EasyPopulate 4.0 Support Thread

mc12345678:

I was using the same example for Excel; however, hadn't tried to upload the file yet. Glad you pointed that out. The "program" doesn't modify the data presented specifically for dates. Therefore, it would seem that you would need to apply a custom date format to the excel cell to force a YYYY-MM-DD and appropriate time format as part of the text export. Might be possible to do a test of the cell and if it is a date and time format to then translate to the correct format; however, wonder what other "numbers" could be turned into a date time based on what is input.
Hi MC
Yeah, I looked into the code and can't see anywhere that is playing with the dates so it must be one of those Excel side-effects ;) My 'good' method for using Excel is:

1. Ensure all fields/columns are formatted correctly e.g., YYYY-MM-DD for dates, decimal places for monetary values, etc.
2. Save As .csv
3. Delete surrounding cells (Excel likes to put in trailing records)
4. Open .csv in Notepad++
5. 'Convert to UTF-8'
6. Save or Save As xxx_.csv
7. Upload
8. Import ...and notice everything in order and as expected i.e., correct dates, correct values, special characters intact and displayed as expected, etc.

This process seems flawless apart from remembering the open/convert step in Notepad++, which is a pain in the rear... especially if I forget. ;)

Although the macro does not appear to change the dates, it does seem to be allowing Excel to do its usual thing of being 'clever' for us... and changing the dates to system defaults.

On a side note, although I didn't notice any issues with special characters when I was testing the macro with one particular file, I have since seen character errors in my full products download that I hadn't noticed before, so I'm not sure if the macro/EP4 combo had other flaws or if these character issues are from a previous upload/testing task.

For the time being I'm sticking with the trusty Excel .csv/Notepad++ method.

Cheers
GAM

GAM:

Hi MC
Yeah, I looked into the code and can't see anywhere that is playing with the dates so it must be one of those Excel side-effects ;) My 'good' method for using Excel is:

1. Ensure all fields/columns are formatted correctly e.g., YYYY-MM-DD for dates, decimal places for monetary values, etc.
2. Save As .csv
3. Delete surrounding cells (Excel likes to put in trailing records)
4. Open .csv in Notepad++
5. 'Convert to UTF-8'
6. Save or Save As xxx_.csv
7. Upload
8. Import ...and notice everything in order and as expected i.e., correct dates, correct values, special characters intact and displayed as expected, etc.

This process seems flawless apart from remembering the open/convert step in Notepad++, which is a pain in the rear... especially if I forget. ;)

Although the macro does not appear to change the dates, it does seem to be allowing Excel to do its usual thing of being 'clever' for us... and changing the dates to system defaults.

On a side note, although I didn't notice any issues with special characters when I was testing the macro with one particular file, I have since seen character errors in my full products download that I hadn't noticed before, so I'm not sure if the macro/EP4 combo had other flaws or if these character issues are from a previous upload/testing task.

For the time being I'm sticking with the trusty Excel .csv/Notepad++ method.

Cheers
GAM

Hey GAM,

You know though that if you are able to use the recommended Open Office that you won't have to think, remember, worry about those things. Supposedly it is able to save as UTF-8 and well, it saves the CSV files correctly. Seems that if you are able/allowed to install notepad++ then you should be able to install OO.

Hey MC, appreciate the suggestion but just not feasible (desirable) for me as I know Excel like the back of my hand and already have 10's to 100's of spreadsheets that I use to manage and manipulate my products and use extensively to import/export/update between MYOB and my Zen-Cart store as well as reporting and analysis.

FWIW, the older I get, the more I loath to upgrade/install/learn new software :wink: It's been bad enough adapting my processes and related files to work with EP4 from EP 2.5.4.WhateverItWas and Zen-Cart 1.3.7. Loads of new features on my store/back-office now with Zen 5.1 and new add-ons, which are great, but often frustrating when you're under the pump trying to keep on top of other day-to-day tasks. :wacko:

Again, appreciate the assistance and suggestions MC. I'll report back when/as I discover new things and/or have something else to report. :smile:

Cheers
GAM

Okay, I need help with two issues I am experiencing. One is easier to explain and the other I will explain and if you need more clarification to make sense of it please ask questions.

