Bug: Changing Product Reference forces default product layout.

[NormanRouxel]

Using 8.5.1.0.0.0.HFUA.

Scenario:

Start a site using the default Demo Site.

Go to Settings / Business Settings / Options and uncheck Auto Generate Product References.

Now go to a product and change the Product Reference to something new.

From now on, the default product layout seems to be used for that Product regardless of what you set in Product Details / Layout / Product Layout.

[leehack]

Same here, definite bug IMO. In fact site i am working on now is about to go through and have it's product references changed to be in line with EPOS system. Only way i have got round it so far is to completely redo the product and there is no way i want to do that.

[TraceyHand]

ahh jees...it's not just changing auto-generated products that does that either

I just tested it by changing a product reference (ALL of mine are manually created) and it did exactly the same thing.
It kept the correct layout listed in "layout"...but displayed as the "default" layout which was wrong.
(I'd deliberately copied the product before trying it so I could paste it back in correctly)
I'm hoping now that I haven't changed any produt references lately and, more importantly, peeved because on my to-do list I have a job of changing ALL product references to put the size at the start of the product code (it's currently at the end) to make stock checking against a full catalogue list easier...

Now it seems I'd better not do that
Thanks for the heads up, Norman

[bentleybloke]

Could this also affect the pushbutton grid? I can get it working, but then if I change the product reference of copy the component/attributes/choices to another product, it breaks.

[leehack]

If you select the area on the design tab, it tells you what layout is being used rather than what the layout tab is telling you (they both tell different stories). This could impact on a number of areas, one of which is what you refer to.

[TraceyHand]

this is quite a serious bug, n'est pas?

I'm surprised it's not been posted about before now.
It's certainly removed a big job from my to-do list (which would usually be a good thing...but isn't really!)

[leehack]

n'est-ce-pas

Yes i expect it has gone unnoticed as a lot of people adjust the main layout, rather than create a new one, so in effect bad working practices help you out on this one.

It's a serious bug for some sites, one that i think has only recently surfaced otherwise i'd have expected to see it highlighted before, i only found the problem yesterday, i'm figuring the recent upgrades are guilty once again.

[TraceyHand]

lol..ya know..soon as I posted that I thought "that's not spelt right" but I knew you'd correct me so I left it

biggest problem is I now can't do my product reference switching which was quite a big thing for me to do because it means that, when a full stock list (or even an "out of stock" list) is printed, the products will print out in size batches rather than alphabetical, which is no use to me.

oh well...not much I can do about it..just need to take a note not to change any product references

[leehack]

Unfortunately i do not have that luxury, site i'm working on was introduced to the prod ref AFTER he filled out some of the catalog. Heavily customised layout, only thing i can see possible is to put the custom code into the standard layout, so that when the bug kicks in, it at least uses the same code - but that is crap and defeats the whole object of managing the store layouts correctly.

[TraceyHand]

can't you just copy and paste the product that needs the reference changing, editting the product code to the changed one when it prompts you to give a unique reference?

Then delete the "wrong" one?
Ok so it's slightly more labour intensive than just changing the reference but same end result?

I'm probably missing something really basic lol (not enough caffeine in the veins this morning)

[NormanRouxel]

You could try Exporting the products, deleting the entire product tree, then Importing. Backup and test on an spare system first.

[NormanRouxel]

Belay the above (#11). It seems to be a caching problem in Actinic.

If you close Actinic and Restart, the correct selected layout is applied. A rough and ready cure.

Still a bad bug, though.

P.S. I cranked up my 8.5.0 Virtal Machine and the bug's there too. Amazing that it's not been noticed before.

[TraceyHand]

I was wondering that, Norman...so it's kinda related to the problem with changing place of settings etc? Where a re-start "fixes" it

It's going to be more of a problem for people who don't know about it beforehand, than an "unfixable" bug

[cdicken]

Thanks for reporting it Norman, and thanks for all the other responses. This will help push this bug much nearer to the top of the list of ones to be fixed.

[PeterThake]

It's a serious bug for some sites, one that i think has only recently surfaced otherwise i'd have expected to see it highlighted before, i only found the problem yesterday, i'm figuring the recent upgrades are guilty once again.

Hate to say 'I told you so' but... this is a manifestation of the product reference naming bug that I have posted about previously (see "Downgrade from v8 to v7? "). The thread where it was suggested by pinbrook that I had not tested enough. The thread where Pinbrook said "In life too many workmen blame their tools". Not that I like to make an issue of it Jo

Yes it does also bugger up your marketing lists (related product/also bought product listings), and can cause the application to refuse to start. I was told that a partial fix will be made in the next release, due in August. Can't come soon enough...

btw Tracey, you can still do your product reference changes but you need to disable the marketing features first.