Re: virtual product and features

[Ruth Hoffman]

Hi Chris:
There have been some enhancements to the Catalog Manager (CM) that now 
allow you to create your own features and then associate them with a 
product dynamically. In 4.0 the UI for creating and associating features 
with products wasn't as "flexible" as it is now. So, what is going on is 
that the current version of the Catalog Manager UI expects that when you 
want to add variant features to a virtual product, those features must 
already exist. Further, those features must exists as "selectable" 
features. That is why you are getting that specific message. When you 
use this "variants" tab to add features, the CM assumes these will be 
"selectable" features. By selectable features, it assumes that the 
product detail web page will create an HTML select box.


Ok, so what to do next? You have to 1) either create a new feature type 
for your parts (for example, "engine") or use an existing demo feature, 
2) associate the feature(s) with your virtual product (POR911-3.2-FL6) 
3) and then use the variants tab to make the features selectable.


I did a write up of something similar (adding features to products where 
those features were downloadable documents - for example, data sheets) 
and it walks you through the Catalog Manager steps required to create 
new features. It does a much better job of explaining each step 
required. It is on the myOFBiz.com library members website 
(http://www.myofbiz.com/mylibrary). "How to Add New Product Features" 
under the Catalog Manager section.


Hope this helps.
Regards,
Ruth

Find me on the web at http://www.myofbiz.com or Google keyword "myofbiz"
ruth.hoff...@myofbiz.com

Christopher Snow wrote:
On trunk, I have noticed that although there is the error message, but 
there is another message above the Add Variant Products box:


"*No selectable Features found . Please create some and try again."

*So it appears that r4 allows you to add variants without selectable 
features while newer versions don't.


I can still manually add the product variant through the associations 
screen on trunk, so as long as this doesn't get "fixed", I will use 
this method. Is this ever likely to get fixed?


Many thanks in advance,

Chris


Christopher Snow wrote:

Hi Ruth/Scott,

This post is related to a post I did some time ago. My client is a 
vehicle breaker that scraps vehicles, and sells the individual 
components. When they scrap a vehicle, they keep the main components 
such as the engine and later sell those items individually. Some of 
the engines may be serialized and some may not.


For example, they may have scrapped 10 "Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera 
series (1984–1989)" cars and have the following engines:


Porsche 911 3.2 liter horizontally opposed flat 6 cylinder engine
- non-serialized, QOH = 8, price £1,500 each
- serialized, QOH 2 :
- serial #12345, description "excellent condition", price £2,000
- serial #23456, description "doesn't start", price £500

From the trials that I have done with ofbiz r4.0, the stock 
management aspect works great. Using the following steps:


- create a product of type virtual (e.g. POR911-3.2-FL6)
- create non-serialized stock for POR911-3.2-FL6 and add 8 units
- create a product of type variant (e.g. POR911-3.2-FL6-12345)
- select POR911-3.2-FL6 product, in variants tab, enter 
POR911-3.2-FL6 and click "Add variant product"

- create a product of type variant (e.g. POR911-3.2-FL6-23456)
- select POR911-3.2-FL6 product, in variants tab, enter 
POR911-3.2-FL6 and click "Add variant product"
- create serialized stock for POR911-3.2-FL6-12345 and 
POR911-3.2-FL6-12345
- create serialized stock for POR911-3.2-FL6-12345 and 
POR911-3.2-FL6-23456


At the moment they don't need ecommerce, they just need stock 
management, but when they do need ecommerce, then I guess I will have 
to write some custom pages to allow their customers to be able to see 
the description and prices of individual stock items and choose the 
item that best suits their requirements. Features don't seem to make 
sense for this application, and I'm not sure where virtual/variant 
products is the right way to go either. Perhaps I should model the 
association purely as a product association of "equivalent or 
substitute". However, one benefit of using virtual/variant is that in 
the catalog inventory screens, it shows a nice summary of stock for 
each variant.


However, when trying to add variants in various ofbiz versions, I get 
the following result:


TRUNK: Error calling event: 
org.ofbiz.webapp.event.EventHandlerException: Service invocation 
error (null)

9.04: No selectable Features found . Please create some and try again.
4.0: All ok - no error

- create a product of type virtual (e.g. CS-VIRT1)
- create a product of type variant (e.g. CS-VAR1)
- select CS-VIRT1 product, in variants tab, enter CS-VAR1 and click 
"Add variant product"


Any ideas?