1. The first issue is with upc field. We have some products with upc code starting with zeros. Something like, 000768251143. When I generate an export file. The csv file that is generated drops the leading zeros in the upc column. 000768251143 becomes 768251143. Is there a way to protect this field during file generation to treat it as a text field so the numbers are not messed up? I did not have this issue with previous easy populate that uses text file instead of csv file. I will greatly appreciate any help in solving this issue as this is a show stopper.

2. The second problem is when I export a file, some of the description fields are empty even though they have content. There's nothing unique about the products that are missing descriptions so I am not sure how tell you how to duplicate this problem. However, it seems that the seem products that are dropping description fields on export remains the same (which makes me think there's something common between them even if I can see it).

I will appreciate any help to get to the bottom of these two issues.

Thanks!

1. I'm not sure what program you're using for your source data but assuming something like Excel, try specifying 'custom' field/column formatting in your spreadsheet program e.g., "000000000000#", to force display of leading zeros.
2. Open your CSV file in something like Notepad (or something better like Notepad++ [free]) and check those descriptions closely. You might have field and/or value delimiters that are either missing or being misinterpreted. Quite likely something in those descriptions is being interpreted as a delimiter and omitting everything thereafter... or something like that.

Best of luck.

Cheers
GAM

BlessIsaacola:

Okay, I need help with two issues I am experiencing. One is easier to explain and the other I will explain and if you need more clarification to make sense of it please ask questions.

1. The first issue is with upc field. We have some products with upc code starting with zeros. Something like, 000768251143. When I generate an export file. The csv file that is generated drops the leading zeros in the upc column. 000768251143 becomes 768251143. Is there a way to protect this field during file generation to treat it as a text field so the numbers are not messed up? I did not have this issue with previous easy populate that uses text file instead of csv file. I will greatly appreciate any help in solving this issue as this is a show stopper.

2. The second problem is when I export a file, some of the description fields are empty even though they have content. There's nothing unique about the products that are missing descriptions so I am not sure how tell you how to duplicate this problem. However, it seems that the seem products that are dropping description fields on export remains the same (which makes me think there's something common between them even if I can see it).

I will appreciate any help to get to the bottom of these two issues.

Thanks!

GAM:

1. I'm not sure what program you're using for your source data but assuming something like Excel, try specifying 'custom' field/column formatting in your spreadsheet program e.g., "000000000000#", to force display of leading zeros.
2. Open your CSV file in something like Notepad (or something better like Notepad++ [free]) and check those descriptions closely. You might have field and/or value delimiters that are either missing or being misinterpreted. Quite likely something in those descriptions is being interpreted as a delimiter and omitting everything thereafter... or something like that.

Best of luck.

Cheers
GAM

Totally agree with 1. That's a relatively quick fix and should be available in any spreadsheet program. (Haven't tried the recommended Open Office yet)
2. Deals with export of the file and while there might be an interprelation problem from the text file to the spreadsheet program as suggested, more information is definitely needed.

So assuming that there are three products and four fields of concern, does the folloing "table" represent a possible scenario?

"Field1","Field2","Field3","Field4"
"Data11","Data12",,"Data14"
"Data21","Data22","Data23",
"Data31","Data32","Data33","Data34"

Where DataXY represents the data for item X in column (field) Y or is a complete field not shown?
As far as us duplicating the problem there's a number of ways I can think of but would involve either exporting/downloading your database (or portions of) or providing access to areas of your store. Please do not publicly state your admin directory location/path. Or could do as GAM suggested and evaluate the output of EP before it is "processed" any further. I've seen where a field would have some sort of obnoxious character and cause errors in ZC, so I wouldn't be surprised if there is some errant "special" character(s) in your fields causing the problem.

GAM:

1. I'm not sure what program you're using for your source data but assuming something like Excel, try specifying 'custom' field/column formatting in your spreadsheet program e.g., "000000000000#", to force display of leading zeros.
2. Open your CSV file in something like Notepad (or something better like Notepad++ [free]) and check those descriptions closely. You might have field and/or value delimiters that are either missing or being misinterpreted. Quite likely something in those descriptions is being interpreted as a delimiter and omitting everything thereafter... or something like that.

Best of luck.

Cheers
GAM

I am not sure I explained myself well (even with the first part). The file that's generated from Easy Populate excludes the leading zeros in the csv file. In other words, the leading zeros are gone before I even open the file in Open Office. I know I can add the leading zero's back but that defeats the purpose because it will require me to go through 1,000s of record and add the leading zeros back. Some upc have 1 leading zero, others two leading zero and some three leading zeros. It's not even as simple as just formatting the cell to add leading zeros (because they are different). What I am asking is if it's possible to protect the source data when exporting from our site so Easy Populate does not remove the leading zero upon export?

