There is no documentation to go with this code, I’m simply posting it because a subscriber has requested it.

<?php
 
 define('MAGENTO', realpath(dirname(__FILE__)."/.."));
 require_once MAGENTO . '/app/Mage.php';
 
 umask(0);
 Mage::app()->setCurrentStore(Mage_Core_Model_App::ADMIN_STORE_ID);
 $write = Mage::getSingleton('core/resource')->getConnection('core_write');
 $count = 0;
 $headers = array();
 
 $file = fopen(MAGENTO . '/var/import/importcats.csv', 'r');
 
 $_category = Mage::getSingleton('catalog/category');
 
 while (($line = fgetcsv($file)) !== FALSE) { $count++;
 
 // First header row
 if ($count == 1) {
 foreach ($line as $id=>$col)
 $headers[$col] = $id;
 
 continue;
 }
 
 $_category->load($line[$headers['ID']]);
 
 $_category->setMetaTitle($line[$headers['meta_title']]);
 $_category->setMetaDescription($line[$headers['meta_description']]);
 $_category->setDescription($line[$headers['additional_description']]);
 $_category->setUrlKey($line[$headers['url_key']]);
 
 $sql = "INSERT INTO catalog_category_entity_varchar
 (entity_type_id, attribute_id, store_id, entity_id, value)
 VALUES
 (9, 113, 0, ".$line[$headers['ID']].", '".$line[$headers['image']]."')
 ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE value = '".$line[$headers['image']]."';
 ";
 
 $write->query($sql);
 
 $src = '../media/import/cat_imgs/'.$line[$headers['image']];
 $dest = '../media/catalog/category/'.$line[$headers['image']];
 
 copy($src, $dest);
 
 $_category->save();
 
 echo "Completed ".$line[$headers['name']]."<br />";
 
 }

If you are using My_Imeta and are experiencing difficulties saving your categories, it will be due to this. It is a quick an easy fix.

Open ./app/code/community/My/Imeta/Model/Catalog/Category/Observer.php

Then replace

$_object = isset($observer['data_object']) ? $observer['data_object'] : $observer['object'];

With

$_object = $observer->getEvent()->getCategory();

For the majority of the admin area, an inaccurate children count won’t normally pose an issue, however, upon using the AJAX category tree (Eg. in product edit, promotional rules etc.) – any category with an inaccurate children count may not display the expand icon.

It can quickly and easily be reset, albeit with a bit of quick and dirty SQL.

CREATE TABLE catalog_category_entity_tmp LIKE catalog_category_entity;
INSERT INTO catalog_category_entity_tmp SELECT * FROM catalog_category_entity;
UPDATE catalog_category_entity cce
SET children_count =
(
SELECT count(cce2.entity_id) as children_county
FROM catalog_category_entity_tmp cce2
WHERE PATH LIKE CONCAT(cce.path,'%')
);
DROP TABLE catalog_category_entity_tmp;

So to answer a popular question (albeit briefly):

There isn’t a standardised test – as there is a myriad of different testing procedures.

Apache jMeter is our tool of choice, it is a little tricky to configure – but allows you to tailor your test exactly to your type of expected customers browsing habits. By controlling the number of pages they browse, page view time, replicating checkout process, logging in/out etc. It is as close to real-world simulation as you will get.

So instead, we just knocked up a quick script which would associate images to products; the name name has to match the product SKU (with the exception of the file extension). It first copies the images from your media/import directory to the proper Magento structure,

eg. For an image named sonassi.jpg

./media/catalog/product/s/o/sonassi.jpg

If the directory doesn’t exist, it will create it on the fly. Then once the images are in place, it will check to see what images are to be added – then check each product to see if any images are already set, and skip those images if already set.

There is a few different types of images for a product:

small_image
base_image
thumbnail
gallery_image

These have different attribute ids (can be found in eav_entity_attribute), for us the IDs were 74,75,76 and 77 respectively. Then, its just a case of running the script.

