EasyPopulate 4.0 Support Thread

firstcapitalfirearms:

I have multiple wholesalers and would eventually like to add all of them to my site. The problem is that some wholesalers may carry the same product but they may call it a a different model number. Is there an Easy Populate Header (ex. v_products_model) that I can use that would have 1 model set up for all wholesalers. Example 1 wholesaler has a Savage Model Number of 19220 and another has it listed as a straight 19220. Is it possible that I can upload both and it will add up available inventory of both wholesalers.

Hope this makes sense.

Thanks
Mark
So to understand, you have a single source of inventory, two or more stores drawing from that inventory, each store may call the item a different name (by model?), and you want to upload the quantities of each stores inventory, but have them considered as a single item in your central supply and without either of the stores needing a modification of their model numbers or using a different field to present the model number that they call items?

If that is the case I would say that this plugin as written would not work for you; however, I'm sure it could be modified to suit your needs.

I was originally thinking that a separate field could be used to hold the base model number and that it alone could be used to perform all database functions of EP4; however, that philosophy would also result in a problem when uploading if the unique product # assigned by each store and other information that is different between the two stores is uploaded. So the next thought is, if you're store is functioning as described above, there must be either another table or another field that links the uniquely described items to you're core stock. In that regards, you would need to have a new option developed that would interface with your core stock table and (again as I have tried to restate above the conditions I am considering) update your core stock or you would need to update your core stock after uploading the individual stocks based on the stock available in each store. That last would depend on how you operate/need, and I would suggest that any code development would support both options with a user identified selection option.

Feznizzle:

Is there a way to make this work with Cross Sell?

I'm using Cross Sell Plus Advanced Sell Combo

Could you possibly identify what about using this plugin you would like to see functioning with Cross Sell Plus Advanced Sell Combo?

As is, if that plugin is installed, EP4 will still function, so guessing that there is something about that plugin would like to be able to use EP4 to interface with.

mc12345678:

Been pondering this for a few days. Curious, what happens if you were to add more text before the first ##? I hadn't found anything that considered ## to be an escape sequence. If it still imports only to that point then probably would want to change the ## to something else either before import or in the process of importing. I seem to recall that recently some discussion was had about how/where to code for replacement of characters. Also, be sure to review the csv that is used to import and verify that the text is not cut off in there when saving your csv. If the first suggested test results in being cutoff then there is a variable associated with that field that limits the length of text, if it is not cutoff then there is something that considers ## as an end of the text.

I searched back and found that http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?p=1211569#post1211569 was where a zenner recently identified a place where upon import incoming data could be filtered/scanned/swapped. It may not specifically address your interest/desire, but is a place to start.

hello chadd,

your plugin works fine, is it possible to add "v_products_name" to export file "Model/Price/Qty"?

Output "Model/Price/Qty" like this example:

v_products_model,v_products_name,v_status,v_specials_price,v_specials_date_avail,v_specials_expires_date,v_products_price,v_products_quantity

any_way:

hello chadd,

your plugin works fine, is it possible to add "v_products_name" to export file "Model/Price/Qty"?

Output "Model/Price/Qty" like this example:

v_products_model,v_products_name,v_status,v_specials_price,v_specials_date_avail,v_specials_expires_date,v_products_price,v_products_quantity

Not chadd answering; however, if you're familiar with php/code editing, if as you look from the main file to the export file and follow the path to the export of the file type you are asking about and then add the applicable statements for the variable you are interested in (I think two places would need pdating) then you could add that on your own version of the plug-in. The two places I can think of are the applicable $variable[] = statement and in the SQL to pull that information from the table(s) in question. $variable is used as an example because m not in front of the code to tell you what name should be substiituted for the word variable and haven't played with the code in a few weeks.

mc12345678:

Been pondering this for a few days. Curious, what happens if you were to add more text before the first ##? I hadn't found anything that considered ## to be an escape sequence. If it still imports only to that point then probably would want to change the ## to something else either before import or in the process of importing. I seem to recall that recently some discussion was had about how/where to code for replacement of characters. Also, be sure to review the csv that is used to import and verify that the text is not cut off in there when saving your csv. If the first suggested test results in being cutoff then there is a variable associated with that field that limits the length of text, if it is not cutoff then there is something that considers ## as an end of the text.

