12/1 - AbleCommerce Data Client Utility 7.0

[ryankivi1]

Judy,

Thank you for the comment.

My concern is this.

I have the following options

Size
Thickness
Color

If I add a size, thickness, or color down the road, it re-spins every possible variant, and I end up with a lot of extra work. Is there a defined method to do this automatically in excel, export to xml somehow, and import?

I also have different part numbers for each option, as it changes the cost.

Its all so very confusing.

Regards,

[jmestep]

This won't tell you how to do it,but I've been looking at the variants some and have figured out that it looks like the entries that are put into ac_productVariants table are only there for options that have a change, like availablity,instock, etc. So if you are adding new options and need to make combinations available or not, for example, right now you have to make a change in manage variants for the record to be made in the ac_productvariants table. I know what you are meaning- I set up one test variant scenario and had 2900 combinations to deal with.

[mfreeze]

Any news on the shared hosting fix.

I have one client whose site does not reside on my server that gets the authentication failed message and the connection fails. I can connect to all my other stores with no problem.

[AbleMods]

There's no doubt that variants have specific limitations. It is very useful in most scenarios, however even the most clever program design will have a functional limit. So at some point, you have to take a hard look at your variant configuration and ask "is this practical?". While from a site visitor perspective it might seem useful, the backend management could become a nightmare quickly.

In the end, there are situations where a customized table, product page and programming code would be better suited than using the built-in variants functionality.

So far as the variant grid management, yes it's less than I would like as well. I understand why it must rebuild the entire grid if any variant is changed - one change could have ripple-effects through the entire variant grid and thus rebuilding the grid is required.
What I (and I'm sure others) don't agree with is the complete loss of entered variant grid information even if those particular combinations never changed. The code should definitely be more elegant and only "blow away" the entered information if that particular combination of values is no longer valid. Perhaps in 7.1......

[Naveed]

Any news on the shared hosting fix.

I have one client whose site does not reside on my server that gets the authentication failed message and the connection fails. I can connect to all my other stores with no problem.

Shared hosting fix is under QA. Please wait a little.

[jmestep]

I'm not sure that the dataport would have done that-are the categories and products still OK in the admin? Can you try switching the display pages for the categories- some of them generate the C number in the URL and some don't.

[meer2005]

Yes, you're right. Category Grid Page was selected and not Category Grid Page 2, which cased the category page not to display the Cat ID in the URL. I moved my reply to here: viewtopic.php?f=42&t=7034


But a quick question that may or may not have anything to do with the Data Client Utility.. I get an error page when I click on the payment section of an order that was imported from 5.5. I'm using localhost and do not have SSL enabled, so would that cause the payment section of imported orders to error?

here is the error

[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]
ASP.admin_orders_payments_default_aspx.BuildTaskMenu(DropDownList taskMenu, Payment payment) +498
ASP.admin_orders_payments_default_aspx.PaymentRepeater_ItemDataBound(Object source, RepeaterItemEventArgs e) +151
System.Web.UI.WebControls.Repeater.OnItemDataBound(RepeaterItemEventArgs e) +105
System.Web.UI.WebControls.Repeater.CreateItem(Int32 itemIndex, ListItemType itemType, Boolean dataBind, Object dataItem) +142
System.Web.UI.WebControls.Repeater.CreateControlHierarchy(Boolean useDataSource) +454
System.Web.UI.WebControls.Repeater.OnDataBinding(EventArgs e) +53
System.Web.UI.WebControls.Repeater.DataBind() +72
ASP.admin_orders_payments_default_aspx.Page_Init(Object sender, EventArgs e) +222
System.Web.Util.CalliHelper.EventArgFunctionCaller(IntPtr fp, Object o, Object t, EventArgs e) +15
System.Web.Util.CalliEventHandlerDelegateProxy.Callback(Object sender, EventArgs e) +33
System.Web.UI.Control.OnInit(EventArgs e) +99
System.Web.UI.Page.OnInit(EventArgs e) +9
System.Web.UI.Control.InitRecursive(Control namingContainer) +321
System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +834

[AbleMods]

That looks like a missing subordinate record error.

Something appears associated with the imported order that isn't in the AC7 tables. Might be a payment method id on the order that doesn't exist in ac_paymentmethods perhaps?

[Naveed]

But a quick question that may or may not have anything to do with the Data Client Utility.. I get an error page when I click on the payment section of an order that was imported from 5.5. I'm using localhost and do not have SSL enabled, so would that cause the payment section of imported orders to error?

here is the error

[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]

Can you please share your AC55 xml with me, I think the problem you are facing is fixed but the fix will be released with new version of DataPort. However if you please share your AC55 xml then we will try to find and fix the problem if we are still missing it.