To create the directory structure, copy the images and populate the database took under 1 second for 2,500 images; so whilst not the proper Magento way – its saved you a few hours of Dataflow! As always, the below script assumes that the script exists in a subdirectory of the root Magento installation.

Enjoy!

<?php
 
  ############################################################################
  #
  #  Change these variables to suit your store!
  #
  $_mediaBase = realpath('../media/catalog/product').'/';
  $_imagesSrc = realpath('../media/import/product_images').'/';
  $imgAttrIds = array(74,75,76);
  $imageGalId = 77;
  require_once '../app/Mage.php';
  #
  ############################################################################

  umask(0);
 
  error_reporting(E_ALL);
  ini_set('display_errors', '1');
  Mage::setIsDeveloperMode(true);
 
  Mage::app()->setCurrentStore(Mage_Core_Model_App::ADMIN_STORE_ID);
 
  $conn = Mage::getSingleton('core/resource')->getConnection('core_read');
  $connW = Mage::getSingleton('core/resource')->getConnection('core_write');
 
  $images = scandir($_imagesSrc);
 
 
  /*
   *    Relocate the images into Magento friendly format
   */
 
  $imgArr = array();
  foreach($images as $image) {
    if (in_array($image,array('.','..')))
      continue;
 
    $firstDir = $_mediaBase.$image[0];
    $secondDir = strtolower($firstDir.'/'.$image[1]);
    $path = strtolower($secondDir.'/'.$image);
 
    if(!file_exists($path)) {
      echo "Making $secondDir and copying to $path\n";
      if (!file_exists($secondDir))
        mkdir($secondDir, 0775, true);
      copy($_imagesSrc.$image, $path);
    }
 
    $imgArr[] = "'".str_ireplace(".jpg","",$image)."'";
  }
 
  $sql = "SELECT *
          FROM catalog_product_entity
          WHERE sku IN (".implode(",",$imgArr).")";
  $_products = $conn->fetchAll($sql);
 
  $entitySkuMap = array();
  foreach($_products as $product)
    $entitySkuMap[$product['sku']] = $product['entity_id'];
 
  /*
   *    Check the existing images
   */
 
  $sql = "SELECT *
          FROM catalog_product_entity_media_gallery
          WHERE entity_id IN (".implode(",",$entitySkuMap).")";
  $_galleryImgs = $conn->fetchAll($sql);
 
  $sql = "SELECT *
          FROM catalog_product_entity_varchar
          WHERE entity_id IN (".implode(",",$entitySkuMap).")
          AND attribute_id IN (".implode(",",$imgAttrIds).")";
  $_imageAssoc = $conn->fetchAll($sql);
 
  $existingImgs = array();
  foreach($_imageAssoc as $img) {
    $existingImgs[$img['entity_id']][$img['attribute_id']] = $img;
  }
 
  /*
   *    Then associate to the product itself.
   */
 
  $insertData = array();
  $skusToInsert = array();
 
  foreach($_products as $productArrId=>$product) {
 
    $missingImgs = $imgAttrIds;
    $imageName = strtolower('/'.$product['sku'][0].'/'.$product['sku'][1].'/'.$product['sku'].'.jpg');
 
    // Check if it has an image associated already ...
    if ( array_key_exists( $product['entity_id'], $existingImgs) ) {
 
      // Check which images exists and remove those already set
      foreach ($imgAttrIds as $id=>$val) {
        if ( array_key_exists( $val , $existingImgs[$product['entity_id']] ) ) {
          if ( $existingImgs[$product['entity_id']][$val]['value'] == "no_selection" ) {
            $sql = "DELETE FROM catalog_product_entity_varchar WHERE value_id = '".$existingImgs[$product['entity_id']][$val]['value_id']."'";
            $connW->query($sql);
          } else {
            unset($missingImgs[$id]);
          }
        }
      }
 
    }
 
    if (count($missingImgs)) {
      if (file_exists($_mediaBase.$imageName)) {
        foreach($missingImgs as $img) {
          $insertData[] = "(4, ".$img.", 0, ".$product['entity_id'].", '".$imageName."')";
        }
 
