Currency Update (Automatic)

I've dumped the file up on my server, altered the root path and it works!

However, if I don't set up the cron job at all, I wont be able to get automatic updates will I?

In which case, I can just run it say once a day myself by typing in the URL?

Well yes, you could do that. But you could also just click the update button on the currencies page in the Admin.

I have currency update script working ok.

But on my zen cart site I want Euros as the default currency rather than customers having to select euros, so I have euros set as the default currency.

But with us purchasing in US dollars I want to update the other currencies based on the US dollar and the script uses the default currency to update the others.

Any ideas if there is a way I can achieve this please?

@jezspain

You're probably attacking this from the wrong end.

Basically of your goods are priced in dollars then your currency conversions need to default to the same currency.

If you want to present a different currency as the default for customers, you need to go to the place that this default is set. This is in the includes/init_includes/init_currencies.php which you can copy to the overrides folder and then replace the reference to DEFAULT_CURRENCY with that which you would like to present first to customers.

Give it a good test though, as I haven't actually tried this in practise.

Thanks for the reply Kurio, I think you are right.

I will give it a try from that angle. I have a test site I will try it on first.

@ Kurio,

Not sure if you can help further.

I understood the principle of what you said in your post but I am not sure how to implement it. I copied init_currencies.php into the overides folder, but I don't know enough to know what/where to change the code to get the customer to always see the price in euros first while the default currency is set to US dollars.

I am not sure how hard or easy it is to achieve this but it would be much appreciated if you/someone could help me..

Posting the code below: -

<?php
/**
 * initialise currencies
 * see {@link  [url]http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.php/Developers_API_Tutorials#InitSystem[/url] wikitutorials} for more details.
 *
 * @package initSystem
 * @copyright Copyright 2003-2007 Zen Cart Development Team
 * @copyright Portions Copyright 2003 osCommerce
 * @license [url]http://www.zen-cart.com/license/2_0.txt[/url] GNU Public License V2.0
 * @version $Id: init_currencies.php 6300 2007-05-11 15:49:41Z drbyte $
 */
if (!defined('IS_ADMIN_FLAG')) {
  die('Illegal Access');
}

// If no currency is set, use appropriate default
if (!isset($_SESSION['currency']) && !isset($_GET['currency']) ) $_SESSION['currency'] = DEFAULT_CURRENCY;

// Validate selected new currency, if any. Is false if valid not found.
$new_currency = (isset($_GET['currency'])) ? zen_currency_exists($_GET['currency']) : zen_currency_exists($_SESSION['currency']);

// Validate language-currency and default-currency if relevant. Is false if valid not found.
if ($new_currency == false || isset($_GET['language'])) $new_currency = (USE_DEFAULT_LANGUAGE_CURRENCY == 'true') ? zen_currency_exists(LANGUAGE_CURRENCY) : $new_currency;

// Final check -- if selected currency is bad and the "default" is bad, default to the first-found currency in order of exch rate.
if ($new_currency == false) $new_currency = zen_currency_exists(DEFAULT_CURRENCY, true);
//echo '<br />NEW = ' . $new_currency . '<br />';

// Now apply currency update
if (
   // Has new currency been selected?
  (isset($_GET['currency'])) || 

  // Does language change require currency update?
  (isset($_GET['language']) && USE_DEFAULT_LANGUAGE_CURRENCY == 'true' && LANGUAGE_CURRENCY != $_SESSION['currency']  )

) {
  $_SESSION['currency'] = $new_currency;
  // redraw the page without the currency/language info in the URL
  if (isset($_GET['currency']) || isset($_GET['language'])) zen_redirect(zen_href_link($current_page_base, zen_get_all_get_params(array('currency','language'))));
}
?>

Hello, could anyone help with this?
I uploaded the script to /public_html/my shopname.com. I got the right command from my hosting company. They say it should be:
/usr/bin/php -q /home/my username/public_html/myshopname.com/currency_update.php and I have used wrong path. Yes, I used just '/', so I corrected it to: /public_html/my shopname.com/currency_update.php.

And now I get messages:
PHP Warning:
require_once(/public_html/myshopname.com/currency_update.phpincludes/configure.php)
[<a href='function.require-once'>function.require-once</a>]: failed to open stream:
No such file or directory in
/home/myusername/public_html/myshopname.com/currency_update.php on line 20
<br />
<b>Warning</b>:
require_once(/public_html/myshopname.com/currency_update.phpincludes/configure.php)
[<a href='function.require-once'>function.require-once</a>]: failed to open stream:
No such file or directory in
<b>/home/myusername/public_html/myshopname.com/currency_update.php</b> on line
<b>20</b><br />
PHP Fatal error: require_once() [<a href='function.require'>function.require</a>]:
Failed opening required
'/public_html/myshopname.com/currency_update.phpincludes/configure.php'
(include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in
/home/myusername/public_html/myshopname.com/currency_update.php on line 20
<br />
<b>Fatal error</b>: require_once() [<a href='function.require'>function.require</a>]: Failed opening required
'/public_html/myshopname.com/currency_update.phpincludes/configure.php'
(include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in
<b>/home/myusername/public_html/myshopname.com/currency_update.php</b> on line
<b>20</b><br />

What does it mean? What should I change?
Any help, please:(

OK, it seems to work now. My path is /home/myusername/public_html/myshopname.com/ without "currency_update.php"

kuroi:

Well yes, you could do that. But you could also just click the update button on the currencies page in the Admin.

should i press 'update' button every day?

