EasyPopulate 4.0 Support Thread

Yes, the one MAJOR drawback in using CSV as the file format for Easy Populate, is the enormous potential for errors when content contains commas or quote marks.

EP version 1.2.5.4 used a TAB-DELIMITED system, which is far, far safer and more reliable than CSV - because TABS are not used anywhere in the formatting of the content.

I do not use EP 4 because it is a huge mission to clean up the content, and I have had too many disasters where a single comma (missed in the clean-up) has caused major damage to the site's product data and configuration.

If EP4 created TAB-DELIMITED files, it would be an excellent module.

fairestcape:

Yes, the one MAJOR drawback in using CSV as the file format for Easy Populate, is the enormous potential for errors when content contains commas or quote marks.

EP version 1.2.5.4 used a TAB-DELIMITED system, which is far, far safer and more reliable than CSV - because TABS are not used anywhere in the formatting of the content.

I do not use EP 4 because it is a huge mission to clean up the content, and I have had too many disasters where a single comma (missed in the clean-up) has caused major damage to the site's product data and configuration.

If EP4 created TAB-DELIMITED files, it would be an excellent module.

Open Office properly encapsulates commas, tabs, single and double quotes. MS Excell seems to do it's own thing which changes from version to version.

There are some complications with utf-8 data and certain odd characters. This usually results when incorrectly opening files of different encodings, especially certain windows encodings.

How would you properly format and send

1'6" x 1'9"

through EP4? It is used in v_products_options_values_name_1.

Kevin205:

How would you properly format and send

1'6" x 1'9"

through EP4? It is used in v_products_options_values_name_1.

If you use open office and use: FILE > SAVE AS > Text CSV (.csv)

Open Office will encapsulate it as:

"1'6"" x 1'9"""

You don't need to do anything special.

-chadd

Still having trouble, probably something simple. Link to sample file I am trying to upload below. The categories are already in place. Not sure what the protocols are for "model" field. I can enter products manually, and those products appear and download appropriately. But when I upload I see the .csv file (using OO and utf-8) listed but products do not appear in the catalog. What's up?

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6FEhO0DQe4eMWFEdG9iTWRLZWM/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks!

tenashi:

Still having trouble, probably something simple. Link to sample file I am trying to upload below. The categories are already in place. Not sure what the protocols are for "model" field. I can enter products manually, and those products appear and download appropriately. But when I upload I see the .csv file (using OO and utf-8) listed but products do not appear in the catalog. What's up?

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6FEhO0DQe4eMWFEdG9iTWRLZWM/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks!

Okay, got it sorted out; info was in forum, just reading it wrong...doh!

Hey Tenashi,

Sorry, was down all week end. Glad you found solution though.

-chadd

Not to worry I seem to have at least one baffling new problem a day! Today's may or may not be related to EP4. The situation is that after I upload several test products, the "What's New" box on my main page lists them all twice. If I remove all products, the box is empty. When I reload the four products with EP4, each appears twice in the box. I also have been using Copy Categories and exploring different ways of setting up category structure. So maybe something to do with that, or with cached data...? Ideas?

View site

Thanks!

tenashi:

Not to worry I seem to have at least one baffling new problem a day! Today's may or may not be related to EP4. The situation is that after I upload several test products, the "What's New" box on my main page lists them all twice. If I remove all products, the box is empty. When I reload the four products with EP4, each appears twice in the box. I also have been using Copy Categories and exploring different ways of setting up category structure. So maybe something to do with that, or with cached data...? Ideas?

View site

Thanks!

It may be that linked products (the same product in multiple categories) is why your seeing it listed more than once. I'd ask this question in the general forum. EP4 does not affect how new products are listed.

ok thanks for narrowing it down, will try that next.

I just installed Easy Populate V 4 with the latest zencart and am having trouble a csv file im using open office but get this error when i try to import the file to easy populate

No model field in record. This line was not importedG-vibe 6 f | | 99.73 | 49.87 | The G-Vibe | In Stock | Fun toys | ELD | 2013-02-04 | http://fee | Vibrators | Luxury | | 5060320510 | 1.2 |
No model field in record. This line was not imported2013 playb | | 17.93 | 8.97 | Enjoy some | OOS | Vivid | ELD | 2012-08-02 | http://fee | Extras | Books | Cards, Cal | 1847091310 | 0.96 |
No model field in record. This line was not imported2013 playb | | 16.73 | 8.37 | It'll | OOS | Vivid | ELD | 2012-08-02 | http://fee | Extras | Books | Cards, Cal | 9781554842 | 0.5 |
No model field in record. This line was not importedSex smarts | | 11.17 | 5.59 | This page- | In Stock | | ELD | 2011-09-23 | http://fee | Extras | Books | Cards, Cal | 1847091210 | 0.96 |
No model field in record. This line was not imported2013 olivi | | 16.73 | 8.37 | Fan-favori | OOS | Vivid | ELD | 2012-08-02 | http://fee | Extras | Books | Cards, Cal | 1847091391 | |