Just making a comment on this just in case someone is looking to manipulate the characters on there own. On the easypopulate_import.php file around lines 550-560 you can modify the content in there to manipulate characters and anything else from the items description that you want. The code below that I've added to those lines creates it to where it replaces most characters, including white space and Microsoft Characters which were my problem:

   if (isset($filelayout['v_products_description_'.$l_id ])) { // do for each language in our upload file if exist
				// utf-8 conversion of smart-quotes, em-dash, en-dash, and ellipsis
				$v_products_description[$l_id] = ep_4_curly_quotes($items[$filelayout['v_products_description_'.$l_id]]);
				if ($ep_supported_mods['psd'] == true) { // if short descriptions exist
					$v_products_short_desc[$l_id] = ep_4_curly_quotes($items[$filelayout['v_products_short_desc_'.$l_id]]);
				}
                                
                                // utf-8 conversion on funky characters ------------ [ADDED 8/23 jmadrigal] ----------------------------
                                $v_products_description[$l_id] = str_replace("’", "'", $v_products_description[$l_id]);
                                $v_products_description[$l_id] = str_replace("’", "'", $v_products_description[$l_id]);
                                $v_products_description[$l_id] = htmlentities(trim($v_products_description[$l_id]), ENT_QUOTES);
                                
}

For the Microsoft Character problem I modified the ep_4_curly function in easypopulaet_4_functions.php. Code Is below:

// jamadri - Fixes Microsoft Characters Issue
   $clean_text = str_replace(
   array(chr(145), chr(146), chr(147), chr(148), chr(150), chr(151), chr(133)),
   array("'", "'", '"', '"', '-', '--', '...'),
   $clean_text);

mc12345678:

Not chadd answering; however, if you're familiar with php/code editing, if as you look from the main file to the export file and follow the path to the export of the file type you are asking about and then add the applicable statements for the variable you are interested in (I think two places would need pdating) then you could add that on your own version of the plug-in. The two places I can think of are the applicable $variable[] = statement and in the SQL to pull that information from the table(s) in question. $variable is used as an example because m not in front of the code to tell you what name should be substiituted for the word variable and haven't played with the code in a few weeks.

hello mc12345678,

thank's for your answer.

php editing is my problem, i understand a little bit of them, but not enough.

I think the structure of the export file is better and clearly arranged with the products_name. It's possible that many other users of this plugin think the same.

The export file is smaller and for quick updates clearly represented, products_model and products_name allow better assignment.

You can play with the code several weeks, no problem it's not hurry. a solution for this small problem would be nice.

any_way:

hello mc12345678,

thank's for your answer.

php editing is my problem, i understand a little bit of them, but not enough.

I think the structure of the export file is better and clearly arranged with the products_name. It's possible that many other users of this plugin think the same.

The export file is smaller and for quick updates clearly represented, products_model and products_name allow better assignment.

You can play with the code several weeks, no problem it's not hurry. a solution for this small problem would be nice.

So to be sure to understand only looking for the export file to have the additional field so that when updating other fields it is better "readable" to update. There is no intention of making changes that will be updating when uploaded correct?

If the code/code change is posted here, will you be able to incorporate it into your files or do you need some other method of providing the information/update?

mc12345678:

So to be sure to understand only looking for the export file to have the additional field so that when updating other fields it is better "readable" to update. There is no intention of making changes that will be updating when uploaded correct?

If the code/code change is posted here, will you be able to incorporate it into your files or do you need some other method of providing the information/update?

excuse my english, it is not my native language, difficult to find the right words as in native language.

I think you understand the problem, it is better "readable".

If you post the code, i can build it in my php files.

Thanks for the effort.

any_way:

excuse my english, it is not my native language, difficult to find the right words as in native language.

I think you understand the problem, it is better "readable".

If you post the code, i can build it in my php files.

Thanks for the effort.
That is no problem. I apologize to you and those for which English is not their first language. I should remember to write in clearer english words.

That said, I think that we have communicated well enough. I think I could have something later today for you. I have some other things I am working on today.

Hi,

I'd be grateful for some feedback on what EP4 can do. I have listed below what I want to do with it and if anyone could tell me which items in this list it already does, and the easiest ways to do these, that would be great.

Chad, maybe specifically for you: if there are things listed here that it doesn't yet do, I am happy to wade in and make some mods. It would be easier if you could give me a heads-up on any major blockers to what I want to do, and faster for me if you can point me in any particular directions..

So,

1. My products are all priced by attribute. The price in the product admin page is always set to zero (so attribute prices are added to that and remain as they are).
2. I want to be able to upload multiple new products, with their attribute details (attribute name, attribute price, option name).
3. I then want to be able to:
   ....3.1. update attribute prices for existing products.
   ....3.2. add new attributes for existing products.

There are other changes I'd like to make for existing products, but the attributes seem to be the most challenging.

Any advice/suggestions?