@jezspain

Simply change

if (!isset($_SESSION['currency']) && !isset($_GET['currency']) ) $_SESSION['currency'] = DEFAULT_CURRENCY;
to
if (!isset($_SESSION['currency']) && !isset($_GET['currency']) ) $_SESSION['currency'] = 'EUR';

Then open up a new browser window as the change will work only when there's not an old php session lurking, and you'll see it as you customers will.

This assumes, of course, that you have dollars and euros enabled as currencies, though there is protection in that file for if you don't.

vanson:

should i press 'update' button every day?The purpose of this add-on mod is to automate the process by running a CRON job.

In the absence of that automation, it's probably easier to press update each day (or with whatever frequency you feel is appropriate to keep your currencies up-to-date - though more than daily won't have any effect) as it is to install this mod and run it from a browser.

@kuroi

That has worked fine, thanks for taking the time to reply.

Hi,

I uploaded the file without any changes to store root. and setup the cron job by typing in the command field
"curl http://www.mysite.com/currency_update.php"

But I keep getting this message
/bin/sh: curl http://www.mysite.com/currency_update.php: No such file or directory

I also tried changing to the following but it doesn't work
DEFINE('PATH_TO_STORE_ROOT','/');

What did I do wrong? Please help. Thanks.

No need to change anything on the store file system.

Try to set the cron job as:

wget http://www.yoursite.com/currency_update.php

with the appropriate frequency / time settings.

This has worked for me just fine.

Of course, you need to make sure that the currency_update.php file actually resides at top level

Hi,

I think what I did actually works... just have to remove the quote marks
curl http://www.mysite.com/currency_update.php

The message I received is this. Does that mean it works?

% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 0

Hi,

I changed to what you suggested
wget http://www.mysite.com/currency_update.php

but received the following error. Please advise.

--00:35:01-- http://www.mysite.com/currency_update.php
=> `currency_update.php'
Resolving https://www.mysite.com... XXX.XXX.X.XX Connecting to www.mysite.com|XXX.XXX.X.XX|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 403 Forbidden
00:35:01 ERROR 403: Forbidden.

dealbyethan.com:

Hi,

I changed to what you suggested
wget http://www.mysite.com/currency_update.php

but received the following error. Please advise.

--00:35:01-- http://www.mysite.com/currency_update.php
=> `currency_update.php'
Resolving https://www.mysite.com... XXX.XXX.X.XX Connecting to www.mysite.com|XXX.XXX.X.XX|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 403 Forbidden
00:35:01 ERROR 403: Forbidden.

That depends on your server configurations - seems the wget is disabled by your host. Could also be prevented by your .htaccess file.

You may want to go back to your previous configuration using curl. Then manually update your currencies in admin. Take note of the ex-rates after the manual update.

Set the cron job to run at the next full hour, wait until the script has run then check the new ex-rates against your notes. If there is a difference then rest assured that the automatic currencies updater works.

frank18:

That depends on your server configurations - seems the wget is disabled by your host. Could also be prevented by your .htaccess file.

You may want to go back to your previous configuration using curl. Then manually update your currencies in admin. Take note of the ex-rates after the manual update.

Set the cron job to run at the next full hour, wait until the script has run then check the new ex-rates against your notes. If there is a difference then rest assured that the automatic currencies updater works.

Hi, my host said they didn't disable it. They think our .htaccess file causing the issue but not sure about which rule. Do you have any idea?

I wouldn't want to use curl and also have to manually update the currencies in admin. The purpose of doing this is to automate it.

One of my sites is updated with this cron:

/usr/local/bin/php /home/MY_ACCOUNT/public_html/currency_update.php

Note the space between php and /home

The first part /usr/local/bin/php would depend on the location of your php folder within your server's file structure. Your host should be able to tell you the path applicable to your server.

kuroi:

The file outputs nothing.
The way I test it personally, is to tweak the currency rates in the database and then run it in a browser as you have and look in the database to see if they're changed.

This is what I have been doing and have noticed that - only Euro is being changed. I have INR (indian Rupee) and USD which stay the same - These are not being updated - I havent changed the default USD configuration in admin/currency. My default currency is GBP.

version. 1.3.9f