        $skusToInsert[] = "(".$imageGalId.", ".$product['entity_id'].", '".$imageName."')";
      }
    }
 
  }
 
  /*
   *    Now add the images to the DB
   */
 
  if (count($skusToInsert)) {
    $sql = "INSERT INTO catalog_product_entity_media_gallery (attribute_id, entity_id, value) VALUES ".implode(",",$skusToInsert).";";
    $connW->query($sql);
    echo "Updated ".count($skusToInsert)." images\n";
  }
 
  if (count($insertData)) {
    $sql = "INSERT INTO catalog_product_entity_varchar (entity_type_id, attribute_id, store_id, entity_id, value) VALUES ".implode(",",$insertData).";";
    $connW->query($sql);
    echo "Updated ".count($insertData)." images";
  }

Consulting, technical support, use and hosting services for the performance of e-commerce transactions; Software as a Service (SaaS) featuring computer software to allow users to perform electronic business transactions in the field of ecommerce.

Attendees of Magento Imagine will be familiar with the above branding and concept, but official release isn’t quite due so information is being kept quiet for now, so we can only speculate as to its purpose.

From an outsider of the Magento Imagine conference, I’ve probably taken the entirely wrong view of this or at least I certainly hope I’m wrong.

Magento SAAS was inevitable

If it is what we think is it, it was only a matter of time before Varien began to offer turnkey Magento solutions. But it does beg the question, what is to happen to the “paid-up” Magento hosting and Magento development partners (read members, you have to buy your way in).

Setting the foundations in place

The Magento partner program was launched quite a while ago in its early form, offering a single grade of registration for a nominal yearly fee. Since then, Varien’s revenue scheme has grown and changed shape slightly; from the community based, free, open-source product with optional chargeable support; to an enterprise application with enterprise level support.

Now, Varien offers three core products, Magento Community Edition, Magento Professional and Magento Enterprise. To facilitate quick, rapid and convincing deployment of these chargeable flavours – distributors were recruited, these firms are known as Magento partners.

Agencies ready, Hosting providers ready …

So, with a league of willing developers and hosting providers in tow, Varien are positioned correctly to set the flip the e-commerce market up-side down. This is where Magento Go comes in. With all the afore-mentioned groundwork that Varien have put in – it would seem bizarre if their new turnkey operation was provided solely in-house.

So, it looks like Varien might just set in place a strategic standardisation of quality and delivery, governing their partners on best-practice; in return, handing over the initial and future development of any Magento Go store to a Magento solution partner.

I can’t quite figure out how the hosting partners might be involved in this though. If you remember, around 1 year ago, Varien ran a webinar on Magento performance, specifically tied with Zend Server. There were some white papers released after this, but it was never really reinforced or actively promoted. Perhaps Zend and Varien have teamed together to provide a standalone environment, with a recommended infrastructure and user interface. This could then be effectively handed over to a Magento hosting partner to provide a distributed service with centralised billing and management.

Worst case scenario

The unified structure above would mean Varien not only monopolising the Magento development and hosting workspace, but potentially dictating full control.

BUT and its a big one

There are some potential pitfalls for agencies for those that don’t buy in, but no more than that of other real-world businesses. Take the car industry for example, you have the option of taking your BMW to the dealership for a service, or your local independent garage. Hopefully, competition will stay active enough for everyone to thrive from Magento and specifically, Magento Go. Which leads me on to say that …

Scaremongering aside – Magento Go has A LOT of benefits

This is potentially a developers dream. Imagine a standardised platform providing infinite levels of integration, with existing, well developed links with common service providers (SagePay, SecureTrading, ParcelForce, UPS etc.) and a library of web services to integrate with your client’s in-house services.

With a large proportion of Magento stores hosted in a central location, monitoring, reporting and debugging information could easily be fed straight back to Varien’s core development team. Giving them valuable automated feedback as to where improvements can be made. This could ensure a stable, secure and highly optimised Magento core that will benefit everyone.

