parts of the code it modified were quite clearly marked and easy to follow - So although I had an already modified code that needed these further modifications for SBA it was actually quite a simple thing to do.

I'm guessing that you had problems because you simply replaced the original zencart files with the SBA modified ones. I can certainly appreciate that this is generally the simplest and easiest route to take, it isn't the *best* route. If you need to depend on this replacement method it is only a matter of time before you'll end up installing yet another module that also changes these same files and you'll find it impossible to get all of the add-ons to play nicely together. It is for this reason I urge you to learn how to identify the changed needed by any given module so that you can merge the changes yourself if or when necessary.

I fully appreciate that you may be quite new to ZenCart and programming, and as such, I wouldn't normally be suggesting this to you. However, as stated, the changes needed for the SBA module are *clearly* marked in the pre-modified files that are supplied with the download zip, and even a relatively new Zenner with just a little coding experience *probably* won't have too much of a hard time doing a manual merge. Not all other modules make it quite this easy, and this makes using SBA as a near perfect setting to learn how to do the manual merges.

If you can't, or don't want to go this route I fully understand. I'm not trying to disparage you in any way. These kinds of edits and changes really aren't suited for everyone (and they don't need to be), BUT if you do wish or plan to increase your skill level in this regard I do encourage you to give it your best shot... I won't call this a 'baby step' - It is more like a jump... but a jump in the right direction IF ZenCart and programming are in you long term plans for the future. If you don't have long term plans for ZenCart development then please ignore all that I've said, as it isn't applicable to your plans or needs.

Cheers
RodG
Fyi, there is a SBA version 1.5.4 that is supposed to be compatible with ZC version 1.5.3 with little to no modification to install on a clean setup of ZC 1.5.3. That said, Rod makes a very valid point regarding the approach of installation (of almost any "plugin"). I've been mostly focused on the 1.5.3 version of SBA so as not to get too scattered with the product. Just like Rod was saying, if the product works in one version and is well documented, then "activating" in another version comes much easier. Needs to work as desired/needed first. :)