Thanks!

BlessIsaacola:

Okay, I need help with two issues I am experiencing. One is easier to explain and the other I will explain and if you need more clarification to make sense of it please ask questions.

1. The first issue is with upc field. We have some products with upc code starting with zeros. Something like, 000768251143. When I generate an export file. The csv file that is generated drops the leading zeros in the upc column. 000768251143 becomes 768251143. Is there a way to protect this field during file generation to treat it as a text field so the numbers are not messed up? I did not have this issue with previous easy populate that uses text file instead of csv file. I will greatly appreciate any help in solving this issue as this is a show stopper.

2. The second problem is when I export a file, some of the description fields are empty even though they have content. There's nothing unique about the products that are missing descriptions so I am not sure how tell you how to duplicate this problem. However, it seems that the seem products that are dropping description fields on export remains the same (which makes me think there's something common between them even if I can see it).

I will appreciate any help to get to the bottom of these two issues.

Thanks!

GAM:

1. I'm not sure what program you're using for your source data but assuming something like Excel, try specifying 'custom' field/column formatting in your spreadsheet program e.g., "000000000000#", to force display of leading zeros.
2. Open your CSV file in something like Notepad (or something better like Notepad++ [free]) and check those descriptions closely. You might have field and/or value delimiters that are either missing or being misinterpreted. Quite likely something in those descriptions is being interpreted as a delimiter and omitting everything thereafter... or something like that.

Best of luck.

Cheers
GAM
BlessIsaacola:

I am not sure I explained myself well (even with the first part). The file that's generated from Easy Populate excludes the leading zeros in the csv file. In other words, the leading zeros are gone before I even open the file in Open Office. I know I can add the leading zero's back but that defeats the purpose because it will require me to go through 1,000s of record and add the leading zeros back. Some upc have 1 leading zero, others two leading zero and some three leading zeros. It's not even as simple as just formatting the cell to add leading zeros (because they are different). What I am asking is if it's possible to protect the source data when exporting from our site so Easy Populate does not remove the leading zero upon export?

Thanks!

I think you missed the point, though I say that before knowing the following detail. Before you open the csv file in the spreadsheet application of choice, when you open the csv file in a text editor, are the zero's there in the quoted text?

The description of forcing the zero's above is one that indicates that the spreadsheet removes the zero's on "import" and that the command would force zero's to be placed not requiring you to find and type them.

If the zero's are in the csv file, EP4 is not the case of them disappearing later, but instead the spreadsheet/import process to the spreadsheet. (In some spreadsheet apps, it is possible to identify a column to be imported as a text field that would keep the zero's in place.)

BlessIsaacola:

Okay, I need help with two issues I am experiencing. One is easier to explain and the other I will explain and if you need more clarification to make sense of it please ask questions.

1. The first issue is with upc field. We have some products with upc code starting with zeros. Something like, 000768251143. When I generate an export file. The csv file that is generated drops the leading zeros in the upc column. 000768251143 becomes 768251143. Is there a way to protect this field during file generation to treat it as a text field so the numbers are not messed up? I did not have this issue with previous easy populate that uses text file instead of csv file. I will greatly appreciate any help in solving this issue as this is a show stopper.

2. The second problem is when I export a file, some of the description fields are empty even though they have content. There's nothing unique about the products that are missing descriptions so I am not sure how tell you how to duplicate this problem. However, it seems that the seem products that are dropping description fields on export remains the same (which makes me think there's something common between them even if I can see it).

I will appreciate any help to get to the bottom of these two issues.

Thanks!

GAM:

1. I'm not sure what program you're using for your source data but assuming something like Excel, try specifying 'custom' field/column formatting in your spreadsheet program e.g., "000000000000#", to force display of leading zeros.
2. Open your CSV file in something like Notepad (or something better like Notepad++ [free]) and check those descriptions closely. You might have field and/or value delimiters that are either missing or being misinterpreted. Quite likely something in those descriptions is being interpreted as a delimiter and omitting everything thereafter... or something like that.

Best of luck.

Cheers
GAM

mc12345678:

I think you missed the point, though I say that before knowing the following detail. Before you open the csv file in the spreadsheet application of choice, when you open the csv file in a text editor, are the zero's there in the quoted text?