Many thanks,

Chris


Ruth Hoffman wrote:

Hi Chris:
This 

Re: virtual product and features

[Christopher Snow]

On trunk, I have noticed that although there is the error message, but 
there is another message above the Add Variant Products box:


"*No selectable Features found . Please create some and try again."

*So it appears that r4 allows you to add variants without selectable 
features while newer versions don't.


I can still manually add the product variant through the associations 
screen on trunk, so as long as this doesn't get "fixed", I will use this 
method.  Is this ever likely to get fixed?


Many thanks in advance,

Chris


Christopher Snow wrote:

Hi Ruth/Scott,

This post is related to a post I did some time ago. My client is a 
vehicle breaker that scraps vehicles, and sells the individual 
components. When they scrap a vehicle, they keep the main components 
such as the engine and later sell those items individually. Some of 
the engines may be serialized and some may not.


For example, they may have scrapped 10 "Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera series 
(1984–1989)" cars and have the following engines:


Porsche 911 3.2 liter horizontally opposed flat 6 cylinder engine
- non-serialized, QOH = 8, price £1,500 each
- serialized, QOH 2 :
- serial #12345, description "excellent condition", price £2,000
- serial #23456, description "doesn't start", price £500

From the trials that I have done with ofbiz r4.0, the stock management 
aspect works great. Using the following steps:


- create a product of type virtual (e.g. POR911-3.2-FL6)
- create non-serialized stock for POR911-3.2-FL6 and add 8 units
- create a product of type variant (e.g. POR911-3.2-FL6-12345)
- select POR911-3.2-FL6 product, in variants tab, enter POR911-3.2-FL6 
and click "Add variant product"

- create a product of type variant (e.g. POR911-3.2-FL6-23456)
- select POR911-3.2-FL6 product, in variants tab, enter POR911-3.2-FL6 
and click "Add variant product"
- create serialized stock for POR911-3.2-FL6-12345 and 
POR911-3.2-FL6-12345
- create serialized stock for POR911-3.2-FL6-12345 and 
POR911-3.2-FL6-23456


At the moment they don't need ecommerce, they just need stock 
management, but when they do need ecommerce, then I guess I will have 
to write some custom pages to allow their customers to be able to see 
the description and prices of individual stock items and choose the 
item that best suits their requirements. Features don't seem to make 
sense for this application, and I'm not sure where virtual/variant 
products is the right way to go either. Perhaps I should model the 
association purely as a product association of "equivalent or 
substitute". However, one benefit of using virtual/variant is that in 
the catalog inventory screens, it shows a nice summary of stock for 
each variant.


However, when trying to add variants in various ofbiz versions, I get 
the following result:


TRUNK: Error calling event: 
org.ofbiz.webapp.event.EventHandlerException: Service invocation error 
(null)

9.04: No selectable Features found . Please create some and try again.
4.0: All ok - no error

- create a product of type virtual (e.g. CS-VIRT1)
- create a product of type variant (e.g. CS-VAR1)
- select CS-VIRT1 product, in variants tab, enter CS-VAR1 and click 
"Add variant product"


Any ideas?

Many thanks,

Chris


Ruth Hoffman wrote:

Hi Chris:
This is just my opinion, but yes you could do that, but be aware that 
the ecommerce application makes some assumptions about virtual and 
variant products. (For example, how to display HTML select boxes that 
allow a site visitor to choose the variation of a virtual product.)


At a minimum, the ecommerce application may not know how to handle 
your products in terms of catalog listings, shopping cart displays 
etc. I haven't looked at the code lately so I'm not sure what the 
total impact would be.


What are you trying to do?

Regards,
Ruth
Chris Snow wrote:
Can a variant product be linked to a virtual product without using 
features?


