Problem: Duplicated User Variables

[Jarvis]

I am having problems with duplicated user variables appearing on some products.

I have created a number of variables and made them available in, 'Product Details'.
The variables have been placed in a new Panel Name, 'Additional Info'.

All went well until I just imported a simple heirachical file.
Albeit, I have used the same file previously without problem.
In truth I don't think it was caused by the import because old snapshots have the problem that went unnoticed, (there was no values in the fields).

When I check the Additional Info panel, some, (not all), have duplicates of some of the variables.
When I checked in the database, I notice that some products have duplicate 'nVariableID' values with different sValues.
These correspond to the products in Actinic.

Two questions:
1. How do I get rid of the duplicated variables?
2. How is it likely to have happened?

Thanks in advance.

[leehack]

It's a bug a number of us are experiencing and actinic are decidedly silent on the matter. Only fix I know of is to revert to the snapshot you took before. Been discussed on the forum b4 if you search, whenever the sh1t hits the fan Roger, rest assured someone else's fan is always covered before yours lol.

[grantglendinnin]

I had the same problem and Lee's suggestion was the only fix - Actinic's reply was 'ooh, err, hmm, umm'

Either live with the duplicates (the mundane really hits the fan so wouldn't advise you to live with it) or revert back and try again.

whenever the sh1t hits the fan Roger, rest assured someone else's fan is always covered before yours lol.

I thought there was already a big lecture about this Mr Hackett - though I'm not sure if your expression is profane or simply offending for the sole reason that you replaced the 'i'

[Jarvis]

It's a bug a number of us are experiencing...

A BUG!, In Actinic! Never...

Only fix I know of is to revert to the snapshot you took before...

Sadly it's not really an option.
I take 3-4 backups a day on a site when I am working on it, however, as I say, this wasn't spotted until a whole river had passed under the bridge, a few weeks worth.
To go back now would add hundreds to the project.

Been discussed on the forum b4 if you search...

I did. But the search facility isn't the greatest in the world and I couldn't find anything. Try looking for 'Duplicate Variables'.

... whenever the sh1t hits the fan Roger, rest assured someone else's fan is always covered before yours lol.

I agree, but I'm getting pretty p1ssed it happens so often.

I think I'll have a dig about and see if I can work it out. (Again!).
I promise to post a fix when I find it.

[leehack]

If you solve it, Actinic might pay you cos they can't fix it lol. I think Norman has pulled a few plugins from sale because of this. Even if they fix the issue, I don't think there will be restrospective correction. It's a horrid bug, it really is, I wish I had something more helpful for you. I will revert to cheering you on from the sidelines instead.

Come on Rog, you can do it, stick in there. 2-4-6-8 who do we appreciate - Roger!

[leehack]

Here's one thread about it Roger - http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?t=37161

[bentleybloke]

I have found this happens more and more frequently as the number of products online increases. Drives me daft.

My fix is to add an X to the value of the duplicated variable, close actinic and then search for variablevalueX in the UserDefinedProperties table of actiniccatalog.mdb and delete the line. Take snapshot first and use at your own risk.

I much preferred the variable choice method of v7 where you added the variable to the properties tab from a drop-down list rather than getting all of them and restricting which appear using content categories.

The thing that really really annoys me about the v8/v9 content category method, is that when you create a new category, you have to go through all of the variables and deselect where appropriate. It needs an option to choose the variables applicable to the content category when it is created.

[Krithika]

I am having problems with duplicated user variables appearing on some products.

We have developed a fix for this one and it should be seen fairly soon in a future v9 maintenance release.

[Jarvis]

We have developed a fix for this one and it should be seen fairly soon in a future v9 maintenance release.

Meanwhile, in the real world, it is rendering at least a couple of my sites unusable.

What shall we do, put the businesses on hold in anticipation of a fix or continue to spend hours trawling the database to remove the offending entries?

How about a patch rather than a release?

[Krithika]

Roger,

The fix is going into v9.0.4 which is getting close to Beta. If you would like to be part of the beta program please let me know.

[malbro]

I am having problems with duplicated user variables appearing on some products.

Two questions:
1. How do I get rid of the duplicated variables?
2. How is it likely to have happened?

Thanks in advance.

I had/have this problem using Normans ChoiceImage plugin which uses custom variables to store the image name. However for me I found that I can avoid it if I copy choices from an existing working product to the new product, trying to create new choices always brings up the problem. I also found that shutting down actinic and restarting would clear the duplicates but I guess this isn't working for you. The problem site that I have is a V8.5.3 rather than V9.

[Jarvis]

I have a number of categories of products; lets say 'Vacuum Cleaners', 'Scrubbers', Dryers', 'Batteries'.
Each has it's own set of specifications.
These I have set up as user variables in, 'Product Details' in a new Panel Name, 'Specifications'.

For each category I add products and am presented with only those specifications appropriate to that category.
That's straight forward enough.

I also have three user variables set up for ALL products that allow three images to be displayed in the extended information pages.
No problem there.

However, for no apparent reason, and seemingly randomly, I get duplicates on about 50% of the products.
I can have a product okay one minute and it's duplicated the specifications or the image variables.

There are a couple of thousand products and removal of offending duplicates is a ball-aching process.

I can do it in blocks by selecting ALL of the variable refs in the database but this then means that I have to re-input the data as it is lost.
Alternatively, I can remove them line by line, (YAWN).

I have bit the bullet and gone back many snapshots and brought it back up to date.
Unfortunately, and for no apparent reason, there are the duplicates again.

I trust the fix will not just stop it happening, but also clear up the duplicates?
(Rhetorical question I suspect I already know the answer to).

Just a thought, is there any other industry besides software development where the manufacturer or supplier of a faulty product or service has no comeback?
Any other sector and the company selling faulty goods would be sued out of business.
These endless 'bugs' are costing me and my clients a LOT of money!

[grantglendinnin]

Strange thing is I use a couple of Norman's add-ons and neither of the CV's created have duplicated, only the standard Actinic variables have. After going through the entire Library fixing this - it has slowly started to show up in places, such as the Settings > Site Options. I won't bother fixing it again as I know it's a waste of time

Just a thought, is there any other industry besides software development where the manufacturer or supplier of a faulty product or service has no comeback?
Any other sector and the company selling faulty goods would be sued out of business.
These endless 'bugs' are costing me and my clients a LOT of money!

It wouldn't be so frustrating if the software costs a hundred quid but it doesn't. The £1000 plus £450+ P.A. for Cover is an insult when the quality of the software is nothing short of piss-poor. In all honesty if 9.0.4 doesn't bring things up to scratch in a dramatic fashion I'll have no choice but to look for an alternative ecommerce platform. I hate to think about how so far this year we've lost upwards of at least a 5-figure sum due to problems directly related to Actinic. Some days I think it'd be for the best to start from scratch, adding in products manually (all 2k of them plus the 30-odd k of choices) than constantly struggle with using the most basic of functions, but again, the costs would run into several thousands and would take months. *Goes to doddle around the internet in despair looking for ecommerce platforms*

[plantshop]

It's issues like this that have convinced me to stay on v7 and look for another ecommerce package. How can things like this happen when v7 is so stable.

[grantglendinnin]

It's issues like this that have convinced me to stay on v7 and look for another ecommerce package. How can things like this happen when v7 is so stable.

Less functionality = less problems.

Or that's the theory

There's some massive pieces of corporate software out there that runs virtually flawless with most issues being caused by the users misuse. With Actinic, I'm pretty sure I could pick anyone off the street and get them to break things somehow.