Re: [mv] SQL backed site exclusively??

[Mark Stosberg <mark@summersault.com>]

******    message to minivend-users from Mark Stosberg <mark@summersault.com>     ******


Hello Robert, I think I remember you from a Links SQL Bulletin Board. 

Even with Minivend's 4.0 edition it's clear it roots are in a flat file
based system that added on SQL support. For example look at this
documentation on SQL searches:
http://www.minivend.com/minivend/docindex/11.07.SQL_searches.html

It shows how to use Minivend variables to generate a SQL query:

<snip>
The following search will find all Van Gogh paintings that are between
$1,000,000 and $20,000,000, providing the price field is a numeric data
type. It also illustrates the use of some other MiniVend variables that
are usable for SQL searches. 

    <FORM METHOD=POST ACTION="[process-search]">
    <INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=mv_searchtype VALUE="sql"> 
    <INPUT NAME=mv_searchspec               VALUE="Van Gogh">
    <INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=mv_search_field VALUE="artist">
    <INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=mv_range_look   VALUE="price">
    <INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=mv_range_min    VALUE="1000000">
    <INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=mv_range_max    VALUE="20000000">
    <INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=mv_return_fields VALUE="code,description">
    <INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=mv_sort_field    VALUE="price">
    <INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=mv_sort_option   VALUE="r">
    </FORM>

It will generate the query: 

    SELECT code, description FROM products WHERE artist = 'Van Gogh'
          AND price >= 1000000 AND price <= 20000000
          ORDER BY price DESC
</snip>

Since I already know SQL, the SQL looks straight forward, but the
Minivend language looks rather confusing. What's been frustrating for me
that it appears I have to use the Minivend system instead of just using
the straightforward SQL. But that's for another day... here's an answer
to your question about SQL tables. 

First you need to set you for Catalog.cfg file as described here: 
http://www.minivend.com/minivend/docindex/08.02.SQL_support_via_DBI.html

Second, you need to make some empty ASCII files if even you aren't going
to use them. I find this to be a pain, but c'est la via. 

For example, if you have this defined in Catalog.cfg:

Database arbitrary arbitrary.asc dbi:mSQL:minivend:localhost:1114

then you need to populate a table named arbitrary.asc in your products
directory that contains a single line with a deliminated listing of all
the column names in the catalog, in the order you want them to appear in
the database. 

Third, when you restart the server, minivend will create a tablename.sql
file in the products directory for each file it tries to import. Once a
.sql file has been created, it won't try to import anymore. Be careful
though, when Minivend creates tables this way, it drops the existing
table first! If you already have existing tables set up, this isn't the
solution for you. 

Perhaps look at the "NoImport" directive. 

You also revisit the source code of the 4.0 beta series, which contains
the SQL definitions needed for running a minivend store entirely off of
a mysql. (in the simple/mysql directory I think).

Good luck,

   -mark

Pugdog wrote:
> 
> ******    message to minivend-users from Pugdog <pugdog@ibm.net>     ******
> 
> I'm a little dense sometimes -- I guess it comes from my early
> line-oriented initiation into computers and programming.  I really need to
> start at the beginning, and MV is so complex it seems to always want to
> start you off in the middle.  I feel I'm missing something very, very basic.
> 
> I'm no stranger to beta software, and wanted to use MV4 beta to get at the
> new features.  I had to finally give up with beta2 release because there
> are some config problems I just can't get past...   The "simple" catalog
> wouldn't work at all -- undefined arrays and  such.   The basic catalog
> would work, but the user/sessions stuff wouldn't, so until more people
> start using it, I guess it's on hold for me.
> 
> I dropped back to MV 3.14-5, and still need to use SQL to hold the
> databases and data.  Most of my data is already in SQL format.
> 
> I'm really, really confused on what MiniVend is doing with the databases.
> 
> If the data is in the SQL database, does MiniVend use ASCII tables at all?
> 
> How would I define this in a config file?
> 
> Is there a list somewhere of the bare minimum SQL tables and fields that
> MiniVend requires?  And a matching catalog config?  The demo config files
> seem to have a lot of extra items in there to handle different cases.  I'm
> finding it really confusing trying to figure out what is needed to run it
> as a MySQL backed shop.
> 
> I would really like to do everything in MySQL/SQL and not have to
> use  ASCII uploads at all -- this is even for importing data into the
> databases. I'd rather do it directly in an SQL query than with ASCII uploads.
> 
> Thanks for any insights,
> 
> Robert S. Pataki, MD
> President, PUGDOG Enterprises, Inc.
> http://www.postcards.com
> 
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