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Zone Problem (Please, please, help!)


PVK

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One of my new customers mailed me with the fact that when he tried to choose his state from the dropdown list,

the shop refused to accept his state which was just showing up normally in the list.

 

When he clicked on the submit button the shop just reloaded and did nothing.

After several attempts, he then chose a different state and submitted again.

This worked flawless.

 

I read his mail and thought that maybe he made a mistake, and therefore i checked it myself.

Well he was right, i got the same problems.

This made me a bit paranoid, because how many potential customers just think "bye, bye stupid shop" , when they experience this instead of mailing me about the problem.?

 

 

In this case the state was Sachsen and the country was Germany.

 

When i deleted the state of sachsen and the added it again the problem still persists.

 

 

Does anyone know what is causing this, as i really can't find anything funny in the database and i really don't know how to solve this problem, especially when i think of the fact that maybe even more countries/ states may have this problem.

 

Any suggestions on how to find out if there re more problems in the shop somewhere?

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Oh boy, here we go again.Nobody answers just as to all my previous questions lately.

I am beginning to think i am invisible or something... :(

 

 

relax, we are not all hot-wired here.

 

as a matter of fact, I checked and I seem to have the same feature when using sachsen and germany. So I will have to do some checking first.

Treasurer MFC

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Oh boy, here we go again.Nobody answers just as to all my previous questions lately.

I am beginning to think i am invisible or something... :(

 

 

I think it has to do with the fact that germany has these zones:

 

Sachsen

Sachsen-Anhalt

 

in the verification, it does a select on the name with a like statement

it then gets 2 occurrences back and does not accept that.

 

this will occur with all zones in the same country that adhere to the conditions:

 

name like {zone_name%} or name like {%zone_name%}

 

possible solution is to remove the like statement if you are using dropdown boxes anyway.

Treasurer MFC

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I think it has to do with the fact that germany has these zones:

 

Sachsen

Sachsen-Anhalt

 

in the verification, it does a select on the name with a like statement

it then gets 2 occurrences back and does not accept that.

 

this will occur with all zones in the same country that adhere to the conditions:

 

name like {zone_name%} or name like  {%zone_name%}

 

possible solution is to remove the like statement if you are using dropdown boxes anyway.

 

 

yep, you could solve it by replacing the :

 

$zone_query = tep_db_query("select distinct zone_id from " . TABLE_ZONES . " where zone_country_id = '" . (int)$country . "' and (zone_name like '" . tep_db_input($state) . "%' or zone_code like '%" . tep_db_input($state) . "%')");

 

with :

 

$zone_query = tep_db_query("select distinct zone_id from " . TABLE_ZONES . " where zone_country_id = '" . (int)$country . "' and (zone_name = '" . tep_db_input($state) . "' or zone_code = '" . tep_db_input($state) . "')");

Treasurer MFC

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Thanks people.

I didn't mean it in a bad way, i was just joping someone could verify this as it is something all of us concerns .(well at least those with dropdown boxes).

 

As nobody was reacting and i have learned from experience that when your post slippes to page number 2 changes are small you will ever get a reaction, let alone if you end up after page 2....

 

 

Thanks for the possible solution, i am going to check it out immediately.

I already found out 10 minutes ago that when i placed a dot ( . ) right after sachsen. the shop did accept it as a good entry

 

 

As i don't know all states from the world, i suppose that this problem occurs throughout the entire shop for countries with similar states (which is even worse than only one country)

 

 

I think therefore it is pretty important that this small problem should be known to all shopowners as it could lead to frustrated potential first time buyers who just stop looking at your site the moment that they fail to fill in their state (they will think that the shop is a bit shifty).

 

 

Anyway, as said before, i amgoing to verify your solution immediately.

Thanks again :thumbsup:

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Thanks people.

I didn't mean it in a bad way, i was just joping someone could verify this as it is something all of us concerns .(well at least those with dropdown boxes).

 

As nobody was reacting and i have learned from experience that when your post slippes to page number 2 changes are small you will ever get a reaction, let alone if you end up after page 2....

Thanks for the possible solution, i am going to check it out immediately.

I already found out 10 minutes ago that when i placed a dot (  .  )  right after sachsen. the shop did accept it as a good entry

As i don't know all states from the world, i suppose that this problem occurs throughout the entire shop for countries with similar states (which is even worse than only one country)

I think therefore it is pretty important that this small problem should be known to all shopowners as it could lead to frustrated potential first time buyers who just stop looking at your site the moment that they fail to fill in their state (they will think that the shop is a bit shifty).

