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osCommerce

The e-commerce.

Web site Creation


thdt98

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I just started to understand a little bit how OSC works, it is not simple when you

start but thankfully the people of OSC community are very generous and more than helfull.

I managed the installation and the configuaration with just a couple of little problem

but nothing serious. I can start to build the site

I would like to have clarified the topics described below

 

I downloaded 2 months ago a website which has been created with osc and from that I decided to build mine with the same software.

When I look at the downloaded web site all extension are .hml none of them with .php and I cannot see the database although the web site works perfectely off line.

On the web site that I create at the moment all the extensions are .php and the database are somewhere in my hard disk.

 

Why is it different?

 

I presume when I publish my site I have to configure the configure.php adequately

according your answer

Is it better to work on line than off line ?

 

Thanks

Thierry

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The PHP code in osCommerce produces ordinary HTML (and Javascript) which is then delivered to the browser. Whatever you used to download that other site could only see the HTML that osC outputs, so that's all that it saved. You have no access to the PHP code or to the database when you are doing that.

 

The setup code in osC will do most of the settings in the configure.php files for you. You may have to tune a few things by hand, especially if you make major changes in the site after installation.

 

I run a server on my development computer that I use to test all my changes before putting them up on the real server. That is the only way that you can run osC "off-line".

 

Regards

Jim

See my profile for a list of my addons and ways to get support.

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Thanks Jim

 

If I understand correctly at this stage I build my website "off line" on my computer

with the admin tools and if I want to have something special I have either to modify or adapt a .php file

When I am ready to publish my site I will have to modify or adapt my configure.php file I suppose.

Is it possible to know how or is it to early ?

 

If I am correct when we visit the site on line we see the html files and not the php's.

I notice that some website created with osc cannot be dowloaded because there are some security on, do you know which one ?

 

After if I want to add or modify any item on my site, do I have to do it on line or is it possible to upload again the database ?

 

regards

 

Thierry

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You've got it right. Most of the changes to the configure.php have to do with the different paths, both filesystem and http. There are also differences due to the online server having SSL enabled which is not practical on my test box. I keep separate copies of my configure.php in the local subdirectory so that they don't get overwritten.

 

There are ways to prevent downloading, but any of them can be bypassed if you are clever enough. I don't see why you would want to do this. As you have noticed, a local copy of the pages works, but you can't really do anything with it. The code that makes it work is on the server and is invisible. There are ways to retrieve the PHP if you really want to, but it's all Open Source anyway. Anyone who wants to can do what you have done and get their own copy of the software to play with. If you try to prevent customers from saving copies of your pages you are just going to irritate them, and that's not good business practice.

 

I always modify my test system first and test there. If it looks ok I upload the files to the online server. I make the database changes by hand if they are simple; for complex changes I export the table(s) with phpMyAdmin and import them onto the server the same way.

 

The test system is usually a bit ahead of the online one, so I am careful to make backups regularly. I do daily full backups for safety, and I always do a backup of any files that I am going to change before I change them. I implement only one contribution or custom mod at a time and test thoroughly before proceeding. I then backup the changed files only and then use a copy of that backup to update the online server.

 

You may not do everything exactly the same way that I do, but this should give you some ideas of how to proceed. If you are making only a few minor changes then you might not need such an elaborate system. I have over 20 contributions and custom mods installed so I need to be more careful.

 

Regards

Jim

See my profile for a list of my addons and ways to get support.

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jbeech -- Keep NT on the box and load phpdev. I'm running it under Windows 2000 on a dual-processor box as my development machine. Do a search on Google for phpdev; I seem to have lost the bookmark. You could also get the Windows versions of PHP and Apache and install them yourself, but that's a bit harder. Phpdev does it all in one package and is easy to install.

 

The learning curve for Linux will make the job a bit harder. If you want to go that route I would suggest one of the more user-friendly installs such as Mandrake. Get a version that includes Apache (most do) and PHP if possible. I've done the source code build of PHP on a unix box; if you're not a programmer I wouldn't recommend it. It is a fun learning experience if you are willing to go that route.

 

thdt98 -- Best wishes on the success of your new store.

 

Regards

Jim

See my profile for a list of my addons and ways to get support.

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