CSV Improved - News
Often when we import files we run into errors that the file is not being read correctly. Where to start looking for the cause of the issue and how to solve this?
Checkpoints
Follow these checkpoints to make sure that you have the basics right.
- Up-to-date Available Fields
The list of available fields should be up-to-date before importing starts. If the field list is not up-to-date the import may fail due to missing fields. To update the list of available fields go to Maintenance -> Select Update Available Fields -> Click continue - A clean CSV file
A CSV file should not have any extra characters in any place. A good CSV file may look like this:
"product_sku","product_name"
A bad CSV file may look like this:
"product_sku,product_name" <-- The " at the beginning and end of the line are wrong
or
product_sku,product_name, <-- The trailing comma is wrong -
Delimiters
The template must use the same delimiters as your file has. The type of delimiters does not matter. To know what delimiters your file uses look at your file with Notepad for example.
Some examples of delimiters are:Sample Field delimiter Text enclosure "product_sku","product_name" , " ~product_sku~^~product_name~ ^ ~ product_sku|product_name | -
Encoding
The file must always be encoded in UTF-8 format. No other encoding is supported. See this video on how to save your file as UTF-8 using Notepad2. -
Field names
Use only fieldnames that are available for the type of import you are doing. To see which fieldnames are available go to CSVI VirtueMart ---> Available Fields and filter on the type of import you want to do. It is not possible to use any other name. -
Field data
Make sure the data is properly formatted according to the specifications on the Available Fields list. -
Check the debug information
The debug report shows every step CSVI VirtueMart takes when importing the file. See the How to collect debug information on how to get your debug report. Check the debug information for anything that might be going wrong.
After having checked these checkpoints your import should be running smoothly. Check out also this presentation on how to prepare your CSV file.
A simple presentation to show you the key points to look for when preparing your CSV file for import. This presentation deals with the issues regarding:
- Field names
- Field data
- Delimiters
- Encoding
- Line endings
Today a new instruction video has been released. This video will show the following steps using CSVI VirtueMart 2.x:
- Create an export template
- Add fields to an export template
- Export data using the export template
- Open the exported file in a spreadsheet
- Create an import template
- Import data using the import template
- View the imported data in VirtueMart
Have a look at the video if you are not sure about how to create templates, export data and import data. A basic export and import is explained step by step, nothing fancy. The video is made keeping in mind the most simple approach of using CSVI VirtueMart.
The video is available for users with an active subscription from the download section.
Today a maintenance release of CSVI VirtueMart is available. The most notable fix being the missing files for the order item import and export
. A few minor fixes have been done also including the failed installation on Joomla 1.5.1.0. However I cannot say enough times it is important to keep your Joomla installation up-to-date.
The flexibility of Excel with CSV files is quite limited, so limited even that you cannot use your own field delimiter, text enclosure and encoding when opening a CSV file.
Today another release of CSVI VirtueMart has been brought to you with some magnificent features. Apart from the already long list of features a few more have been added.
What features have been added:
- Order import
The long awaited order import is finally here. Streamline your order status updates with automatic order import and export. - Order items import
Update and add items to your orders - Backup VirtueMart database
With a single click you can now backup all your VirtueMart tables into a single zip file. In case you need to recover, you can use this file in PhpMyAdmin to reload your full VirtueMart setup. - Import encrypted passwords
When importing users, you can now also import already encrypted Joomla passwords. No need anymore for generating new passwords. - Order payment method for export
Export orders based on the payment method your customers have used - and more .... see the changelog for full details
An updated CSVI VirtueMart Handbook is also available to accompany this release. Make sure you get your copy so you have all the latest details.
As of this release translations are no longer installed due to lack of participating translators and the files were too outdated. A section in the forum will be made available where people can make translations available. The latest translations will be placed there soon.
This release is available for all users with a subscription and can is now available for download.
More Articles...
Page 1 of 2