Shopping cart / order line item identity

Hello,

I am trying to connect zencart with another custom web program i am writing. I would like to permanently associate an item in the external program to each instance of a product, while the customer fills the shopping cart, and after an order was received and processed.

Is there a unique identifier that identifies a line item in the shopping card "forever", i.e. also once an order is submitted and being processed, and then in then later in the history?

For example:

Suppose that the clients places 100 of product A, and 300 of product B, in her shopping cart. What I need is an identifier that uniquely idetifies:

ID1: Line item 1 in potential order 001
ID2: Line item 2 in potential order 001

also

ID3: Line item 1 in submitted order 001
ID4: Line item 2 in submitted order 001

Ideally, ID1==ID3 and ID2==ID4

Does this information exist?

appreciating your response,

Daniel

In the shopping cart we now have "potential order 1", line item 1, and line item 2.

Hello,

Some additional thoughts:

While looking at the database i identify the following that seems relevant:

tables:

customers
customers_basket
customers_basket_attributes

orders
orders_products
orders_products_attributes

products
products_attributse

It appears to me that customer_basket might hold order information until an order is actually submitted. Once an order is completed it appears that data from customer_basket are duplicated (moved?) to orders_products etc.

Is this correct?

The above means that there is no common identifier for line items in the basket, and line items in a completed order ...

thanks,

daniel

customers_basket_id
customers_id
products_id
customers_basket_quantity
final_price
customers_basket_date_added