The description of forcing the zero's above is one that indicates that the spreadsheet removes the zero's on "import" and that the command would force zero's to be placed not requiring you to find and type them.

If the zero's are in the csv file, EP4 is not the case of them disappearing later, but instead the spreadsheet/import process to the spreadsheet. (In some spreadsheet apps, it is possible to identify a column to be imported as a text field that would keep the zero's in place.)

Ugh, my apologies. Now that I have reread your response for like the third time, I realize my response would not fix your problem.

Sorry.

mc12345678:

I think you missed the point, though I say that before knowing the following detail. Before you open the csv file in the spreadsheet application of choice, when you open the csv file in a text editor, are the zero's there in the quoted text?

The description of forcing the zero's above is one that indicates that the spreadsheet removes the zero's on "import" and that the command would force zero's to be placed not requiring you to find and type them.

If the zero's are in the csv file, EP4 is not the case of them disappearing later, but instead the spreadsheet/import process to the spreadsheet. (In some spreadsheet apps, it is possible to identify a column to be imported as a text field that would keep the zero's in place.)

Thank you so much for the clarification. As suggested, I tested the downloaded file in my text editor and everything looks as expected. This is good and it means there's no problem with Easy Populate with regards to the file that's generated. As you rightly suggested, I noticed that Open Office have a function to indicate the column type and once I changed it to text for the upc column everything worked as expected with the leading zeros preserved. This means that **issue is resolved **with regards to the leading zeros. Thank you so much for your time and troubleshooting with me.

With regards to the description field, I am going to play with it a bit and report back my findings. The strange thing is even though when I open the file in Open Office, some product description are missing in the field, if I close the file and open it in the text editor, the descriptions are there just not showing when I open it Open Office. Strange I know (unless there's a maximum length for a cell in Open Office). I will play around and see what I find out.

Thanks!

BlessIsaacola:

Okay, I need help with two issues I am experiencing. One is easier to explain and the other I will explain and if you need more clarification to make sense of it please ask questions.

1. The first issue is with upc field. We have some products with upc code starting with zeros. Something like, 000768251143. When I generate an export file. The csv file that is generated drops the leading zeros in the upc column. 000768251143 becomes 768251143. Is there a way to protect this field during file generation to treat it as a text field so the numbers are not messed up? I did not have this issue with previous easy populate that uses text file instead of csv file. I will greatly appreciate any help in solving this issue as this is a show stopper.

2. The second problem is when I export a file, some of the description fields are empty even though they have content. There's nothing unique about the products that are missing descriptions so I am not sure how tell you how to duplicate this problem. However, it seems that the seem products that are dropping description fields on export remains the same (which makes me think there's something common between them even if I can see it).

I will appreciate any help to get to the bottom of these two issues.

Thanks!

BlessIsaacola:

Thank you so much for the clarification. As suggested, I tested the downloaded file in my text editor and everything looks as expected. This is good and it means there's no problem with Easy Populate with regards to the file that's generated. As you rightly suggested, I noticed that Open Office have a function to indicate the column type and once I changed it to text for the upc column everything worked as expected with the leading zeros preserved. This means that **issue is resolved **with regards to the leading zeros. Thank you so much for your time and troubleshooting with me.

With regards to the description field, I am going to play with it a bit and report back my findings. The strange thing is even though when I open the file in Open Office, some product description are missing in the field, if I close the file and open it in the text editor, the descriptions are there just not showing when I open it Open Office. Strange I know (unless there's a maximum length for a cell in Open Office). I will play around and see what I find out.

Thanks!

So for clarification, the remaining problem is that when opening your CSV with open office, the description field does not contain all the information that is expected, though it always had some amount of information when looking in OO. (Ie, no description fields that have information on ZC are totally blank in OO.) The next thing (which was under investigation) was to determine if the truncated fields are of a consistent length. I might suggest an equation applied to each row to gather the length of the cell(s) in question and then perform a max at the bottom of that column to determine if there is a max that means anything. In light of an unusual max like 3965 (not a multiple of 2^x or (2^x)-1) I would think that the issue is related to a character or sequence of characters that OO is acting on. If so (OO acting on) then would need to identify the offending character(s) using a standard text editor, change, delete, replace, the character(s) and then try to open the file in OO again.