Cheers,

Gav

k9dug:

Hi,

I'd be grateful for some feedback on what EP4 can do. I have listed below what I want to do with it and if anyone could tell me which items in this list it already does, and the easiest ways to do these, that would be great.

Chad, maybe specifically for you: if there are things listed here that it doesn't yet do, I am happy to wade in and make some mods. It would be easier if you could give me a heads-up on any major blockers to what I want to do, and faster for me if you can point me in any particular directions..

So,

1. My products are all priced by attribute. The price in the product admin page is always set to zero (so attribute prices are added to that and remain as they are).
2. I want to be able to upload multiple new products, with their attribute details (attribute name, attribute price, option name).
3. I then want to be able to:
   ....3.1. update attribute prices for existing products.
   ....3.2. add new attributes for existing products.

There are other changes I'd like to make for existing products, but the attributes seem to be the most challenging.

Any advice/suggestions?

Cheers,

Gav

If those are the things that you see as a minimum to be needed to load this plug-in, start the installation.

1. Does as is (may need to sequence upload of various datafiles to get from nothing to your final setup.)
2. This is typically at least a two step process currently if I am correct. First upload your product with all the details associated, and then upload the attribute(s) associated with the product. A third interim upload may be necessary to add a new attribute to the database.
3. A. Can do, but realize that the change of proce for one attribute I think is applied across the board for where that attriibute is used.
4. B. Yup, see above.

While chadder is working on an update that would provide more documentation on how to do all this, the basics are this:
A basic report will get new things of the report type into the database. A detailed report will provide more thorough information about the type of thing being worked on.

At the moment, that's the breadth of my recollection of it's functionality. It is very handy for the things you are describing you would like to do. Also, some of the places I said may need multiple steps, may actually only need one, but I haven't played with it enough recently to state that. I am anxiously awaiting one of the support members of my site to populate a file for us to push live. I look forward to using this and its abilities.

Somewhat surprising, the concept of this add-in is actually relatively simple, as it strips away a lot of the user interface, but it also gives the admin a lot of control and does have the potential of incorrectly updating the database. So backup, backup, backup, and test your upload at least one line before you go and try to upload everything. Once you get a sort of stable file, then updates will be easy. :) good luck!

Thanks mc1-8,

OK, I am sort of getting my head round this..

I can create new products by downloading, editing and then importing a Full_ csv.

I can create new attributes for existing products by downloading, editing and then import an Attrib-Basic csv. I've checked in the database and even if I create the same name of attribute for different products, it gets created just once and the id re-used. Good.

To add price to a attributes, for each product, I have to download, edit and then import an Attrib-Detailed csv. Here I add the price, sort order, and any other values specific to an attribute for a particular product. All seems to work. (It does seem strange that the product option name is listed twice for each attribute, in both Attrib-Basic (v_products_options_name_1) and Attrib-Detailed (v_products_options_name)).

OK so it works, albeit with a sequence of 3 file downloads and 3 file imports.

What I need to be able to do is condense this down into a single file import. The reason is, I have to be able to export a full list and send that to my client. He has to be able to easily read the spreadsheet and carry out the following changes:

1. add products
2. add attributes
3. alter attribute prices

Much of my data will be default / handled by me, or I can write code to generate it (eg product model), but I cannot hand over three spreadsheets for monthly updates.

Does this seem feasible, at least for my limited set of procedures?

I can see various ways to do this, such as taking the order of v_products_options_values_name_1 to generate the sort order, using multiple rows per product etc...

k9dug:

Thanks mc1-8,

OK, I am sort of getting my head round this..

I can create new products by downloading, editing and then importing a Full_ csv.

I can create new attributes for existing products by downloading, editing and then import an Attrib-Basic csv. I've checked in the database and even if I create the same name of attribute for different products, it gets created just once and the id re-used. Good.

To add price to a attributes, for each product, I have to download, edit and then import an Attrib-Detailed csv. Here I add the price, sort order, and any other values specific to an attribute for a particular product. All seems to work. (It does seem strange that the product option name is listed twice for each attribute, in both Attrib-Basic (v_products_options_name_1) and Attrib-Detailed (v_products_options_name)).

OK so it works, albeit with a sequence of 3 file downloads and 3 file imports.

What I need to be able to do is condense this down into a single file import. The reason is, I have to be able to export a full list and send that to my client. He has to be able to easily read the spreadsheet and carry out the following changes:

1. add products
2. add attributes
3. alter attribute prices

Much of my data will be default / handled by me, or I can write code to generate it (eg product model), but I cannot hand over three spreadsheets for monthly updates.

