Stock trouble!!! Can't sell products!!!

[jliveston]

Below I've copied the top of one of the .cat files from the site.

Looks normal to me but I'm not sure. I told my client to refresh the site and to hide everthing except for one section. Figured the problem could have been with one of the sections. The one section I had them upload still has the problem with the stock and no one can order from the catalog.

Client is getting very jumpy and wants this resloved. They are talking about alternative ideas and one being to look for an alternative e-commerce solution. I'm convincing them to hold one for a few more days.


Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks once again,
Jason

Code Below
**************************

1731445;
$::g_pSectionList{'A000100.cat'} =
{
'VERSION' => 12,
'CART_MODE' => 1,
'1773' => { 'REFERENCE' => '1773', 'NAME' => 'Hanover Rec 5th Grade Boys Maroon', 'PRICE' => 0, 'MIN_QUANTITY_ORDERABLE' => 1, 'MAX_QUANTITY_ORDERABLE' => 0, 'OUT_OF_STOCK' => 0, 'DATE_PROMPT' => '', 'OTHER_INFO_PROMPT' => '', 'PRICING_MODEL' => 1, 'OPAQUE_SHIPPING_DATA' => '', 'SHIP_SEPARATELY' => 0, 'REPORT_DESC' => '', 'PRICES' => {
1 => [
[0,0],
],
},
'CUSTOMVARS' =>
{
},
'NO_ORDERLINE' => 0, 'AUTOSHIP' => 0, 'COMPONENTS' => [['option',[['Size of Photo', 1, ['5x7" - $8.00','8x10" - $12.00','11x14" - $20.00','Sheet of Wallets - $12.00',]],['', 2, [0]],],1,[[[1], '+', {
1 => [
[0,800],
],
}, 2, 0, 0],[[2], '+', {
1 => [
[0,1200],
],
}, 2, 0, 0],[[3], '+', {
1 => [
[0,2000],
],
}, 2, 0, 0],[[4], '+', {
1 => [
[0,1200],
],
}, 2, 0, 0],[[-1], '', {
1 => [
[0,0],
],
}, 0, 0, 0],[[], '', {
1 => [
[0,0],
],
}, 0, 0, 0],],0,{ }, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], ], },

[jliveston]

Think I have finally discovered part of the issue.

I had the client upload the catalog with only one section. Once it was uploaded I did the following...

1. Dialed into the server and in the cgi-bin folder I searched the ao000001.pm file (ActinicOrder.pm). Found the error phrase 297 for out of stock and commented the section out dealing with range is excluded or out of stock.

2. Once I commented the section of code out (two places in file I commented) and uploaded it looks like the ordering is working. This is a quick fix, not the solution

Someone from Actinic needs to take a look at this file to see what the issue is. I believe if I actually change this in the ActinicOrder.pm file and the client uploads the site it will work. For now I'm going to have the client update the site so all the sections are back and I'll manually upload the ao000001.pm file as a quick fix until this is resolved.

Please contact me to see if this solution will work for now. When I add an item to the cart it is storing them correctly as far as I can tell.

