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Attributes System


Mark Evans

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not too complex, as I have hacked it on edu4kids store. SKU's at the attribute level. I sell paper. Every colour paper is of a different SKU. I can have a pulldown for the attribute (colours) and select the colours and then add the SKUs for that colour at the same time I add any price changes.

 

This requires changes in how items get printed out as well. When a SKU is made at the attribute level, the product ID is THAT SKU and the product description is the product name with a "-" and then the attribute.

 

So. the product would be put in with a "model" of BJ11--- and title of " 36" Roll Craft Paper "

The colours would be say

Blue | +7.20 | BJ112233

Red | +3.54 | BJ113322

Green | -1.23 | BJ112323

 

The person orders 1 blue and 2 red.

 

When the order is placed the "cart" we store:

 

BJ112233 1 36" Roll Craft Paper - Blue"

BJ113322 2 36" Roll Craft Paper - Red"

 

This is what shows up in their cart, at checkout, and order history as well as on the admin side.

 

This method matches the way that manufacturers store and sell their items to me, and I use over 150 manufacturers.

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One thing is for sure, the ability to control stock of attributes needs to be improved in MS3. But also, the ability to have "groups" of attributes is also needed. I have around 1000 products that all have the same attributes, and the regular way of handling attributes just won't work! :) ... the attributes copier really comes in handy.

 

Jud

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One attributes thing that I don't see or I am just missing is when I need to delete an attribute that is on multiple items, I have to do this one at a time, whew I juts did one and it took forever, there has to be an easier way.

Kim

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One problem that I am starting to recognize is that there are different types of options.

 

1) Attribute - like a shirt color. It is an attribute of the shirt. It makes it intrinsically different from a green shirt.

1P) The problem - A buyer thinks of it as buying a shirt and picking a color. We put them in the catalog as a shirt with a color option, but really, a green shirt and a red shirt are two different products. This is the problem shops are facing with inventory, skus, etc.

 

2) Feature or Add-On - like a hard drive on a computer. It is a feature that can be added to the base product.

2P) The problem - the feature is often a non-sellable inventory item. The shop may only sell full computers, not separate hard drives so the attribute system is used or a contrib like Custom Computer Creator or Custom PC Creator (equal advertising!) You really want to track this inventory just like the base product.

 

And of course, we all want an easy way to manage, add, edit, delete, etc.

 

ed

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  • 4 weeks later...

I would like to see attributes work easier with easy populate. One cell listing all attributes for that product. I think this could be accomplished using the osc attributes and converting to a table. All attributes have been assigned a number i.e.

Color Att Number

Black 10

Red 11

Purple 23

 

Size Att number

s 43

m 44

L 45

 

Using the osc assigned attribute number I just have one cell entitled attributes

Then in that cell I simply type 43 44 45 10 11 23

 

And now my product will have all of the above attributes. Also should be available in the admin section of add product. You would have to add all the attributes you want, and have the abbility to download the attribute chart or table for reference. At least then, I could have one spreadsheet of all products, and there perspective attributes to upload.

 

I wish I understood programing, I would try to creat this on my own.

Hopefully I made some sense.

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You should really talk to the author of Easy Populate about this. The OSC development team has nothing to do with that contribution.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This may not be the place to post this but i will any way.

 

I run a computer shop. For instance i sell graphics cards by one manufacturer, but in 64mb,128mband 256mb. The same card, manufacturer and specs. It would be nice if you could have each card set as an attibute in the other cards. I know it can be done, but my point is this. It would be nice if you could create the attributes from your current stock listing.

 

This would make it so simple when lets say prices altered. At present you have to alter the products price, and then alter all the attributes prices aswell. If it was worked on the product listings, you would only have to enter the 1 new price and oscommerce would automatically enter the new prices.

 

What could be simpler.

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You should really talk to the author of Easy Populate about this. The OSC development team has nothing to do with that contribution.

Ok, so forgett about easy populate, lets say in the admin add product, we have an attribute key, that has assigned a numerical value to all the attributes you have already added. Osc assigned the numerical value, and if you know what that is... ie the key listing them, then a form field where you would simply type in the corisponding number for the disired attribute for that product. And, if you assinged a value to that attribute, it automaticly adds or subtracts that value. so that as I add the product number 1,

Then the discription, and in another field, all the numerical attribute values need for that product seperated by a comma ie 11,14,23,44.

