Re: [mv] RePost Please Help: Newbie questions relating to SQLplease help

["Roger B. Arnold" <rbarnold@a-dream.com.au>]

******    message to minivend-users from "Roger B. Arnold" <rbarnold@a-dream.com.au>     ******

Roger wrote:

Hello Ken,

Thanks for the reply
Yes, I have read the manual, and tried to understand what I have read, however I
found the documentation to be un-clear, especially in regard to the catalog.cfg file
set-up in the area of the database, which after all is what MiniVend is all about.
I have also read quite a few FAQ's and performed searches to find the area's that
dealt with this particular part of the .cfg file.

As far as switching things off to see if it will work or not, fine if (a) you have
got a working MiniVend system and fully understand it, and (b) you have got plenty
of spare time to do a suck-it and see scenario. Unfortunately I don't have the time
(I wish I had), btw has anyone thought about posting a fairly detailed explanation
of how things work in the area of the catalog.cfg file and perhaps the area of
connecting to a SQL database, instead of getting hot under the collar about
answering newbie questions? The number of posts about connecting to mysql over the
past week obviously shows that the docs are lacking in this area (for newbies), this
may be annoying to experienced people like yourself but even you were a newbie once
and OK you might have played around with minivend to get your own answers, but a lot
of people don't even know where to start and yet might be quite capable in other
area's.
I apologise once more for being a newbie just starting out with minivend, but
frankly if the users group is not a forum where all users can ask questions, good or
bad, then it's not worth being called a users group, and if everyone who can't spend
tens to hundreds of hours can only get terse replies, then it's a very sorry affair.

I also apologise for this long winded email, and if you all want me to leave then I
will do just that, but it's a pity because minivend has so much potential.

Regards
Roger

Ken Berland wrote:

> ******    message to minivend-users from Ken Berland <ken@hero.com>     ******
>
> > In the catalog.cfg file there is reference to the ProductDir which has a
> >
> > default of  "products" which is located in the /home/catalogs/simple
> > directory, if I only wanted to use a SQL database, what should that be
> > set to?
>
> Leave it unset.
>
> > Under the section "Database" it is stated that the default database is
> > "products products.asc 1" which I take to mean the file "products.asc"
> > in the "products" directory. Now, if I want to use only an SQL database,
> >
> > do I need to still have a "products.asc" file in the products directory
> > to define the first 3 fields or can I just use the first 3 fields in my
> > SQL database?
>
> no, you need not have a products.asc.  you can just use your mysql
> database, as is. y
>
> > In the section:
> > "Database             products products.asc
> > dbi:mysql:minivend:localhost:3306"
> > I assume that MiniVend first looks at the directory "products" and the
> > file "products.asc" before accessing the MySQL database, but if all the
> > products and fields are only in the SQL database what does MiniVend need
> > to look in that file for?
> > More importantly what needs to be in the "products.asc" file?
>
> minivend just reads the mysql database and ignores the file.
>
> BTW, did you even try ANY of this?  All of these questions could be
> answered by trial and error in a single action.  (e.g. hide products.asc
> and see what happens)  Did you read any of the FAQ or docs?
>
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any help that someone can give me to understand
> > how MiniVend works in relation to the above.
> >
> > Roger
> >
> >
> >
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