[Contribution] Products Specifications

[♥kymation]

This addon allows the addition of an unlimited number of

specifications to your site's products. These can be used for:

1. A table of specifications on the Product Info page.

2. A comparison table showing the specifications of a group of products.

3. A set of filters to allow the customer to show only products that meet

certain criteria. This could be all AGP video cards with 256MB of memory, the

parts for a 1992 Yugo, or anything else you might want to set up.

 

Specifications are completely generic. They can be configured and used in many

different ways, so they will adapt to nearly any type of business. A complete

instruction manual is included to guide you through the installation and use

of this addon.

 

Code as soon as the moderator approves it. If you can't wait, there's a copy here.

 

Regards

Jim

Edited September 12, 2009 by kymation

[[email protected]]

This addon allows the addition of an unlimited number of

specifications to your site's products. These can be used for:

1. A table of specifications on the Product Info page.

2. A comparison table showing the specifications of a group of products.

3. A set of filters to allow the customer to show only products that meet

certain criteria. This could be all AGP video cards with 256MB of memory, the

parts for a 1992 Yugo, or anything else you might want to set up.

 

Specifications are completely generic. They can be configured and used in many

different ways, so they will adapt to nearly any type of business. A complete

instruction manual is included to guide you through the installation and use

of this addon.

 

Code as soon as the moderator approves it. If you can't wait, there's a copy here.

 

Regards

Jim

 

Do you have a list of files that where changed from the Products Specifications 0.9rc6 version. I would like to quickly update the current version to the 1.0. This looks great and thanks for all your hard work.

 

Adam

[♥kymation]

I didn't keep track since the previous version was a pre-release. I do remember the filters files and the functions on the catalog side. Oh, and some mods to the Product Info modules. Sorry, you'll have to compare the files to be certain. It was only the catalog side, if that helps.

 

Regards

Jim

[AoM_Scott]

Great news! This has to be one of the best and most customisable contributions ever released for osC.

 

Many thanks

[khime]

Are there any test / live sites available to see this in action?

 

Obviously I wont make a test purchase!

[♥kymation]

The final version was only released yesterday, so I doubt there are any live sites running it. If you read through the development thread, some people posted links to what they were doing with it then. Remember that this is a very flexible addon, so what you do with it may look very different from what someone else does.

 

Regards

Jim

[♥kymation]

The official version is now available from the addons page.

 

Regards

Jim

[appstyle]

Hi Jim,

 

I have been watching this contribution develop from the very first post in the bugs and suggestions topic. I've been waiting for the finished version to be released and now it has.

 

I'll be straight up with you and say I know very little about the programming and code that goes into this kind of work. My oscommerce site has approximately 20 contributions within it and by adding those I have learned quite alot.

 

I want to try this out in a clean install and have added the new files and ammended files into a new copy and uploaded it. I have already fallen flat on my face though. I am quite useless with SQL database. I ran the products_specifications.sql file in my phpmyadmin and I got this error message

 

SQL query: 

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `specification_groups_to_categories` (

`specification_group_id` int( 11 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`categories_id` int( 11 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
PRIMARY KEY ( `specification_group_id` , `categories_id` ) 
) ENGINE = MYISAM DEFAULT CHARSET = latin1

 

MySQL said:  

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax.  Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1' at line 5

 

I haven't any idea what that means. I bet it's something very simple and I'm sure you could tell me where I failed?

 

Thanks

Steve

[♥kymation]

It probably means that your database software is a different (older) version and this part is not compatible. Try removing the DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1. It shows up several places in the file, so you'll have to do this on several lines.

 

Please let me know if this works so I can add a warning to the manual.

 

Regards

Jim

[appstyle]

It probably means that your database software is a different (older) version and this part is not compatible. Try removing the DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1. It shows up several places in the file, so you'll have to do this on several lines.

 

Please let me know if this works so I can add a warning to the manual.

 

Regards

Jim

 

Hi Jim.

 

My bad. I was running SQL 4.0. I installed successfully now on SQL 5 and it's up and running.

 

Thanks again

[♥kymation]

We should still be able to run on MySQL 4.x, so I've fixed the master.

 

Regards

Jim

[azer]

it s a hell good work you share with us but why making a new contribtuion page for version 1 with excatly the same name it s very confusing, you could have posted in the same page and just gave the link for the new thread !

and in the old page you give a link to the new thread but not the page where to download version 1 and in the new contribution page , you dont write it s version 1

[♥kymation]

it s a hell good work you share with us but why making a new contribtuion page for version 1 with excatly the same name it s very confusing, you could have posted in the same page and just gave the link for the new thread !

The old thread and the distribution both clearly state that they concern Alpha code. This will prevent many people from using the code, thinking that it is still not suitable for general use. I can't edit that information to remove the warning.

and in the old page you give a link to the new thread but not the page where to download version 1 and in the new contribution page , you dont write it s version 1

The download wasn't yet available when I posted that, so I couldn't link to it. The new thread has the links, so why post them twice? And why is the version number important?

 

Sorry we can't all do things exactly the way you want them done.

 

Regards

Jim

[azer]

thanks for your explanations

 

Sorry we can't all do things exactly the way you want them done.

 

i speak only the logic of making simple not confusing, i understand for the thread to make a new one

but for the contribution page no need too, simply upload a version 1.00 on it and gie ve the new link for the new thread

 

it s easy to understand creating a new contribution page with the same name of contribution and upload one file with no title saying it s a 1.00 version is just making things not simple..

 

i will end my advice here since it s true what remains important is the tremendous works you did on the features of these developement

i m gratefull and will give my feedback soon

[♥kymation]

<snipped>

it s easy to understand creating a new contribution page with the same name of contribution and upload one file with no title saying it s a 1.00 version is just making things not simple..