Does this seem feasible, at least for my limited set of procedures?

I can see various ways to do this, such as taking the order of v_products_options_values_name_1 to generate the sort order, using multiple rows per product etc...

So, overall, I would say it looks like you have grasped the default usage. To get your client looking at the data, you could create a new export that would have all the data in one spreadsheet, the complexity though increases as the number of category types for a product does. Though you could make it relatively easy depending on how you want to present your data to your client and of course, what you want to deal with when it comes back.

All of the functions are present in the code to accomplish what you describe, but would need to sort of reorder/group/resequence them to suit the file designation of your choosing. That is further why I stated that it is a powerful plug-in, because almost anything desired to be done with a default database is there.

As for duplicate titles, it is my understanding that there is a move afoot to make the plug-in more multi-language functional and that was what the appended number was primarily about. (Ie language 1, language 2, etc with each language designation meaning something that I can't remember at the moment).

Basically your export code file would contain the formatting and SQL statements to create your client file, and then your import code file would parse the CSV based on the filename.

As an FYI, most likely your client will not have the program(s) necessary to properly save a CSV that would work with this plug-in, so something would need to be done to facilitate that, either you properly save it, or your client obtains a method to properly save it.

OK that's good news, if all the main components are present and just need to be rearranged. Sounds like the way forward will be to create an additional export file type and then an additional import file type in the existing code files. I imagine I might have to create a few different versions of some functions, but the basis will be there.

I'll give it a try. Thanks for the insight.

(As an aside, regarding duplicate column titles for multi-language function: I wonder if it might not be better to end the column headings with standard two-character language codes, instead of "_1", "_2" etc? For example, "v_products_options_values_name_en" and "v_products_options_values_name_es" would be more intuitive than numbered columns, potentially hook into the language system more easily, and also not be order-dependent. Just a thought.. :-)

k9dug:

OK that's good news, if all the main components are present and just need to be rearranged. Sounds like the way forward will be to create an additional export file type and then an additional import file type in the existing code files. I imagine I might have to create a few different versions of some functions, but the basis will be there.

I'll give it a try. Thanks for the insight.

(As an aside, regarding duplicate column titles for multi-language function: I wonder if it might not be better to end the column headings with standard two-character language codes, instead of "_1", "_2" etc? For example, "v_products_options_values_name_en" and "v_products_options_values_name_es" would be more intuitive than numbered columns, potentially hook into the language system more easily, and also not be order-dependent. Just a thought.. :-)

It wouldn't surprise me if that is the direction that chadder is/was going with the update. I do understand that the version to be posted in the plugins area is a large code change as when I began R&D for stock by attributes I was given some coding suggestions above and beyond a normal merge of instructions.

On the otherhand, I hope that his heart didn't just sink 3 miles deep from seeing that suggestion. :) It makes sense.

Oh I hope not! He's doing a grand job.

I'll get stuck into my mods and if I come up with anything that works I'll let you guys see it.

Cheers :)

I am having two issues with getting the v_products_description_1 field to update.

1. It seems to load on a completely new product but when I try to update it does not change.
2. I also have issues with it truncating the field at random lengths. I have queries that search and replace all special characters with their HTML friendly equivalent which seemed to help in some instances. These are MEMO fields in Access 2007 and when I export I always go into the export spec file and make sure the field is set to MEMO and has a width of 8000 characters or so.

The text files look good and import the other fields like quantity and call the correct values. I'm currently working trying to update the Manufacturer: Charles Industries on my https://www.navigatorschoice.com site with is v1.5.0 but have the same problems with https://www.scubastevesmarine.com which is v1.5.1.

I have attached the file I'm importing currently. A link to one of the items is http://www.navigatorschoice.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=46_78_209&products_id=1527, it updated successfully the quantity to zero and product is call to 1. But the description should have had some red text added to it which didn't update.

Any assistance with these issues is appreciated.

Can anyone please give me the link to the plugin for this add on? I'm trying to make sure I keep up with all my plugins with the most recent version and given the fact that there are several "Easy Populate" add ons I'm not sure which is which. Thank you!!!

joyjoy:

Can anyone please give me the link to the plugin for this add on? I'm trying to make sure I keep up with all my plugins with the most recent version and given the fact that there are several "Easy Populate" add ons I'm not sure which is which. Thank you!!!

This plugin is yet to be published to the download section of ZenCart; however, like in many/most forums, if you review the first couple of posts http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?190417-EasyPopulate-4-0-Support-Thread/page1 you should be able to determine from where a plug-in may be obtained. In this case, it is available on github, but should be submitted for ZenCart review relatively soon by the author.