1.1.6-beta is (will soon be) available via the BigCommerce site for existing customers.
Changelog
1.1.6 : Revision 264
FIX: Force guest/default group permissions for product retrieval (Avoids potential for feed to include group specific/hidden products appearing in feed during manual generation)
Seems the SQL will pick up product records that include hidden categories but the category array was built from visible categories only. This resulted in a lot of empty Product "Type" lines in the feed if your store has a lot of hidden categories.
I've identified the problem and more or less written a fix but I'm not releasing ANOTHER version until I get some input back about the other fixes.
The new version will include a user settable variable: $include_hidden_categories which can be set to true or false.
Setting it to true will include the hidden categories associated with any visible products... False will result in only visible products and categories being shown.
The new version will include a user settable variable: $include_hidden_categories which can be set to true or false.
What if a product is cross-merchandised in BOTH a hidden category and visible category. ~ Will the fact that it appears in a hidden category prevent it from being included?
ISC 4.0.7
"... and let's be honest that whole "by design" thing is getting old too."
The new version will include a user settable variable: $include_hidden_categories which can be set to true or false.
What if a product is cross-merchandised in BOTH a hidden category and visible category. ~ Will the fact that it appears in a hidden category prevent it from being included?
It shouldn't... So long as there is one valid, visible category, the product should appear... The only time the product would "disappear" should/would be when it is solely within a group specific category or set !visible.
Just as an aside on this... The fact that the "in stock" bug has now been located and resolved has actually had quite a dramatic effect on my feed performance in a matter of hours.
I'm guessing I've had a lot of products sitting as "Out of stock" thanks to the earlier feed not taking into account that "Track inventory" being off, meant "assume in stock"...
The issue of category visibility is a bit of a pain as sub-categories don't get set as invisible if any parent category is non-visible... Currently working out the logic required to tackle this without risking uncontrolled loops and other silliness.
The code now parses through the categories and works out which categories are viewable based on the catvisible (category visible) setting for itself and any parent/grand-parent/etc... categories above it.
If include_hidden_categories is true then it doesn't bother calculating it, it just includes the category information (as product "type") for any products that are linked to them whether they are hidden or not.
If include_hidden_categories is false, it determines the hierarchy of the categories, which would be visible or not and then provides only those categories that are "visible" as product "type" for listed products.
The code also interprets permissions for categories based on group access... This is not controlled by include_hidden_categories at all so any group specific categories will never show in the feed.
Not entirely sure whether to laugh maniacally, cry or just find a dark corner to curl up in and pretend the world doesn't exist...
Yes... Found ANOTHER bug... (gotta love it).
This one is ISC version specific and related to images...
I think Version 5.x will work fine with the current setup, but version 6.x with it's new approach to images means many products, created since the upgrade will no longer have an image with the listing.
Anyway... another version pending I guess... *looks for dark corner*
