A question about using kits

[John Gaby]

We have a kit which consists of a base item plus some optional components. However, I need to be able to add multiple of a certain component. It does not look like the UI supports this, but I am not using it in this case, so that is not a problem. My question is, can I add a kit to the basket and specify a count for one of the components.

I am using the BasketItemDataSource.CreateForProduct(productId, quantity, kitProductIds) to create the basket item. I have tried adding the kitProductId in the list twice (hoping that it would give me 2 of that component), but that doesn't work. Is there a way to do this?

Thanks

[compunerdy]

The UI supports it..

[John Gaby]

Really, I was not able to find it. I know that when I create the kit item, I can specify a count, but that is not what I want. I want to be able to specify a count when the item is added to the basket, and I would like it to be different each time it is added.

Can you point me to where I can do that?

[compunerdy]

HUH? please give a example of what you want.

[John Gaby]

Suppose I have a kit that consists of pencils. Let's say I have red pencils, blue pencils and green pencils. Now what I want is for the user to specify that he wants the pencil kit, and that he wants 5 red pencils, 3 blue pencils and 7 green pencils.

Does this make sense?

[compunerdy]

Ok..that will not work via kits then as far as I know.

[mazhar]

Yes currently its not possible to change kit component quantity when placing order.

[heinscott]

I think the easiest way to accomplish what you are looking for would be to make a custom Category level page, with all the products you would like to include put into a Category that uses this page for display. Then, you could show all the products in that category with a quantity control, and add to the cart as separate items.
We do something similar on our site for Pool Kits that have differing configurations each time.

Scott

[John Gaby]

Actually, I have already thought about that. However, once the items are added to the cart, I want them to appear as a single unit (much like it does for a kit). The user would be able to delete the whole kit, or adjust the quantity of the whole kit, but not the individual pieces. I tried a number of things, but could not find a way to make that happen.

In particular, I was interested in what the 'ParentItemId' property of the BasketItem class was used for. It seemed like it might be a way to create an item that was a 'child' of some other item. But, alas, I was not able to use it in any meaningful way.

Is there a way to do this?

[compunerdy]

This was the way aspdotnet storefront did kits..which did not make any sense to me. It should really be called grouping. It worked exactly as you are describing.

[John Gaby]

Are you saying that IS possible to use the ParentItemId property to group items when adding them to the basket? If so, could you explain how to do this. As I said, I tried a number of things, without success.