It could remove the reliance on 3rd party extensions, moving all functionality to the core, safe and secure.

But its not just developers who will benefit, the end-user, your clients, could reap massive rewards. A centralised database of every Magento stores’ products could offer uniformity of data – resulting in quick, painless product population with a wealth of accurate, rich attributes at your fingertips.

The future then provides potential of distributors dealing direct with Varien, giving the end user access to cheaper supplies or drop shipping services.

Magento Go, a real game changer

This platform has infinite potential for good and an equally large potential for bad, the only comment I can close on, is …

With great power, comes great responsibility

Read more about Magento Go http://www.magentocommerce.com/getready.html
Watch a video about Magento Go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CyIJpEeoF0

You’ll need to set a few variables, then set-up a cron to run the job. We made the script standalone as a not all people have set up their Magento crons.

First, go to “Admin > Sales > Tax > Manage Tax Zones & Rates”, then select your UK VAT rate.

Then look in the URL at the top to identify the ID of the rule,

Then, create the file below (wherever you want), and set magento, tax_rule and admin_email with your own details. You can check if the script will execute correctly by setting the is_test_run flag to true.

Then create the cron job, we’ve set it to run every hour, every day – just in case!

And finally, create the AutoTax.php script itself using the code below:

<?php
 
  set_time_limit(86400);
  ini_set('memory_limit', '128M');
 
  $op = array(
          'magento'     => dirname(__FILE__).'/../', // the relative directory to your base Magento directory
          'tax_rule'    => '3',                   // the id of the tax rule to change
          'date_change' => '04-01-2011',          // the date of the change. eg. 01-01-2011
          'new_rate'    => '20',                  // the new tax rate
          'admin_email' => 'your@email.com',      // the confirmation email recipient
          'is_test_run' => false                   // run a test first eg. true/false
             );
 
  # Do not change anything below this line
  require_once $op['magento'] . 'app/Mage.php';
  umask(0);
  Mage::app()->setCurrentStore(Mage_Core_Model_App::ADMIN_STORE_ID);
 
  $data = new Varien_Object();
  $data->setData($op);
 
  $rateId = $data->getTaxRule();
  if ($rateId) {
    $rateModel = Mage::getSingleton('tax/calculation_rate')->load($rateId);
  } else {
    Mage::throwException( Mage::helper('tax')->__('Could not load tax rule') );
  }
 
  $oldModel = $rateModel->getData();
  $timeToChange = intval((strtotime($data->getDateChange())-time())/86400);
 
  if ($data->getIsTestRun() === true || Mage::app()->getRequest()->getParam('is_test') ) {
 
    $rateModel->setRate($data->getNewRate());
 
    echo "Current data is:\n\n";
    var_dump($oldModel);
    echo "\n\n";
 
    echo "Proposed new data is:\n\n";
    var_dump($rateModel->getData());
    echo "\n\nWith an effective change in ".$timeToChange." days";
 
  } else if (date("d-m-Y") == $data->getDateChange()) {
 
    if ($rateModel->getRate() != $data->getNewRate()) {
 
      try {
 
          $rateModel->setRate($data->getNewRate());
 
          if ($rateModel->save()) {
            $emailData = new Varien_Object();
            $emailData->setData(array('comment'=>"AutoTax rate changed successfully!\n\n".print_r($rateModel->getData(),true),'subject'=>"AutoTax rate changed successfully!"));
 
            Mage::getModel('core/email_template')
                ->setTemplateSubject('AutoTax rate changed successfully!')
                ->sendTransactional(Mage::getStoreConfig('contacts/email/email_template'), array('name'=>'Sonassi AutoTax','email'=>'contact@sonassi.com'), $data->getAdminEmail(), 'Customer', array('data'=>$emailData));
 
            Mage::log('Tax rate changed successfully!');
 