Anyway, as said before, i amgoing to verify your solution immediately.

Thanks again :thumbsup:

 

 

you could run a query to check if other countries have zones that will come up with a zone_name like 'name%' or zone_code like '%code%' query.

 

the solution makes the compare absolute which means that if people have an entry field for the state, they need to enter the state or code exactly.

 

be aware, this check is in create_account but also in address_book_process.

Treasurer MFC

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Well tried it, checked it and working like a charm again :thumbsup:

 

However, what purpose do the "like" and "%" statements serve since they seem to be causing problems and the querie can also be used without them (woking even better in my case) ???

 

I guess they haven't been placed there without a good reason?

(this is pure curiosity)

 

:-"

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Well tried it, checked it and working like a charm again :thumbsup:

 

However, what purpose do the "like" and "%" statements serve since they seem to be causing problems and the querie can also be used without them (woking even better in my case) ???

 

I guess they haven't been placed there without a good reason?

(this is pure curiosity)

 

:-"

 

Well, to be honest I share your curiosity.

Treasurer MFC

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TIP: All people that live in the "Bundesland" of Sach.-Anhalt live in the country called Germany.

 

Still no clues why you want to know where exactly they live in Germany.

"If you're working on something new, then you are necessarily an amateur."

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Hmm, i think we have a situation here, where we don't exactly understand each other right :lol:

 

I know what germany is, it is my neigbour country (holland)

 

I have the germany states in my shop as it comes standard with oscommerce.

When a new customer informed me about his state (which was sachsen) i asked what the problem was as i assume that the states in the admin per country are there for a reason and you MUST choose one from the list when you create a new account.

 

Therefore i want(ed) the customer to pick the state he lives in.

 

I have no idea how the german post works when it comes to states, as here in holland it doesn't really matter if you write the state on the package or not (it will always be delivered correctly (as far as i know)

 

I don't really understand your explanation about the "Bundesland" of Sach.-Anhalt though.

 

it may sound stupid to you, but what is that??

 

Is sachsen and Sachsen-Anhalt the same or what??

 

Please try to explain it a bit more, as i don't get what it is you are trying to tell me really :blink:

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I have the germany states in my shop as it comes standard with oscommerce.

When a new customer informed me about his state (which was sachsen) i asked what the problem was as i assume that the states in the admin per country are there for a reason and you MUST choose one from the list when you create a new account.

They are there, maybe hpdl put htem there as a comparison to the states in the USA or the provinces in Canada, the reason why is unknown. There is hardly any use for that designation to be known to the shopowner.

It will be very difficult to find a German shop where you have to register either the Suburb or the State=Bundesland because it serves hardly any purpose.

 

I have no idea how the german post works when it comes to states, as here in Holland it doesn't really matter if you write the state on the package or not (it will always be delivered correctly (as far as i know)
German post works like the Dutch TPGPost with a Postleitzahl (ZipCode) 5 characters eg 12345 and it has no use for Sachsen nor Sachsen-Anhalt or any other designation.

 

it may sound stupid to you, but what is that??
Compare a Bundesland with the provincie in the Netherlands. Bundesl?nder are a bit larger :D

"If you're working on something new, then you are necessarily an amateur."

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Suppose I'd like to do some data mining and test the hypothesis that the buying behaviour of dutch people above and below the 'moerdijk' are different, would I do this by province or by zipcode ? :P

 

No seriously, belgian post uses different (cheaper) rates for certain german and french borderline areas, so whenandif belgian post actually becomes cheaper than TPGpost, this might be useful, until then, you are totally correct - absolutely no use downhere.

 

But, I do believe the proper code fix is needed to handle this properly, prompting the user for a selection and actually setting the zone id, not the description in the selection list.

If I remember wel, this is also a common problem for US stores with different tax rates for different counties.

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TIP: All people that live in the "Bundesland" of Sach.-Anhalt live in the country called Germany.

 

Still no clues why you want to know where exactly they live in Germany.

 

maybe the postal services would have a slight interest into where in germany a certain city is located ?

Treasurer MFC

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maybe the postal services would have a slight interest into where in germany a certain city is located ?

 

No, they don't. Germany has zip codes like Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong etc. etc. to identify where the nearest delivery depot is for the post.

