"Link Product" Issue--Possible Database problem?

[Guest]

Hoping someone can shed light on this.

 

I'm working with a reasonably large shop, about 1200 separate items in at least 40 categories. It's a bookseller.

 

I have made some modifications, STS (newest version) being the main one. There is also a contrib called "contact pour echange" that allows buyers to reserve new items before they come in. It interacts chiefly with the "Enquiry" form. There have been several modifications to the database. These have included lengthening the "manufacturer" field and the "products_model" field according to the instructions provided in the knowledge base. Two fields have also been added (products_binding and products_isbn) which are of the same type as "products_model." Modifications were then made to several files (and their STS equivalents) to display the new fields and to make them searchable. I can attach a list of those if necessary.

 

The shop has been quite stable for at least six months. In preparation for the holidays, I needed to add a new "Holiday Gift Suggestions" category, and I needed to link products from several categories to it. I also needed to create a couple of product options that would enable a buyer to purchase a combination of two items together and receive a discount. That's when my troubles began.

 

I find that if I attempt to duplicate the product, several of its fields become "scrambled" or disappear. For example, "image" might appear where "model" should be on the edit screen, or "price" might disappear. These also cause the product to display incorrectly. The same thing occurs if I try to create and use product attributes.

 

The "cure" for this is to simply not do it. Linking products doesn't cause the problem, so that's what I am doing. I can also resolve it by deleting the product and re-entering it.

 

I can't help being concerned that there is some underlying, undiagnosed problem with the database. I am hoping someone can shed some light.

 

Thank you,

 

Anne

 

(The url is http://www.stbedesbooks.com -- at present, the problem is not evident as I've stopped any activity that brings it on.)