Could you please help

hey, want to ask, everytime i import a file, instead of updating the existing products, it created a whole new category and whole new product listing, meaning i will have a duplicated of all products and categories.. is this suppose to happen? how can i fix this?

could it be because i edited the categories sort order? in that case is there a way to insert the sort order for categories in the excel file?

No, not because of sort order.

How LONG are your category names? If they are longer than the database can hold (I believe the default is 32 characters) then you will have problems.

Are you using english, or a multi-byte language (like greek/russian).

If you can zip and attach a portion of your csv file that will help.

-chadd

Shane Anthony:

I just installed Easy Populate V 4 with the latest zencart and am having trouble a csv file im using open office but get this error when i try to import the file to easy populate

No model field in record. This line was not importedG-vibe 6 f | | 99.73 | 49.87 | The G-Vibe | In Stock | Fun toys | ELD | 2013-02-04 | http://fee | Vibrators | Luxury | | 5060320510 | 1.2 |
No model field in record. This line was not imported2013 playb | | 17.93 | 8.97 | Enjoy some | OOS | Vivid | ELD | 2012-08-02 | http://fee | Extras | Books | Cards, Cal | 1847091310 | 0.96 |
No model field in record. This line was not imported2013 playb | | 16.73 | 8.37 | It'll | OOS | Vivid | ELD | 2012-08-02 | http://fee | Extras | Books | Cards, Cal | 9781554842 | 0.5 |
No model field in record. This line was not importedSex smarts | | 11.17 | 5.59 | This page- | In Stock | | ELD | 2011-09-23 | http://fee | Extras | Books | Cards, Cal | 1847091210 | 0.96 |
No model field in record. This line was not imported2013 olivi | | 16.73 | 8.37 | Fan-favori | OOS | Vivid | ELD | 2012-08-02 | http://fee | Extras | Books | Cards, Cal | 1847091391 | |

Could you please help

Please zip and attach a portion of your CSV file.

Did you add a product from the admin then export it to get your file headers? If you spelled "v_products_model" incorrectly or left it blank, you will receive this error...

-chadd

chadderuski:

No, not because of sort order.

How LONG are your category names? If they are longer than the database can hold (I believe the default is 32 characters) then you will have problems.

Are you using english, or a multi-byte language (like greek/russian).

If you can zip and attach a portion of your csv file that will help.

-chadd

i've calculated, the categories is within the 32 character limit.. im using english and chinese, i tried updating it without editing the sort order and it works, it's only when i edited the sort order did it duplicated all the products and categories.. so it's quite clear the problem lies with that. attached is a portion of my .csv file

denniszc:

i've calculated, the categories is within the 32 character limit.. im using english and chinese, i tried updating it without editing the sort order and it works, it's only when i edited the sort order did it duplicated all the products and categories.. so it's quite clear the problem lies with that. attached is a portion of my .csv file

Hi Dennis,

Could you tell me exactly how you are editing the sort order? Are you doing this in the admin: Catalog > Categories?

If that's so, it's possible that I'm not pulling the sort order! So I'll have to look at that code again...

-chadd

Hi
Is there a thread that explains what each field is called and what each field means and what info you put into the field? I have a new install of ZC 1.5.0 and I have installed EP 4.0. Should I use a different version of EP since 4.0 is beta?

TIA for any help
John

jpmill:

Hi
Is there a thread that explains what each field is called and what each field means and what info you put into the field? I have a new install of ZC 1.5.0 and I have installed EP 4.0. Should I use a different version of EP since 4.0 is beta?

TIA for any help
John

Hi John,

If you first add a couple product through the admin, then do your export, I think most of the columns will be self explanatory. The "beta" is quite stable and you should not have any concerns about that. I'm working on getting my submission for the zencart team, but writing good docs takes time, and paid work trumps the free stuff and I've been very busy.

-chadd

ok thanks sir, I did export it and I don't know what v_products_type means. What do I put in that column?