Many thanks in advance,

Re: virtual product and features

[BJ Freeman]

If selenium works in 4.0 then I suggest you install it.
then create data file similar to the demo data that has what you
describe here.
run selenium to establish 4.0 behavior.
then put in a patch with your results to as you stated here.
this will let anyone that is interested have a test case to work against
without having to do all the work of setup and reproducing your environment.
Not saying anyone will work on it, just saying it would give people more
incentive to look at it if inclined.
It would also shorten time if you have to get someone to consult with
you on the problem.

also note selenium has some holes in it that also need to be addressed,
you may hit one and need to work with the selenium group to resolve it.
See the jira
https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-3511


=
BJ Freeman
http://bjfreeman.elance.com
Strategic Power Office with Supplier Automation 

Specialtymarket.com 

Systems Integrator-- Glad to Assist

Chat  Y! messenger: bjfr33man
Linkedin



Christopher Snow sent the following on 3/26/2010 11:26 PM:
> Hi Ruth/Scott,
> 
> This post is related to a post I did some time ago. My client is a
> vehicle breaker that scraps vehicles, and sells the individual
> components. When they scrap a vehicle, they keep the main components
> such as the engine and later sell those items individually. Some of the
> engines may be serialized and some may not.
> 
> For example, they may have scrapped 10 "Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera series
> (1984–1989)" cars and have the following engines:
> 
> Porsche 911 3.2 liter horizontally opposed flat 6 cylinder engine
> - non-serialized, QOH = 8, price £1,500 each
> - serialized, QOH 2 :
> - serial #12345, description "excellent condition", price £2,000
> - serial #23456, description "doesn't start", price £500
> 
> From the trials that I have done with ofbiz r4.0, the stock management
> aspect works great. Using the following steps:
> 
> - create a product of type virtual (e.g. POR911-3.2-FL6)
> - create non-serialized stock for POR911-3.2-FL6 and add 8 units
> - create a product of type variant (e.g. POR911-3.2-FL6-12345)
> - select POR911-3.2-FL6 product, in variants tab, enter POR911-3.2-FL6
> and click "Add variant product"
> - create a product of type variant (e.g. POR911-3.2-FL6-23456)
> - select POR911-3.2-FL6 product, in variants tab, enter POR911-3.2-FL6
> and click "Add variant product"
> - create serialized stock for POR911-3.2-FL6-12345 and POR911-3.2-FL6-12345
> - create serialized stock for POR911-3.2-FL6-12345 and POR911-3.2-FL6-23456
> 
> At the moment they don't need ecommerce, they just need stock
> management, but when they do need ecommerce, then I guess I will have to
> write some custom pages to allow their customers to be able to see the
> description and prices of individual stock items and choose the item
> that best suits their requirements. Features don't seem to make sense
> for this application, and I'm not sure where virtual/variant products is
> the right way to go either. Perhaps I should model the association
> purely as a product association of "equivalent or substitute". However,
> one benefit of using virtual/variant is that in the catalog inventory
> screens, it shows a nice summary of stock for each variant.
> 
> However, when trying to add variants in various ofbiz versions, I get
> the following result:
> 
> TRUNK: Error calling event:
> org.ofbiz.webapp.event.EventHandlerException: Service invocation error
> (null)
> 9.04: No selectable Features found . Please create some and try again.
> 4.0: All ok - no error
> 
> - create a product of type virtual (e.g. CS-VIRT1)
> - create a product of type variant (e.g. CS-VAR1)
> - select CS-VIRT1 product, in variants tab, enter CS-VAR1 and click "Add
> variant product"
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> Many thanks,
> 
> Chris
> 
> 
> Ruth Hoffman wrote:
>> Hi Chris:
>> This is just my opinion, but yes you could do that, but be aware that
>> the ecommerce application makes some assumptions about virtual and
>> variant products. (For example, how to display HTML select boxes that
>> allow a site visitor to choose the variation of a virtual product.)
>>
>> At a minimum, the ecommerce application may not know how to handle
>> your products in terms of catalog listings, shopping cart displays
>> etc. I haven't looked at the code lately so I'm not sure what the
>> total impact would be.
>>
>> What are you trying to do?
>>
>> Regards,
>> Ruth
>> Chris Snow wrote:
>>> Can a variant product be linked to a virtual product without using
>>> features?
>>>
>>> Many thanks in advance,
>>>
>>>
> 
> 

Re: virtual product and features

[Christopher Snow]

Hi Ruth/Scott,

This post is related to a post I did some time ago. My client is a 
vehicle breaker that scraps vehicles, and sells the individual 
components. When they scrap a vehicle, they keep the main components 
such as the engine and later sell those items individually. Some of the 
engines may be serialized and some may not.