With the above hopefully correctly summarized current condition, maybe someone else has some "words of wisdom". There maybe issues related with character conversion (ie was the current database updated to where it is now UTF-8 from a previous version, was something like Microsoft Access used at one point to populate the database, etc...) Your assistance would help identify how to proceed and what caused the problem you are experiencing.

How do I uninstall Easy Populate?

I got an error when trying to run the install.sql in Admin

'WARNING: An Error occurred, please refresh the page and try again.'

In phpMyAdmin the error says

SQL query:

INSERT INTO admin_pages
VALUES (
'easyPopulate', 'BOX_TOOLS_EASY_POPULATE', 'FILENAME_EASYPOPULATE', '', 'tools', 'Y', @configuration_group_id
);

MySQL said: Documentation
#1062 - Duplicate entry 'easyPopulate' for key 'page_key' 

and thus I have no Admin->Configuration->Easy Populate menu item.

The Admin->Tools->Easy Populate required me changing all the php [<? ] tags in the tempEP/fileList.php, since I cannot for some reasons get shortcodes enabled on my localhost.

When I upload a file with two sample items, I get an error 1054

MySQL error 1054: Unknown column 'EASYPOPULATE_CONFIG_CUSTOM_FIELDS' in 'field list'
When executing:
INSERT INTO products SET
						products_model					=	'P1010669' ,
						products_price					=	'15.9' ,
						products_image					=	'P1010669.jpg' ,
						products_weight					=	'0' ,
						products_tax_class_id			=	'' ,
						products_date_available			=	'' ,
						products_date_added				=	CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ,
						products_last_modified			=	CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ,
						products_quantity				=	'3' ,
						master_categories_id			=	'9' ,
						manufacturers_id				=	'1',
						products_status					=	'1',
						metatags_title_status			=	'',
						metatags_products_name_status	=	'',
						metatags_model_status			=	'',
						metatags_price_status			=	'',
						metatags_title_tagline_status	=	'' , EASYPOPULATE_CONFIG_CUSTOM_FIELDS='' 
MySQL error 1054: Unknown column 'EASYPOPULATE_CONFIG_CUSTOM_FIELDS' in 'field list'
When executing:
INSERT INTO products SET
						products_model					=	'J17960B' ,
						products_price					=	'15' ,
						products_image					=	'P1010328.jpg' ,
						products_weight					=	'0.5' ,
						products_tax_class_id			=	'' ,
						products_date_available			=	'' ,
						products_date_added				=	CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ,
						products_last_modified			=	CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ,
						products_quantity				=	'2' ,
						master_categories_id			=	'9' ,
						manufacturers_id				=	'1',
						products_status					=	'1',
						metatags_title_status			=	'',
						metatags_products_name_status	=	'',
						metatags_model_status			=	'',
						metatags_price_status			=	'',
						metatags_title_tagline_status	=	'' , EASYPOPULATE_CONFIG_CUSTOM_FIELDS='' 

I can only gather this is stemming from whatever options should be showing in Admin->Configuration->Easy Populate.

So...how do I a)get the configuration menu item to show OR b)uninstall this thing and try again?

k1ra:

How do I uninstall Easy Populate?

I got an error when trying to run the install.sql in Admin

'WARNING: An Error occurred, please refresh the page and try again.'

> 
> In phpMyAdmin the error says 
> ```
SQL query:

INSERT INTO admin_pages
VALUES (
'easyPopulate', 'BOX_TOOLS_EASY_POPULATE', 'FILENAME_EASYPOPULATE', '', 'tools', 'Y', @configuration_group_id
);

MySQL said: Documentation
#1062 - Duplicate entry 'easyPopulate' for key 'page_key' 

and thus I have no Admin->Configuration->Easy Populate menu item.

The Admin->Tools->Easy Populate required me changing all the php [<? ] tags in the tempEP/fileList.php, since I cannot for some reasons get shortcodes enabled on my localhost.

