Auto populate section images

[Chippy Minton]

Hi,

Has anybody found an easy way to populate the section image field (or a custom field that could be used to do the same role as the section image field) from child sections settings?

We have quite a few sections on the site and so import all the section image file path\name settings, but all the parent section image file settings need to be completed manually.

I would like the parent section image file information completed automatically by taking the first available image from the relevant child sections; with this auto selection being used all the way back up the section tree. Ideally, this could be set up so that it ignores the 'default image' specified in the Site settings, unless all the images in the child section were the 'default image' in which case it would be used. (I think this is necessary as otherwise if the first product used the 'default image' typically 'photo coming soon' this would be replicated all the way back up the section tree).

I hope this makes sense; easier to explain than type. Any ideas welcome!

[jont]

http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?t=34663 may be of use for inspiration.

[Chippy Minton]

Hello Jont,

Thanks for the quick reply.

I had found this post before and tried to get it to work as I thought it was the answer, but I couldn't quite get it to achieve the desired results. It could be because I already had section images, thumbnails and product images already sized and defined and so wasn't showing the true fruits of my labour. I'll have another go. Cheers.

[leehack]

I've read it a few times, but to me it is reading as you don't mind updating all subs with an image (that would be about 80-85% of the work) but populating the parents in the same way is too much trouble?

Why not have an excel formula or some vb that just grabs the first image on the subs and copies it? If you were asking to populate subs i'd understand, but you seem to be doing the largest task and struggling with the smallest?

[Chippy Minton]

Hello Lee,

Sorry, probably didn't make it that clear. I keep all the product information, including prices, names, section structure (i.e. names of parent sections), picture available (Y/N), etc., in the accounts package and then get a routine I wrote within the accounts package to generate a table with all the product data. This routine generates the section image name by taking the product code and jpg suffix, etc., to give a reference to the image path\name, e.g. pics\prod1.jpg. I then ODBC this data from the accounts package into Excel to give a flat csv file which I then import into Actinic.

Because the site has around 40,000 product/packet combinations, which are only updated annually, I have found it quicker to delete the products each year and import the new data rather than looking for all the changes. The importing process creates the section structure but only allocates the section image to the relevant section and not the parent sections, of which the maximum is 6 layers. The quickest way I have found to date to fill in the parent section information is to export the new structure to a csv and look for the gaps, fill them in and re-import the amended csv; this takes a while and often prone to mistakes. I haven't yet manged to work out an Excel formula that works although it is probably possible, but if I could get Actinic to do it then I would not need to even export the data, which is always a risky process.

I hope this clarifies it a little better.