...it is a good idea to enter a clear title for new packages without the version number.

(From the How to Make Contributions post.)

 

Sorry, but I'll take Harald's advice over yours.

 

Regards

Jim

[azer]

(From the How to Make Contributions post.)

 

Sorry, but I'll take Harald's advice over yours.

 

Regards

Jim

 

 

even if previous version are alpha

When an updated contribution is made available, it should be added to the original package. This allows different versions of the contribution to exist in an easy to find package.

 

Since a package can hold multiple files, it is a good idea to enter a clear title for new packages without the version number.

you already created a page with the alpha realease in it, then you create a new page with excatly the same contribution name ...

 

well you already have more than 2000 post i m very surprised ... i wont discuss again about it, do as you want, as i said let focus on other things and just let people get confused :blink:

[♥kymation]

I've uploaded version 1.0.1 to the official site and to my site. Note that the official file is waiting for a moderator to approve the upload. Past experience indicates this will take somewhere between a few minutes and several days. Use the unofficial link if you're in a hurry.

 

This release adds one new feature: Specifications as images can now be displayed on the Product Info and Comparison pages.

 

There are several bugfixes included. See the bugs.txt in the distribution or here for a complete list. There is also an upgrade file in the distribution if you have version 1.0 installed and need to upgrade.

 

There is still one bug that hasn't been fixed: Filter names with special characters, such as &, are not handled properly. I'm working on this, but it's convoluted and I'm having problems finding all of the bugs. I wanted to get this up so all of you could use it while I'm tearing my hair out here.

 

Regards

JIm

[azer]

Filter names with special characters, such as &, are not handled properly

 

i could give you a hand and share with you some good decoding for handling those problem that have been uses in other contribtuions and seems to work well

 

 

as for the rest im still testing and you did a wonderfull job, tha manual is really a pro manual and any coders could take this as an exemple !

 

i got a question about multilanguage value for a dropdown menu, when you create a value, you have to enter it in all the laguage of the shop , after creation, when you want to create a product, you have the dropdown for each language, but if you change a value in english for instance, the value doesnt synchronize in german, you can in fact select a different value for each language ... i think its not the purpose no ?

 

good think would be as soon as you change the value in any language, other language automaticully are updated to the same value

 

i could send a screenshot if i dont explain well

[reza817]

I have installed it carefully and checked it for several times.

I can't solve the problems an it makes me tired of It.

*****the parts which works OK:

products groups / values in admin

show products values and Spec. in product_info

 

***** errors and mistakes

1: admin / Product specification when click on yellow folder to add/remove filter , no filter is shown even you creat it and the data are in database. after that no subcat and even categories shown.

I mean when come back to categories page NO categories of product show there even product categories are still in database.

You should logout and log in again in ADMIN page. to see the product categories!

 

2: If SAFE SEARCH ENGINE Is set as true in admin configuration which changes ? and & to / then ==> product values tab doesn't show and reviews is also empty in product_info page.

 

3: you can select values in categories page for every product but there is not any place for it to set the filter to that product .

So when product filter display just show the number of product in the certain category filter for "Show all Option" and the other options are 0!

 

anyway although this is the greatest contribution I have ever seen but there is greater work need to do.

[♥kymation]

1. I've never seen this, and none of the other people who are running this have reported it. I think you have an error in your modifications, or you have some other Contribution that's interfering. If it's the same as #2, see my answer below.

 

2. I assume that English is not your first language. Here's a translation for you: "Use Search-Engine Safe URLs (still in development) means (This is broken, don't use it). It wouldn't do anything useful even if it did work, so just leave it turned off.

 

3. You're looking in the wrong place. Read section 4.2.3 in the manual.

 

Regards

Jim

[reza817]

Well,

Thanks kymation,

Just let you know that there was a conflict with "Access with Level Account" Module so I had to disabled for categories box in admin .

I am checking other functions and let you know if there is any problem .

[reza817]

1. I've never seen this, and none of the other people who are running this have reported it. I think you have an error in your modifications, or you have some other Contribution that's interfering. If it's the same as #2, see my answer below.

 

2. I assume that English is not your first language. Here's a translation for you: "Use Search-Engine Safe URLs (still in development) means (This is broken, don't use it). It wouldn't do anything useful even if it did work, so just leave it turned off.

 

3. You're looking in the wrong place. Read section 4.2.3 in the manual.

 

Regards

Jim

 

Dear Jim,

I found the problem

It relates to language ID !

As i delete English at first now I have english as ID 5 and another language as language ID 4

So the problem is in that case.

when I changed the English language ID to 1 the problem solved,

It seems this module should not be sensitive to language ID especually when english dont have ID = 1!

check it and let me know.

Just change the english language ID in languages table other than 1 and create some tables and check the situations.

Thanks.

[♥kymation]

I don't have time to look through the entire codebase for a mystery error. If you can tell me exactly what the error is and how to reproduce it, I'll take a look.

 

Regards

Jim

[reza817]

I think this issue is solved

Why language ID = 1 ! :rolleyes:

line 1888

echo HEADING_TITLE_GOTO . ' ' . tep_draw_pull_down_menu ('fid', tep_get_specification_filters ($specs_path, $languages_id = 1), $filter_id, 'onClick="this.form.submit();"');

change it to ==>

echo HEADING_TITLE_GOTO . ' ' . tep_draw_pull_down_menu ('fid', tep_get_specification_filters ($specs_path, $languages_id), $filter_id, 'onClick="this.form.submit();"');

Now seems working well in admin,

Other parts are checking too.

[♥kymation]

Thanks for the bug report. I've updated the master copy with your fix.

 

Regards

Jim