No more searching through a drop down list each time you want to add an attribute. You could possibly download the attribute key and print it, for quick reference, and as you add your product memory of the numerical values would make this a breeze.

 

If I am posting in the wrong section, please forgive me, I would just love to see an easier way to add or update product attributes. As well as the products themselves, since they go hand in hand.

 

The ability to upload from a spreadsheet would make it even easier.

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  • 1 month later...
The site has been live for about a month and we are just now working out the bugs. Once its clean and we have worked out any issues we will post as a contribution. If anyone is interested in details, post questions and I'll let you know the details.

 

 

Im interested and can't wait for this contribution. But i do have a few question: After each set of irons is configured does it change the description or SKU? Can it change the SKU as it changes the product?

 

Peace Out,

Palmertime

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Suppose you are selling rectangular sheet goods like plywood.

 

If the two attributes are

 

length

-- length_short

-- length_medium

-- length_long

 

width

-- width_short

-- width_medium

-- width_long

 

then you cannot simply have a +/- weight modifier for the various lengths and a +/- weight modifer for the various widths. You have to multiply (not add) to get the surface area to calculate the weight.

 

Similarly if you want to show a picture of the item so the user can see the item then there cannot be an image attached to each of the lengths and widths because that is only 6 pictures and there are 9 combinations.

 

I think DodgerLD's post in this thread about database schema is the way to go with and the weights and images would go in his "item" table. This schema might be a little harder to use for some things but will be easier to use for others.

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  • 4 weeks later...
The weight problem is very simple to solve.  There is a really nice and quite elegant contribution by Kumar McMillan & Didier Debbaut that could easily be taken into the Core Code.  http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,1622

I am still a newbie, so please excuse my ignorance. I've installed this wonderful contribution for adding extra weight, but don't know where to place the text listed in the installation instructions: ALTER TABLE `products_attributes`

ADD `options_values_weight` DECIMAL (5,3) DEFAULT '0.000' NOT NULL;

 

I tried to add this:

`options_values_weight` DECIMAL (5,3) DEFAULT '0.000' NOT NULL;

and got an error. Please detail exactly which file to add this to and where, and whether I have to delete any existing text. Thank you for your help.

 

Lorie

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I absolutely need a text box field where buyers can type text into and I would receive that right with their order for that particular item.

 

This thread is aimed to discuss the attibutes system available in osCommerce.

 

This area has not been touched for a long time and is in need of an upgrade.

 

Please post what you would like to see with the attrributes system here.

 

Any posts unreleated to the attributes system are likely to be removed.

 

Thanks

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi All,

 

I first tried to use OSC several months ago, but decided it wouldn't fit my needs. Since then, I've come back to OSC, but only because I couldn't remember this "deal breaker". heh.

 

(This time, I'm armed with a bit more PHP experience, so I'm working harder and smarter!)

 

I'd like to see attributes that modify the SKU, or in OSC's case, the "Products Model" field. Each attribute (color, size, etc.) for our products means a different suffix for the product's SKU. This creates problems because the company that does our drop-shipping does not pay any mind to product descriptions... The SKU is all that matters. If we did not employ the time-consuming task of reviewing each order by hand, and correcting SKUs where an attribute was selected, our customers would not receive their products with the correct attributes.

 

I've searched 3-4 dozen pages of contributions and tried many forum searches, but could not find anything that would help me realize my dream. This feature would also help us when it comes time to integrate some form of EDI, as human intervention and EDI do not go hand in hand. :)

 

 

-Daniel

3-D fresh, not 2-D fruity

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  • 2 months later...

Have you found a solution

Is there a way I can make the options available for a product attribute variable according to the previous product attribute option chosen ? this would remove the request for 5xl child shirt?!

 

 

We have 1500 designs which can be printed on any garment we stock. At the moment we have an attributes table which contains all of the options for every garment, even though not every option is available for every garment. This leads to customers ordering items that we do not stock eg. Kids T-Shirt in 5XL!

 

I have tried eliminating the attributes from the db on a per item basis but it removes them from ALL products.

 

There may be a better way for me to use OSC but right now this is the way I have it!

 

I have been searching for a way of reading the attributes table in a "conditional" way since I started using OSC 12 months ago, but not found one yet - e.g - Customer chooses Adult T-Shirt, they see the colours and sizes available (full range), Kids T is only in Black and S, M, L sizes. At the mo I have a (html) table on the site which tells 'em what we stock but it's surprising how many don't read it!

 

The attributes table is huge as well! - 53 Attributes for each of 1500 designs!

