Multiple digital downloads with the same file

[Goders]

Help.....

I'm currently having problems with Digital Downloads. I've got 17 products that use the same file, but its functionality is activated on a license key that is sent separate to the product.

I have pointed all 17 products to the same file in Actinic, but Actinic insists on uploading the same file 17 times. Guess this is part of the security that Actinic employs.

Is there any way to have just the one file associated to all 17 products? I really don't want to have 17 versions of the same file at 25MB each.

I’m currently using Actinic Business.

[jont]

Have you tried using duplicate products? Probably best to try with a 1kb text file rather than a 25mb monster.

If you look in the dd folder on the server you will see the filename is made up of the reference code + number + original filename ... so unsure if duplicates will fool it or not! Worth a try....

[Goders]

Cheers John,

I'm not too sure using duplicates will work in this instance. The product code is fixed - not a major problem, as is the price which is more of a concern. I'm also using some custom vars that bring up additional information that relates to additional features of the product depending on the license key used to activate it.

Is there a way of unfixing these product components?

I will have a go, just to see if Actinic can be fooled as this may lead to achieving this in a different way.

Thanks

[Goders]

Ok, I've had another look at this and not getting anywhere fast.

I've created a product and added a small attachment for the digital download. I then duplicated this product twice and ran an update. This also creates 3 instances of the same file in the DD folder on the server.

Does anyone know if, and how separate products can use the same digital download file?

Just to compound the issue, this file changes on a weekly basis, so running an update of 25MB for 17 products is not really a quick and easy task even with a fast connection.

[Guest]

Hi Marc,

Try the following work around to upload one instance of the DD file for all the products:

1)Create a product.

2)Right click on the product and choose "Copy"

3)Right click again and choose "Paste as Duplicate"

4)Create as many duplicates you want.

4)Go to the main product ,click on "Digital Download" tab, browse to the file and click on "OK"

Log into the server and delete the DD folder within /acatalog/,do a "Web|Refresh Website".Now only one instance of the DD file should be uploaded to the server. I have tried this in my default site and it works.

[Goders]

Thanks Sumiya,

The only problem I have with using the duplicates is that the Product Code and Price are fixed to the original product. I'm also using the Properties tab that has different information for each product, which is also fixed to the original product.

I'm aiming to have several different products that use the same DD file. This particular file has certain functionalies enabled/disabled depending on the license key that they are supplied from me. This also has an impact on cost, which obviously I can't change if its a duplicate product.

There doesn't seem to be an easy way around this. One method that has been supplied from Dhivya Malani from Actinic may work:

"I am afraid you cannot link a single digital download path to many products withiin Actinic because each digital download file is encrypted with a unique encryption key. However the work load can be reduced by uploading the store with dummy (small) files, note the encrypted name of each (which can be found within the acatalog/DD folder) that was generated during the upload. Re-name the local 'real' files(C:/Programfiles/Actinic v7/Sites/Site1) to the encrypted name, and manually FTP them to the DD folder, overwriting the dummies."

I've yet to try this out, but due to the file that I have changing on a weekly basis it will still be a nightmere uploading several 25MB files each week.