The best way to avoid troubles with State and Suburb is to put them to false in Admin->Customer configuration unless.....see below

 

I think the only reason to keep those two fields is when you live in a country like the US, maybe Canada but I am not sure if they have the same tax system, where taxes are different and must be applied depending on the state you live in. Shipping from Europe to the US however does not involve this kind of things so there is no reason to use those fields. If Germany, or any other country for that, has different tax regions it could apply also but I don't think there are many besides the US and maybe Canada.

What Carine Bruyndoncx tells about cheaper shipping regions within France and Germany would give a valid reason also but they can tell this at the Belgium postoffice also when looking at the zip code so even that wouldn't give a reason to ask for and maintain those State/Suburb information.

 

What we need is one worldwide cheap and realiable postal service :D

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Hmm just heard from our wharehouse / administration department that the courier service we are also offering demands this option, so that's a reason for me to keep it .

 

Other than that, you are right that it doesn't serve a purpose (anymore) when sending from the E.U.

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Suppose I'd like to do some data mining and test the hypothesis that the buying behaviour of dutch people above and below the 'moerdijk' are different, would I do this by province or by zipcode ?  :P
ZipCode because I know certainly you would use an exact method :D

"If you're working on something new, then you are necessarily an amateur."

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Hmm just heard from our wharehouse / administration department that the courier service we are also offering demands this option, so that's a reason for me to keep it .

 

Other than that, you are right that it doesn't serve a purpose (anymore) when sending from the E.U.

The german courier-service demands (?) the option?

I'd like to know who they are.

"If you're working on something new, then you are necessarily an amateur."

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No, they don't. Germany has zip codes like Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong etc. etc. to identify where the nearest delivery depot is for the post.

The best way to avoid troubles with State and Suburb is to put them to false in Admin->Customer configuration unless.....see below

 

I think the only reason to keep those two fields is when you live in a country like the US, maybe Canada but I am not sure if they have the same tax system,  where taxes are different and must be applied depending on the state you live in. Shipping from Europe to the US however does not involve this kind of things so there is no reason to use those fields. If Germany, or any other country for that, has different tax regions it could apply also but I don't think there are many besides the US and maybe Canada.

What Carine Bruyndoncx tells about cheaper shipping regions within France and Germany would give a valid reason also but they can tell this at the Belgium postoffice also when looking at the zip code so even that wouldn't give a reason to ask for and maintain those State/Suburb information.

 

What we need is one worldwide cheap and realiable postal service  :D

 

 

Ok, well that is good news.

 

Still, you would agree, if the functionality is present, it should function as required/expected.

 

I mean, europe postal services aside, if Taiwan would come up with 2 new provinces called Yahi and Yahi-North or Taipei and Taipei-greater area, it would also create problems. So I would say, make the software resillient and leave the brains of what is relevant and required to the humans.

 

right ?

Treasurer MFC

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Yes i agree.

 

 

And i am living in holland not germany :rolleyes:

 

The courier we use is skynet.

They just told us to put the state if possible on the documents to avoid (possible) confusion.

Also if they would only ask me to supply it for ceratin countries, i wouldn't feel like finding out which ones are required and which ones not (i have better things to do, pretty busy store) .

 

Therefore i just stick with the stuff that is implemented, and as oscommerce is really good i didn't expected something so simple to cause any problems.

 

I agree on the fact that it should just work and not something we should have discussions about in the first place if it is a standard thing that comes with every installation.

 

I am a person who reacts to these things because i care for my customers and want everything done as it should.

Therefore i have learned a bit of altering php pages without knowing any programming language at all (just try en use a healthy brain)

 

But what about people who don't know jack about oscommerce and programming and finding solutions to problems?

They just install the stuff and will never know about the problem and if they do find out don't know how to solve it because they expect that it just works out of the box (however plain it is without any mods)

 

They should not have to worry about such a pretty stupid error imo (Not offensive meant)

 

Maybe this is a bit of topic, but i had to share my thoughts a bit,

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Amanda and Patrick, you are right but because there are no software updates till now we have the bug as it is.

Maye it wil be gone in MS3 if that version ever surfaces?

 

And the bug being very well known in the German forum since 2003 nobody there has a problem in changing the name, it's more easy for most newcomers than to change the code.

 

BTW I wonder if skynet is charging more for shipping to the german islands (some transport companies charge xtra ferry cost), which is the only valid reason I can think of for asking where exactly someone lives in Germany. But you better don't ask them I think :D

"If you're working on something new, then you are necessarily an amateur."

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