 

Web address is available if you want to see what I'm talking about! :D

 

I am currently looking for a way of "Error Checking" when a user hits "Add to Cart" to test the url for "invalid" attribute choices - invalid as far as we don't stock that attribute combination. If anyone knows of a Contribution or method that will do this I would be most appreciative!

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My suggestion here for the attributes is to make it so that certain options can be made into REQUIRED fields (meaning the user must fill in the option with a choice or type characters). Either before allowing "add to cart" or at checkout time. I've looked EVERYWHERE on these forums all day long, and have not found a solution to require the options to be filled in by user! (lots of answers on customer account, though).

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Would it be possible to add a shipping feature to the add product page.

 

For instance I add a cd product, once I have filled out Name, Description etc I would like to add a pre set shipping cost.

 

Each cd, any single cd costs me ?0.50 uk pounds to send anywhere in the uk.

 

I would like my customers to see this so they are aware exactly what the extras are before adding to cart and as I only ship within the UK this price does not matter where they are located. This then means I wouldn't have to use table rates or flat rates etc.

 

Thanks All

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I'm not sure if this is a new topic or not. I am doing an oscommerce site for a computer store. As far as I can see, there are no attributes at all for our products. Each product has a stock number and separate description. If something has 128 meg instead of 256 meg it is given a distinct stock number.

 

My question is will I break something by removing all reference to attributes? I started doing this and have had many errors so thought I would ask if anyone had successfully done this. Thank you for your time.

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I think one important feature missing is the total price of the item after you add/remove attributes from drop down menus on product_info.php, right now you can only see the final price after you add it to cart.

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Jill,

 

The Option Type Feature contribution does exactly what you want.

 

ed

 

With the option type feature when a customer gets to the confirmation page and needs to edit the product, when they do so and then proceed, it puts another product in their cart.

Has anyone had this issue?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Its been said, but out of everything, I would like to be able to sort the attributes the way I would like them to appear, something like arrows up and down on the admin listings similar to what php-nuke uses for sorting. I have been working for weeks on this alone and can't use it. We sell prints and each print has over twenty attributes, it just looks like a jumbled mess with no order at all regardless of how I do it.

 

So I do vote for Attribute sorting!

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I hope that this is posted in the most appropriate place.

 

We are using osCommerce as the front end for a larger 'java' based development. We have encountered an interesting problem which we have solved relatively easily. We are using Hibernate to manage database access to the MySQL database. The table 'orders_total' has a column named 'class' which causes a compile error with the java code generated by the Hibernate tool set. The problem is that the 'getter' and 'setter' methods generated for the 'class' column conflict with the 'getClass()' method intrinsic to all java objects. We got around this by changing the name of the column to 'class_name' and updating all the references in the php code. Perhaps it would be possible to change this name permanently within the osCommerce development :unsure:

 

We chose osCommerce because it was by far the most straight foward and easy to understand and implement.

 

Regards

 

Eric

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Hi there,

when u find this type of contribution

kindly inform me.

 

best regards

Shahid Naeem.

 

I would like to see the following:

 

1. options as images so an image can be shown for each attribute with new styles in stylesheet

2. ability to display options with text boxes so customer can write in personalized info

3. when customer clicks on attribute in drop down box the ability for a popup with a short description to appear

4. ability to select a group of attributes for a product all at once instead of one at a time like engraving letters on jewelry with 3 initials for each product...now you have to do them one at a time or even if you have the attribute manager which is great you still have to check off 26 letters for each initial on each product.

5. sort attributes the way you want them listed along with alphabetical sorting

6. attribute manager with ability like number 4.

 

All of these to be turned on or off in the admin.

 

These are things my clients have asked for ... more when I can think of them!

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  • 3 weeks later...
This thread is aimed to discuss the attibutes system available in osCommerce.

 

This area has not been touched for a long time and is in need of an upgrade.

 

Please post what you would like to see with the attrributes system here.

 

Any posts unreleated to the attributes system are likely to be removed.

 

Thanks

 

 

I need to sort my attributes alphabetic by name. I don't care what the key assigned is and it is making my site very difficult to work with the drop down boxes because they are not in alphabetical order. That would be greatly helpful.

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I have a major problem. I put in all my attributes and when an order is placed the email I receive doesn't show what attributes are chosen. This is a huge problem because I have no way of knowing what people order because my attributes are for color and fragrance and without that information I can't fill the order. Is there a fix for this???

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