          } else {
            echo "Save failed";
          }
 
          // see http://www.sonassi.com/knowledge-base/magento-knowledge-base/catalog-search-index-refresh-running-slow-or-haltingfreezing/
          // 2. Product Prices Index product prices
          // 4. Product Flat Data Reorganize EAV product structure to flat structure
 
          if (version_compare(Mage::getVersion(), '1.4', '>=')) {
 
            foreach ( array(2,4) as $id ) {
              $process = Mage::getModel('index/process')->load($id);
              $process->reindexAll();
            }
 
          }
 
      }
      catch (Exception $e) {
        echo $e;
        Mage::log($e);
 
      }
 
    }
 
  } else {
    echo "Change in ".$timeToChange." days\n";
  }

A customer of ours with around 160k SKUs, had a “core_cache” table that had grown to just under 10Gb and around 960k rows – causing difficulties during some operations due to table locks. Whilst it is safe to empty the table, truncating a 10Gb table will take quite a long time, and all the while it will be locked, causing connections to queue up, eventually maxing out the available connections for your MySQL user/total – not good.

To make it a little more manageable, we quickly added a little intelligence to the table, so that it can “self-rotate”. This could be applied in the PHP itself, but for now, it was quicker to address the issue via the DB directly.

Moving the old table out the way was essential to begin with

CREATE TABLE `new_core_cache` LIKE `core_cache`;
RENAME TABLE `core_cache` TO `old_core_cache`, `new_core_cache` TO `core_cache`;
 
CREATE TABLE `new_core_cache_tag` LIKE `core_cache_tag`;
RENAME TABLE `core_cache_tag` TO `old_core_cache_tag`, `new_core_cache_tag` TO `core_cache_tag`;
 
ALTER TABLE `core_cache_tag` ADD FOREIGN KEY ( `cache_id` ) REFERENCES `core_cache` (
`id`
) ON DELETE CASCADE ON UPDATE CASCADE;

This then left us with the old two tables, which can be safely dropped in an instant

DROP TABLE `old_core_cache_tag`;
DROP TABLE `old_core_cache`;

Looking at the number of rows, and volume of data, a safe average was for every 100,000 records stored, it consumed 1GB of space. To make the DB a little more manageable, we wanted to add a 100,000 row ceiling to the DB (we could also try to cap by size, but InnoDB cannot report an accurate size). The cap was put in place using a MySQL trigger. Essentially, when the table hits 100,000 records, it will rotate off the row that expires the soonest to allow room for the next row.

CREATE TRIGGER `after_insert_core_cache_tag` AFTER INSERT ON `core_cache_tag`
 FOR EACH ROW BEGIN
  DECLARE num_rows INTEGER;
  SELECT count(id) INTO num_rows FROM core_cache;
  IF num_rows > 100000 THEN
    DELETE FROM core_cache
    WHERE expire_time > 0
    ORDER BY expire_time ASC
    LIMIT 1000;
  END IF;
END
//

There is probably more efficient methods than this, but as a temporary resolve, it should keep things in check.

It may also be worth commenting/modifying any thread_stack definitions in your MySQL configuration if you run into errors when inserting rows.

In Amasty_Coupons_Model_Rewrite_Mysql4_Rule_Collection on line +62

+          if (version_compare(Mage::getVersion(), '1.4.1.0', '>='))
            $this->getSelect()->where('main_table.coupon_type = ?', Mage_SalesRule_Model_Rule::COUPON_TYPE_NO_COUPON);

Undefined variable: orderState  in /http/app/code/local/Paymentsense/Paymentsensegateway/controllers/PaymentController.php on line 812

Hopefully, this error will be fixed in their new release.

Undefined variable: orderState

The following fix removed the error and assigned the right status to the order. If you still face problems after applying it, please let us know and we will update this ticket.

Editing on app/code/local/Paymentsense/Paymentsensegateway/controllers/PaymentController.php on line +812, change :

$order->setState($orderState, 'pys_paid', $message, false);

To

$order->setState($status, 'pys_paid', $message, false);