For example, they may have scrapped 10 "Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera series 
(1984–1989)" cars and have the following engines:


Porsche 911 3.2 liter horizontally opposed flat 6 cylinder engine
- non-serialized, QOH = 8, price £1,500 each
- serialized, QOH 2 :
- serial #12345, description "excellent condition", price £2,000
- serial #23456, description "doesn't start", price £500

From the trials that I have done with ofbiz r4.0, the stock management 
aspect works great. Using the following steps:


- create a product of type virtual (e.g. POR911-3.2-FL6)
- create non-serialized stock for POR911-3.2-FL6 and add 8 units
- create a product of type variant (e.g. POR911-3.2-FL6-12345)
- select POR911-3.2-FL6 product, in variants tab, enter POR911-3.2-FL6 
and click "Add variant product"

- create a product of type variant (e.g. POR911-3.2-FL6-23456)
- select POR911-3.2-FL6 product, in variants tab, enter POR911-3.2-FL6 
and click "Add variant product"

- create serialized stock for POR911-3.2-FL6-12345 and POR911-3.2-FL6-12345
- create serialized stock for POR911-3.2-FL6-12345 and POR911-3.2-FL6-23456

At the moment they don't need ecommerce, they just need stock 
management, but when they do need ecommerce, then I guess I will have to 
write some custom pages to allow their customers to be able to see the 
description and prices of individual stock items and choose the item 
that best suits their requirements. Features don't seem to make sense 
for this application, and I'm not sure where virtual/variant products is 
the right way to go either. Perhaps I should model the association 
purely as a product association of "equivalent or substitute". However, 
one benefit of using virtual/variant is that in the catalog inventory 
screens, it shows a nice summary of stock for each variant.


However, when trying to add variants in various ofbiz versions, I get 
the following result:


TRUNK: Error calling event: 
org.ofbiz.webapp.event.EventHandlerException: Service invocation error 
(null)

9.04: No selectable Features found . Please create some and try again.
4.0: All ok - no error

- create a product of type virtual (e.g. CS-VIRT1)
- create a product of type variant (e.g. CS-VAR1)
- select CS-VIRT1 product, in variants tab, enter CS-VAR1 and click "Add 
variant product"


Any ideas?

Many thanks,

Chris


Ruth Hoffman wrote:

Hi Chris:
This is just my opinion, but yes you could do that, but be aware that 
the ecommerce application makes some assumptions about virtual and 
variant products. (For example, how to display HTML select boxes that 
allow a site visitor to choose the variation of a virtual product.)


At a minimum, the ecommerce application may not know how to handle 
your products in terms of catalog listings, shopping cart displays 
etc. I haven't looked at the code lately so I'm not sure what the 
total impact would be.


What are you trying to do?

Regards,
Ruth
Chris Snow wrote:
Can a variant product be linked to a virtual product without using 
features?


Many thanks in advance,

Re: virtual product and features

[Scott Gray]

Can it? Yes.  Will it achieve anything in terms of OOTB functionality? No.

The selectable/standard features are the differentiator between the variants so 
without them there is no path from the virtual to a specific variation.

Regards
Scott

HotWax Media
http://www.hotwaxmedia.com

On 26/03/2010, at 10:16 AM, Chris Snow wrote:

> Can a variant product be linked to a virtual product without using features?
> 
> Many thanks in advance,
> 
> 
> -- 
> Chris Snow - CEng MBCS CITP MBA (Tech Mgmt) (Open) CISSP
> 
> Tel: 01453 890660
> Mob: 07944 880950
> Www: www.snowconsulting.co.uk
> 



smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

Re: virtual product and features

[Ruth Hoffman]

Hi Chris:
This is just my opinion, but yes you could do that, but be aware that 
the ecommerce application makes some assumptions about virtual and 
variant products. (For example, how to display HTML select boxes that 
allow a site visitor to choose the variation of a virtual product.)


At a minimum, the ecommerce application may not know how to handle your 
products in terms of catalog listings, shopping cart displays etc. I 
haven't looked at the code lately so I'm not sure what the total impact 
would be.


What are you trying to do?

Regards,
Ruth
Chris Snow wrote:

Can a variant product be linked to a virtual product without using features?

Many thanks in advance,


  

virtual product and features

[Chris Snow]

Can a variant product be linked to a virtual product without using features?

Many thanks in advance,


-- 
Chris Snow - CEng MBCS CITP MBA (Tech Mgmt) (Open) CISSP

Tel: 01453 890660
Mob: 07944 880950
Www: www.snowconsulting.co.uk