importing data from Webassist shop

[jenodorf]

HI

 

not sure if this is even a viable option.

 

I've been asked to update a shop to be responsive and wanted to use OScommerce.

 

The existing site is a  WebAssist PS4  which is based on a mysql database.

 

As I see it I have three options

 

1. Start with a clean sheet and manualy input all 150 products. and leave the other site hidden but not live for archival purposes,

 

2. Import the complete database into mysql - if thats possible

 

3. Import just the product data ( which seems to be three tables, product catagories, product options and products,

 

 

Would appreciate any and all advice

 

thanks

 

Ian

 

 

[MrPhil]

It's always possible to transfer data from one shop architecture to another, but whether it's worth the effort to do so, you can't tell until you get into the process. Even if your current store is not MySQL based, it's still possible, so long as you can get the data into some "flat file" format. You can always work with a copy of the old store's database, and leave the old store behind as an archive (be sure to disable any ordering function).

 

One method would be for you to look at the tables and fields that your current shop uses, and map them to what osC uses. It might be best to work with an .sql file backup of the database, and edit it using a conventional editor and/or home-brewed scripts, and finally import it into the database for osC (overwriting the default store load). Be aware that there are plenty of internal links, etc. within the osC data, that you will need to deal with, pointing to the right place in another table.

 

If that's too scary a proposition, consider exporting your current store's data into a CSV file, and using an osC add-on called Easy Populate to load up your various product and customer tables. That should take care of the internal data links for you, but you still may have to do some massaging of the data into the CSV file. That's probably the closest thing that osC has to an automated shop import process. It's possible that someone has written a fully-automated process for your version of your current shop, and the latest osC -- you can look around to see if that exists before you go through the effort of a manual importation.

 

The final choice would be to manually load in the products and customers, through the osC administration pages, cutting-and-pasting from the old store (or its database export, to preserve any HTML markup). For 150 products, that might be feasible, but for 1500 it would probably be too much.

 

As a reminder, it's 2.3.4BS that's the current latest version of osC (that is responsive), not the standard 2.3.4. There is supposed to be a 2.4 (responsive) out in the near future, but you shouldn't wait for it.

[jenodorf]

Hi

 

many many thanks for the advice I'll take a look at easypopulate

 

cheers

 

Ian