When I upload a file with two sample items, I get an error 1054

MySQL error 1054: Unknown column 'EASYPOPULATE_CONFIG_CUSTOM_FIELDS' in 'field list'
When executing:
INSERT INTO products SET
products_model = 'P1010669' ,
products_price = '15.9' ,
products_image = 'P1010669.jpg' ,
products_weight = '0' ,
products_tax_class_id = '' ,
products_date_available = '' ,
products_date_added = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ,
products_last_modified = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ,
products_quantity = '3' ,
master_categories_id = '9' ,
manufacturers_id = '1',
products_status = '1',
metatags_title_status = '',
metatags_products_name_status = '',
metatags_model_status = '',
metatags_price_status = '',
metatags_title_tagline_status = '' , EASYPOPULATE_CONFIG_CUSTOM_FIELDS=''
MySQL error 1054: Unknown column 'EASYPOPULATE_CONFIG_CUSTOM_FIELDS' in 'field list'
When executing:
INSERT INTO products SET
products_model = 'J17960B' ,
products_price = '15' ,
products_image = 'P1010328.jpg' ,
products_weight = '0.5' ,
products_tax_class_id = '' ,
products_date_available = '' ,
products_date_added = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ,
products_last_modified = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ,
products_quantity = '2' ,
master_categories_id = '9' ,
manufacturers_id = '1',
products_status = '1',
metatags_title_status = '',
metatags_products_name_status = '',
metatags_model_status = '',
metatags_price_status = '',
metatags_title_tagline_status = '' , EASYPOPULATE_CONFIG_CUSTOM_FIELDS=''

> 
> I can only gather this is stemming from whatever options should be showing in Admin->Configuration->Easy Populate.
> 
> So...how do I a)get the configuration menu item to show OR b)uninstall this thing and try again?

Unfortunately I don't know the answer about uninstalling, but it looks like you may be missing a language file which would seem to explain the error message text.

mc12345678:

Unfortunately I don't know the answer about uninstalling, but it looks like you may be missing a language file which would seem to explain the error message text.

Okay, although I didn't have a chance to find exactly where that variable is, (ie if in admin panel or not), but I didn't find it in a code search. So my guess is that I was wrong above.

My suggestion might be to reinstall the files. Something doesn't seem right to me about sending a variable to the SQL statement rather than the value being substituted for the variable.

k1ra:

How do I uninstall Easy Populate?

I got an error when trying to run the install.sql in Admin

'WARNING: An Error occurred, please refresh the page and try again.'

> 
> In phpMyAdmin the error says 
> ```
SQL query:

INSERT INTO admin_pages
VALUES (
'easyPopulate', 'BOX_TOOLS_EASY_POPULATE', 'FILENAME_EASYPOPULATE', '', 'tools', 'Y', @configuration_group_id
);

MySQL said: Documentation
#1062 - Duplicate entry 'easyPopulate' for key 'page_key' 

and thus I have no Admin->Configuration->Easy Populate menu item.

The Admin->Tools->Easy Populate required me changing all the php [<? ] tags in the tempEP/fileList.php, since I cannot for some reasons get shortcodes enabled on my localhost.

When I upload a file with two sample items, I get an error 1054

MySQL error 1054: Unknown column 'EASYPOPULATE_CONFIG_CUSTOM_FIELDS' in 'field list'
When executing:
INSERT INTO products SET
products_model = 'P1010669' ,
products_price = '15.9' ,
products_image = 'P1010669.jpg' ,
products_weight = '0' ,
products_tax_class_id = '' ,
products_date_available = '' ,
products_date_added = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ,
products_last_modified = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ,
products_quantity = '3' ,
master_categories_id = '9' ,
manufacturers_id = '1',
products_status = '1',
metatags_title_status = '',
metatags_products_name_status = '',
metatags_model_status = '',
metatags_price_status = '',
metatags_title_tagline_status = '' , EASYPOPULATE_CONFIG_CUSTOM_FIELDS=''
MySQL error 1054: Unknown column 'EASYPOPULATE_CONFIG_CUSTOM_FIELDS' in 'field list'
When executing:
INSERT INTO products SET
products_model = 'J17960B' ,
products_price = '15' ,
products_image = 'P1010328.jpg' ,
products_weight = '0.5' ,
products_tax_class_id = '' ,
products_date_available = '' ,
products_date_added = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ,
products_last_modified = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ,
products_quantity = '2' ,
master_categories_id = '9' ,
manufacturers_id = '1',
products_status = '1',
metatags_title_status = '',
metatags_products_name_status = '',
metatags_model_status = '',
metatags_price_status = '',
metatags_title_tagline_status = '' , EASYPOPULATE_CONFIG_CUSTOM_FIELDS=''

> 
> I can only gather this is stemming from whatever options should be showing in Admin->Configuration->Easy Populate.
> 
> So...how do I a)get the configuration menu item to show OR b)uninstall this thing and try again?