Thanks,
Jason

********************
Code in ao000001.pm I commented out (there are two sections)
********************


# JCL 03/24/04 start comments \/
## if ( !ref($range->[$::PBIDX_ASSOCIATEDPROD]) &&
## $range->[$::PBIDX_ASSOCIATEDPROD] =~ /^[\-\+]$/ ) # Range is excluded or out of stock
## {
## my %Prompts;
## $Prompts{'-'} = 296; # Range is excluded
## $Prompts{'+'} = 297; # Out of stock
# JCL 03/24/04 CHANGED FROM 7 TO 1
# my ($Status, $sError, $sHTML) = ACTINIC::ReturnToLastPage(7, ACTINIC::GetPhrase(-1, 1962) . ACTINIC::GetPhrase(-1, $Prompts{$range->[$::PBIDX_ASSOCIATEDPROD]}, $component->[0]) . ACTINIC::GetPhrase(-1, 1970) . ACTINIC::GetPhrase(-1, 2053),
## my ($Status, $sError, $sHTML) = ACTINIC::ReturnToLastPage(20, ACTINIC::GetPhrase(-1, 1962) . ACTINIC::GetPhrase(-1, $Prompts{$range->[$::PBIDX_ASSOCIATEDPROD]}, $component->[0]) . ACTINIC::GetPhrase(-1, 1970) . ACTINIC::GetPhrase(-1, 2053),
## ACTINIC::GetPhrase(-1, 208),
## $::g_sWebSiteUrl,
## $::g_sContentUrl, $::g_pSetupBlob, %::g_InputHash);
## if ($Status != $::SUCCESS) # If even this didn't work - we give up - there is an error
## {
## ACTINIC::ReportError($sError, ACTINIC::GetPath());
## }
#
# I can't see why is it needed here but it breaks store branding feature
# so I have commented out - zmagyar
#
#$ACTINIC::AssertIsActive = $::TRUE; # Cheat here to make sure that PrintPage doesn't call XML parser
## ACTINIC::PrintPage($sHTML, undef, $::TRUE); # Print warning page and exit
## exit;
## }
# jcl end comments /\

[cdicken]

Jason

You know more about Perl than I do, so I cannot look at this and tell you whether you are going to have problems or not. If I were you, I would post the URL of the store up and ask people here to test it for you.

The refresh you mentioned sounds like a good idea - i.e. totally removing everything and then reloading it. I would try that first. If there is still a problem (and I don't think there will be) then apply the Perl patch to ActinicOrder.pm.

[jliveston]

Hey Chris,

I know enough about Perl to be dangerous, not an expert just have programming background The code looks a lot more complicated posted then in the file due to the small size of the reply box.

Anyway, I believe this will work but I am really curious to why this started to happen all of a sudden. My client's site has been up since last summer and nothing like this has happen. They update the site all the time. The only issue I saw with the site were...

1. They have a few pages with copy_of_copy_of listed. They have a step-by-step guide to updating the site and one of the steps is to make SURE they change the file names (they generally do, but I see a few once and awhile).

2. I have noticed products without the component option (meaning the product doesn't have any options of price and shows up on the catalog without any prices). They must have accidentally deleted the option under the product. I saw a few of these and even when I copied an option and pasted into the product that was missing it still had the out of stock issue.


So for now I believe we have a solution, but if you pass this onto your development team maybe they can use the information to find a fix or to see what caused this. Let me know if they would like the actual database .mdb file to check it over, if not no big deal.

Thanks Chris. I appreciate all you help.
Jason

[businesscore]

---BUmp!

I've been having this exact same problem.
We've just upgraded to 6.1.4 and this bug only seems to affect products using components.

Some products using components seem to work, mysteriously, despite having EXACTLY the same options checked at all stages of the product tree.

Has anyone looked further into this?

I need to sort this problem out and I have no experience with perl so I am not keen on poking around with script.

Have a look at the (unfinished) site here:

http://www.uklabels.co.uk

Click on BUY PRODUCTS
Go to MENS SALE, try adding a 'SYSTEM' product to the cart and you'll get the error.
Try the same with 'WHITE LOGO' and it will work.

What the hell is going on! Help!

[jliveston]

John,

I feel your pain. You have the exact issue my client was having. Out of the blue this issue came up and kept my client unable to process orders for over a week which was unexceptable. No one from actinic got back to me with a fix so I had to modify the perl file and try it. What I did was comment out the stock monitoring code so it wouldn't check to see if the product or component was out of stock. I'm going to attach the files so you can try it and see if it solves your problem.

I will caution you this isn't a great solution, you will need to monitor your stock levels manually without the help of actinic. My client sells digital photographys so in their case they don't need to watch stock. Just want to make sure you know if you only have three items and they are all out and someone orders a fourth then actinic will not tell you.

So the file I'm included "ActinicOrder.pm" which deals with the stock monitoring. In order to use the file do the following....

