accessing existing product database with zencart

Hello,

For a museum I am investigating the use of Zen Cart as a shopping cart to sell images of the museum's collection items. The museum already has an elaborate collection database management system in which all collection items and related images are stored (in the database links to images are stored).

Here is my question:

We want to offer selected images and related data fields as products to clients. Images and related data records would be downloadeable products. To avoid duplicating the data already stored in the collection database management system, is it possible to define zencart product tables as views onto an already existing database?

Another question:

Assuming that products data has to be replicated in Zencart.

When a client searches and finds an image in the collection database, using a search facility offered over the internet, the user should be able to click on the purchase link. Is it possible to have that purchase link be equivalent to clicking on a product link in zencart -- that is by pressing that link, the product options page is displayed -- as if the user would have used zencart to click on a link to purhcase a product.

I understand that such a feature depends on systematically generating appropriate links to all products in the zencart database, and storing these links in the collection database management system. These links would then be retrieved for display when an image is found and displayed.

Can the above be done?

thank you,

Daniel

Anything is possible - depends how much cash you have to throw at it... :D

But I would imagine that the work and tweaking required would not be worth the effort.

ZC is designed to be a complete solution - not one that can be bolted onto others.

As these images are downloadable (virtual) products, there will not be a stock management issue, so once you have the image set up as a virtual product in ZC it can stay there forever, surely?

If your museum's system can export the product data as a spreadsheet (csv file), then re-arranging and importing it into ZC is quite easy using Easy Populate.

It may be easier to build a hyperlink from the image thumbnail on the museum's site to the equivalent ZC product page, so people visiting the museum main site just click the link to go to that pic's product order page in ZC.

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Museums and cash -- i would say that's an oxymoron ...

I do understand that zencart is a product on its own --- i guess the key issue here is how to best integrate an existing proprietary system that is used museum wide and zencart -- so that ongoing integration efforts -- when records are updated and added is minimized .

here is some integration ranking that comes to mind:

1. Best if the databases could be somehow amalgamated -- like this every change in the proprietary database would be immediately reflected in zencart.

2. A script is developed that automatically replicates -- adds and updates that from the prioprietary database into zencart. The script would however need to be maintained when structural changes are made to either the proprietary databaes or zencart. The script could however have some complexity in case both databases are physically separated due to security concerns. One could envision two scripts sitting on a usb stick (and hoping that the usb stick doesnt get infected).

3. export and import facility is used as you described -- which is a manual procedure. most likely drawback is that its a) manual and b) that it needs to be repeated probably weekly --which is error prone.

4. any other ideas?

all the above relate to integrating the databases. However,there still remainds the "interoperability" integration issue, such as, a selected record displayed in the properitary system can be purchased by use of zencart -- i.e. a link allows transfering control to zencart.

thanks,

Daniel

What type of dbase software does the museum use... ? MySQL ?

And are they on a linux platform? Is their current site PHP based?

Check the fundamentals, I think... If systems are incompatible, you may be pursuing a futile objective.

You might also want to check to see if the museum's DB utilizes Dublin Core style metadata. If so, the clarity that that enforces can make the connection to their existing data much easier to manage. If not, then you'd be working with a custom-coded database with perhaps not very well normalized data in it. It could be a nightmare.

Rob (who has been there, done that)