I am sending you my email address in private message.

[DFresh]

Has the shared hosting fix been resolved yet?

[mkeith1]

I've been trying to upload 60,000 products via a .csv which didn't transfer when i did a store import from version 5.5 (out of 200,000 total). I know the Product ID numbers of the AC5 records which didn't import. so i left that information in the file. I've tried doing a small upload of 100 products, using various fields because I don't know which are required to add records. (I'd like to use the import to eventually add new records to the database) but keep getting an error message which says:

Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
ImportOrUpdate unsuccessful for Product
ProductId = 107640
Name = The Living Cr�che / Anna Laura Page/Jean Anne Shafferman / Chamber Orchestra InstruPax Instrumental Parts Set (Director�s Score & Individual Parts)
Error message: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.

at System.RuntimeMethodHandle._InvokeMethodFast(Object target, Object[] arguments, SignatureStruct& sig, MethodAttributes methodAttributes, RuntimeTypeHandle typeOwner)
at System.RuntimeMethodHandle.InvokeMethodFast(Object target, Object[] arguments, Signature sig, MethodAttributes methodAttributes, RuntimeTypeHandle typeOwner)
at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture, Boolean skipVisibilityChecks)
at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
at System.Reflection.MethodBase.Invoke(Object obj, Object[] parameters)
at CommerceBuilder.DataClient.Api.ObjectHandlers.ImportHandler.<.ctor>b__0(Object& acObject)
at CommerceBuilder.DataClient.Api.ObjectHandlers.ImportHandler.ImportChildObjectsArray(Array schemaObjectsArray, Type acType, String objName, String idFieldName, String displayNamePropertyName, Object parentId, TryLoadExistingObject tryLoadExistingObject, TranslateObjectAssociatedIds translateObjectAssociatedIds, SaveACObject saveACObject, ImportObjectChildsAndAssociations importObjectChildsAndAssociations)

Base Exception: String or binary data would be truncated.
The statement has been terminated.
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.OnError(SqlException exception, Boolean breakConnection)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnection.OnError(SqlException exception, Boolean breakConnection)
at System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.ThrowExceptionAndWarning(TdsParserStateObject stateObj)
at System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.Run(RunBehavior runBehavior, SqlCommand cmdHandler, SqlDataReader dataStream, BulkCopySimpleResultSet bulkCopyHandler, TdsParserStateObject stateObj)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataReader.ConsumeMetaData()
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataReader.get_MetaData()
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.FinishExecuteReader(SqlDataReader ds, RunBehavior runBehavior, String resetOptionsString)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.RunExecuteReaderTds(CommandBehavior cmdBehavior, RunBehavior runBehavior, Boolean returnStream, Boolean async)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.RunExecuteReader(CommandBehavior cmdBehavior, RunBehavior runBehavior, Boolean returnStream, String method, DbAsyncResult result)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.RunExecuteReader(CommandBehavior cmdBehavior, RunBehavior runBehavior, Boolean returnStream, String method)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.ExecuteScalar()
at Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Data.Database.DoExecuteScalar(DbCommand command)
at Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Data.Database.ExecuteScalar(DbCommand command)
at CommerceBuilder.Products.Product.BaseSave()
at CommerceBuilder.Products.Product.Save()

________________________

Is there anyone out there who could tell me what the message means. And if it's possible to even add new records (Products) using the client utility. If not, is anyone interested in writing a data import utility which could be used for the purpose of updating old records and adding new records, based on the product SKU number (Since in my case that's also a unique identifier for each record (Product)

[sohaib]

Base Exception: String or binary data would be truncated.
The statement has been terminated.

I think some of your input data exceeds the size of available field. Please note that in AC5.5 product name was 255 characters. In AC7 it is 100 characters. Are there any products with long names in your data?

[mkeith1]

I checked and shortened all the names to less than 100 characters, but items still didn't import. I'm also curious about what fields are necessary to do a product upload of new items.

Mike

[Naveed]

I checked and shortened all the names to less than 100 characters, but items still didn't import. I'm also curious about what fields are necessary to do a product upload of new items.

Mike

The previous error message you reported contains the product name:
Name = The Living Cr�che / Anna Laura Page/Jean Anne Shafferman / Chamber Orchestra InstruPax Instrumental Parts Set (Director�s Score & Individual Parts)

which clearly have a length more then 100 chars. If you have shortend the names then please post the new error message. It might be a different error.

[krissato]

I'm also curious about what fields are necessary to do a product upload of new items.

I would like to know, too... I am trying to import products from a .csv and manually mapping the fields, and it failed with message:

No Product available for Import(Upload).