1. Browse to your site folder (C:\Program Files\Actinic Ecommerce v6\Sites\YourSiteName)
2. Locate the existing "ActinicOrder.pm" file and create a copy (just want to create a backup and store it in a safe location)
3. After you have a backup copy of the ActinicOrder.pm file copy the new "ActinicOrder.pm" file that is attached to this post
4. Upload your catalog
5. Test out the catalog
6. If you still have the same issue you need to do the following, ftp to your server and copy the "ao000001.pm" file I've attached to the cgi-bin

The only reason you would need to copy the ao000001.pm file to the server is if the upload doesn't update the ActinicOrder.pm file (that file creates the ao000001.pm when the file is uploaded I believe)

Good luck
Jason

Ps. If this corrects your problem be aware if you need to do ever do a complete site upload you will need to copy the "ActinicOrder.pm" file into the (C:\Program Files\Actinic Ecommerce v6\Original) folder. You need to do this because all files are moved up to the server on a complete refresh from the original folder.

[cdicken]

This forum is for all Actinic users to help each other, and should not be used as purely a channel to receive support from Actinic Software. We will help out, but cannot guarantee a solution for your problem when it is only discussed on this forum.

Often, a much quicker way to receive support is to register an email support question at http://www.actinic.co.uk/support/register.htm. Registering an email support query in this way will guarantee a response.

[jliveston]

I understand a solution is not guaranteed but when I have used your support I never get a response. What are we suppose to do if we can't get help from Actinic directly???

So I understand and really appreciate all the help from this forum but the only reason I post here is because it is more likely someone will find a solution then waiting for support.

[jliveston]

John,

I can't attach the perl files because they are too large. If you send me your email address or let me know where I can send them to I'll forward the files along if you need to use them.

Thank,
Jason

[cdicken]

Hi Jason

I appreciate your frustrations and I have passed them onto the customer service manager to see if there is a workable solution for you.

I'm away for the next two weeks (in the US funnily enough) but one of my colleagues will comment here or email you directly.

[businesscore]

Don't worry about sneding me the perl files, I can get round this problem by simply not using components on the site.

It will make the shopping experience slightly more 'messy' which is a bit of an arse - but it will work.

I don't want to mess around with the code of what is a very delicate system.

Thanks for replying though Jason.

As always with big, sprawling, customisable software, there are always going to be bugs.

[jliveston]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the information. I really do appreciate all the help. I believe in the actinic product that is why I really like to nail down quick solutions so my clients stay happy and continue to trust the product.

Thanks,
Jason

[MikeBooker]

I have just had a client who has also had this problem v 6.14 - no idea what caused it though. It seems to be on products with components, but since nearly all their products have components, it's hard to check!

I have found a couple of ways to clear it.

1. For an individual products open the component and then enter a zero into the quantity used on the components tab and click Apply. This gives an error and I then set the quantity back to the original value (1) and click Apply/OK. Update the web and hey presto the problem for that product is cleared.

However, as there are hundreds of products affected this is not really viable as a solution.

To fix this for all products I used Access to try and understand what was going on in the ProductProperties table, but although I could see changes, it was not obvious how to run a query to make the necessary tweaks. It's something to do with nType=8 entries, but when there are multiple components for a product the required changes were not obvious.

The following however I have tried, and it seems to work:

2. Do a File | Export of the Catalogue followed by a hierarchical import Replace. It did gve a few errors regarding permutations, but the products and their components all seemed OK. Once uploaded to the web the error was no longer present.

Has anyone else found the cause for this? A better way to fix it?

[jliveston]

strikes again!!!!

I can't believe it but here we go again. I just updated one client to 6.1.5 and refreshed the website and presto.....OUT OF STOCK is showing. I'm going to have to apply the same patch as before (commenting out the .pm file).

I do not believe actinic has not resolved this issue and I never received any explaination from Actinic about this.

What is the status on this???

[cdicken]

Jason

Please register a support query at http://www.actinic.co.uk/support/register.html and then send us your snapshot. Let's see if we can get to the root of the problem.