So, I've reread your original statement above. I don't currently have access to a computer to review the code and identify which value is supposed to be the pagekey, but if you identify which of the values of the errant SQL is the page key, then, go into mySQLadmin and identify the duplicate entry to possibly delete it and rerun the SQL statement(s) that provide the menu option(s) that you are missing possibly to rename/renumber the page key so that you are then able to successfully use EP4.  

As to short tags, that would be in your php.ini and may require resetting cache/sessions after change, or waiting if your host/the version of PHP allows.

mc12345678:

So, I've reread your original statement above. I don't currently have access to a computer to review the code and identify which value is supposed to be the pagekey, but if you identify which of the values of the errant SQL is the page key, then, go into mySQLadmin and identify the duplicate entry to possibly delete it and rerun the SQL statement(s) that provide the menu option(s) that you are missing possibly to rename/renumber the page key so that you are then able to successfully use EP4.

As to short tags, that would be in your php.ini and may require resetting cache/sessions after change, or waiting if your host/the version of PHP allows.

Finally got around to this again...and THANK YOU for giving me an idea of where to go..

I ended up going into phpMyAdmin, navigating to the admin_pages table, and deleting the BOX_TOOLS_EASY_POPULATE value. I re-ran the install.sql, which ran correctly this time and viola! Menu item for Easy Populate now appears under Admin->Configuration. :D

One step forward...still another to figure out :smile: I am still getting the MySQL error 1054: Unknown column 'EASYPOPULATE_CONFIG_CUSTOM_FIELDS' in 'field list'...when trying to import 2 test products.

It has got me stumped.

I should add that exporting a csv of the two products [different from the 2 being imported] that already exist on my site, EP does not download any data.

k1ra:

One step forward...still another to figure out :smile: I am still getting the MySQL error 1054: Unknown column 'EASYPOPULATE_CONFIG_CUSTOM_FIELDS' in 'field list'...when trying to import 2 test products.

It has got me stumped.

I should add that exporting a csv of the two products [different from the 2 being imported] that already exist on my site, EP does not download any data.

Referencing my ever knowing resource, it looks like you may still have some remnants of another version of easy populate installed. Although this is called EP version 4, it is not a "one-for-one" upgrade, but a unique product of it's own. So there may be some mixing and matching of code between this and your site. Have you tried using the tools-developers tool kit to search through all files catalog and admin, of file type php for the term described above?

I am using easy populate to populate the data from different manufactures on my site, I currently load every product into my all products category and have been manually linking them to there respected categories from within the admin panel, this take a ridiculous amount of time to accomplish when it was only 100-200 products it was not that big of a deal, however I am no loading thousands at a time, I am wondering is there any way to tell easy populate to "link" the product not "duplicate" the product into multiple categories/sub categories, I read through the wiki page, and have searched all over the forum and have not been able to find the answer or if I did maybe I did not understand what it was I was looking at.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
J

jwaynehinkle:

I am using easy populate to populate the data from different manufactures on my site, I currently load every product into my all products category and have been manually linking them to there respected categories from within the admin panel, this take a ridiculous amount of time to accomplish when it was only 100-200 products it was not that big of a deal, however I am no loading thousands at a time, I am wondering is there any way to tell easy populate to "link" the product not "duplicate" the product into multiple categories/sub categories, I read through the wiki page, and have searched all over the forum and have not been able to find the answer or if I did maybe I did not understand what it was I was looking at.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
J

When you say that you are using easy populate, are you referring to this version of it, or another?
With regards to this version of easy populate, the readme states: > 2) You MUST use products_models to distinguish your products for import. Any record with a blank v_products_model entry will be skipped.

Also note that is you enter the same products_model twice, the latest record entry will over-write any previous entries. The exception
here is if you enter a different category; this will result in a linked product. "Duplicate" products with the same products_model number
is not supported. If you have these entries in your database, you may get unpredictable results.

So, it would seem that this will create two linked products if you change only the category for the product(s).

As for the way that new information has been updated, that does sound labor intensive, to import under a general group then to use the database to move it around, especially if you already know where it is going to end up. Why not just start with the desired location and bypass all the extra effort?

There are multiple ways to import information, each has it's own filename prefix, and each performs a slightly different action applicable to the data that you get when you export that type of file. It is rather easy, but unfortunately the documentation is currently limited. May have to review the code to figure out exactly how to get in what you are expecting. I can say this, if you export a file, then only rename the date portion of it at the end, it will upload the same data exported. Have to also watch what type of editor(s) used.