I am mapping the following fields:
ProductId
Name
MSRP
Sku

Am I missing a key field?

Question about the Categories field - should this be Category name? Or Id? Can multiple categories be specified here?

Thanks,
Kris

[ajasko]

I am having trouble with importing my products via CSV. Something must be wrong with the format of my CSV file: when I upload my products, all of the information gets in the database fine, and looks great on the admin end. However in the storefront whenever I click on any product page it brings up a 404 error. Any ideas? Could someone please post an example CSV file that you have tested and you know works? This way I could find out what's wrong with my CSV and fix it.


Andrew Jasko
http://www.telephonesystemsforbusiness.com

[ajasko]

How do you put in categories in the CSV file for product uploads, when you have multiple categories, including subcategories and root categories?

Andrew Jasko
http://www.telephonesystemsforbusiness.com

[jmestep]

I just did a .csv export of products and here is what I got for multiple categories, so the same pattern should work for an import:
Paintball:Air & ASAs:CO2 Bottles,Paintball:Air & ASAs:Compressed Air Bottles:Empire Compressed Air Tanks

The two categories for the product are below and the export separated them with a comma. The colons separate the category and sub categories
Paintball:Air & ASAs:CO2 Bottles
Paintball:Air & ASAs:Compressed Air Bottles:Empire Compressed Air Tanks

[ajasko]

I have uploaded all my products via csv, and for some reason clicking on any of the product pages brings up a 404 error. The category pages work fine, but not the product pages. I have checkout my csv file against an AbleCommerce example csv file, and so I am not sure what is causing the problem (although maybe something is wrong in it). Even so, all of the product information gets in the database and the Data Client Beta Utility says the upload works fine. The products work correctly in the admin, but not in the storefront. I have attached my feed with only two products if someone is willing to check it out

For some reason, on the storefront the products (in the url) are not being associated with a category ID; they only show a product ID. For instance, the product "Toshiba DKT3001 Single Line Digital Telephone" url comes up in the storefront as http://216.139.231.166/Toshiba-DKT3001- ... ne-P1.aspx, with a 404 error. Note there is no category ID here. Now on the admin side it shows both the product and category IDs in the url: http://216.139.231.166/Admin/Products/E ... roductId=1. When I click "preview," it calls up this url with both IDs as well: http://216.139.231.166/Toshiba-DKT3001- ... 1C132.aspx. Maybe since it is calling up a product url which does not exist I get the error (the product does not have a category assigned. On the storefront side, maybe it gives me an error because it requires both the product ID and the category ID. I really have no idea why it would not assign a category ID in the storefront end, since the products all have category IDs in the admin end. I don't even know if this is the cause of the 404 errors. Any ideas on what could be causing this problem?

Andrew Jasko
http://www.telephonesystemsforbusiness.com

[ajasko]

Actually I discovered that the store not showing the category IDs is just because it was in Category Grid Deep Display. So it turns out this has nothing to do with the 404 errors I am getting. Any ideas on what it might be (checking the csv file might show something)?

Andrew Jasko
http://www.telephonesystemsforbusiness.com

[jmestep]

I have the new- unsupported, unreleased shared hosting fix data client and have had some problems (of course, it's still in testing). If anyone at Able is checking on this:
I either did something wrong since I didn't have instructions, but I don't know what happened.
I downloaded a .csv of the products so I could change some things. I wanted to update some categories and change some products to unorderable.
When I did the upload, I mapped only the product id, product name, categories, and DisablePurchase. After the upload, all my prices were set to 0.00. I did have some category problems where products were in more than one category, but not many of them.
I'm going to try the same procedure with a test store to see what happens.

[Naveed]

When I did the upload, I mapped only the product id, product name, categories, and DisablePurchase. After the upload, all my prices were set to 0.00.

When you download and upload your products in CSV you have to map all your fields, otherwise when uploading for the unmapped fields the default values will be inserted. If you want change some fields like only one or two fields then leave the other fields as it is.

It is recommended to use the default template when downloading / uploading data for changes ( this way all fields will be mapped by default). The other mapping options are provided to upload/download data from other applications. Like you want some existing CSV data to upload or you want to create some custom feed by downloading etc.

I did have some category problems where products were in more than one category, but not many of them.

Please mention these problems in details....

[ajasko]

Nevermind my last two posts guys - problem solved. Thanks for your help Judy

[jmestep]

Naveed, some of the products that were in two categories had part of the category name split and made into a new category. I'll have to work on it to analyze more- I had to restore the old products since I botched up the import and set all the prices to 0.

[jmestep]

Naveed, I did an export/import of the same file with my test store and I've emailed you the results of things that changed.