Need Features like Apsona to Download and Upload Products/Categories

I have over 4000 items, many of which are linked from the Master Category to other Categories, in some cases up to 5 other categories. With Apsona, I was able to get a download of all relevant fields, and most importantly a column which showed a string of all categories the product was listed in, similar to this:
"INGE-GLAS of GERMANY: Everyday Treasures:INGE-GLAS of GERMANY: Western:THEMES: Down on the Farm:INGE-GLAS of GERMANY: Retired Inge-Glas: Everyday Treasures"

...where each of the links are separated by a colon. The beauty of this capability was not only in getting a full listing of categories, but also being able to edit the string to add a category to multiple items and upload, rather than go through the addition process item by item.

With ZC V158, Apsona went away; DbIo only seems to list the Master Category, and even if it gave me all of the categories (which it doesn't), I would have to upload the entire file even if I only edited a few products' categories (you can only edit the Master Category, which is dangerous), and Easy Populate seems not to support ZC 158.

What other options do I have, or am I Sorta Outta Luck?

Or is there is a super-coder out there who can solve my problem with a ZC158-Apsona-like-Clone? My needs are not limited to only Categories, but to most of the other fields as well; Categories is just the immediate need.

Thanks,
Phil

Phil Soth:

I have over 4000 items, many of which are linked from the Master Category to other Categories, in some cases up to 5 other categories. With Apsona, I was able to get a download of all relevant fields, and most importantly a column which showed a string of all categories the product was listed in, similar to this:
"INGE-GLAS of GERMANY: Everyday Treasures:INGE-GLAS of GERMANY: Western:THEMES: Down on the Farm:INGE-GLAS of GERMANY: Retired Inge-Glas: Everyday Treasures"

...where each of the links are separated by a colon. The beauty of this capability was not only in getting a full listing of categories, but also being able to edit the string to add a category to multiple items and upload, rather than go through the addition process item by item.

With ZC V158, Apsona went away; DbIo only seems to list the Master Category, and even if it gave me all of the categories (which it doesn't), I would have to upload the entire file even if I only edited a few products' categories (you can only edit the Master Category, which is dangerous), and Easy Populate seems not to support ZC 158.

What other options do I have, or am I Sorta Outta Luck?

Or is there is a super-coder out there who can solve my problem with a ZC158-Apsona-like-Clone? My needs are not limited to only Categories, but to most of the other fields as well; Categories is just the immediate need.

Thanks,
Phil

Appearances can be deceiving, but EP4 does support 1.5.8. At the moment it requires download from github.com. receiving feedback on it and at the sorority thread any other software helps to resolve the issue experienced. Posts like this might get some resolution but the problem(s) with each application get lost.

EP4 download location: https://github.com/mc12345678/EasyPopulate-4.0/tree/v4.0.39.ZC

You certainly seem to be something of a power user, so a moment of problem identification at the appropriate thread likely could go a long way for you and others.

Thank you for your response!

Before I download EP, I would like to know if EP and DbIo can coexist in my Admin menu without conflict? I don't want to lose what little functionality I already have.

Phil Soth:

Thank you for your response!

Before I download EP, I would like to know if EP and DbIo can coexist in my Admin menu without conflict? I don't want to lose what little functionality I already have.

I know of no direct conflict. Not 100% sure they should share the same "upload" directory, but still know of no specific reason. I've heard of others operating in that way along with yet some other software that does some sort of database manipulation or at least routine modifications of a template like nature.

BTW, regarding the multiple category format described? To me it seems like it could be problematic by use of the colon as a divider I know of some that have that character in their title. I could maybe see a separate filter file supporting that format output. Hmm still just trying to work through the idea of optional separators between categories that wouldn't significantly impact a majority or mess up other processes too much.

Food for thought.

I do apologize. When I gave you the string of categories, I mistakenly added the colon. Actually the string looks like this (with no spaces between categories) in the cell,
"INGE-GLAS of GERMANY: Everyday TreasuresINGE-GLAS of GERMANY: WesternTHEMES: Down on the FarmINGE-GLAS of GERMANY: Retired Inge-Glas: Everyday Treasures"

...and it looks like this in (with what appears to be Alt-Enter line feeds )the Formula Bar:

"INGE-GLAS of GERMANY: Everyday Treasures
INGE-GLAS of GERMANY: Western
THEMES: Down on the Farm
INGE-GLAS of GERMANY: Retired Inge-Glas: Everyday Treasures"

Sorry for the confusion

Yes you can install both plugins.

The only reason I needed EP "recently" was to manage categories:
https://github.com/lat9/dbio/issues/121

Hello torvista!

Sounds like you have been successful in doing what I would like to be able to do. Can you PM me and maybe we can work together to establish a workflow that blends EP and DbIo without hammering my ZenCart database.

if my request is inappropriate, I apologize in advance to the ZC Forum Community and you.

Please advise.

If you are just looking to manage the multiple categories, that is a stock feature of EP. Any problems with that should be addressed in the EP thread.

Maybe at some point DBIO will include a handler for that.

"Hammering" the database is not an issue for import-export, changing field contents is what a database does.

Thank You! That is the approach I will take