[ic] Got a good question!

[Steve & Patti Getzinger]

I did something very similiar to this with 3.14 so I am sure Interchange can
handle it. With 3.14 you just defined the data and pages directory in each
catalog.cfg. I ran 3 sites with one common products db and a single set of
templates. I added some sub dirs and redefined the path to these areas. So
leftside was no longer pages/leftside it was pages/subs/cat1/leftside I only put
the items that were different in these dirs and definition was made in the
catalog.cfg index.html still took __LOGOBAR__ but the site you hit defined
__LOGOBAR__  Sounds a little confusing but actually makes managing multiple
similiar sites very easy and minimal duplication of files on the server. In
other words just use the same definition for the items that are the same in the
catalog.cfg file. Again theory :)

Steve

Dan B wrote:

> At 10:07 AM 4/3/2001 -0500, you wrote:
> >Hello Dan, Mike, or anyone who knows,
> >         I am an experienced Interchange user and currently host about 6
> > catalogs. I
> >am doing an e-business solution for a client and I need to know if I can do
> >this with interchange.
> >
> >         I want to run the DB from MySQL and feed 6 different sites with
> > the same
> >product and order DB. However, out of 3200 products, I only wish to display
> >certain categories and products in each one. Is it possible to use MySQL for
> >the products DB and use the default DB in each site for categories and
> >pricing so each site, even though it has the same products, can access
> >different pricing and display a different range of product as well as a
> >different left menu?
> >Thanks,
> >Robert Trembath
> >CTO
> >iShop Technologies Inc.
>
> Yes, you can do this.  But why?  If you are interested in setting up a
> mall, search the archives for mall and you'll find those who have done it
> successfully.
>
> But it would seem quite possible for multiple catalogs->1 database.  It
> would be a longs ways from the Construct template, though.  To allow for
> different pricing and different products to show up, you should probably
> create another table which specifies:
>
> sku     price
>
> So you can lookup only the skus/prices from the regular products database
> that are included in this store.  And for the left categories, search the
> products table for skus that are included in that category, but return the
> category of those products.
>
> You may need to do some things for the order database to be shared.  E.g.
> Setup different ordernumber sequences.  (8000000, 8000001, 8000002 for one
> store, 9000000, 9000001, 9000002 for  the second store, etc.).  Or, use the
> database autonumber.  Each table will probably need a few extra fields as
> well (owner_catalog, etc.).
>
> FYI:
> http://developer.akopia.com/cgi-bin/ic/docfly.html?mv_arg=faq07%2e03
>
> http://developer.akopia.com/cgi-bin/htsearch?words=mall
>
> Have fun with it.  :)
>
> Dan Browning, Cyclone Computer Systems, danb@cyclonecomputers.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Interchange-users mailing list
> Interchange-users@lists.akopia.com
> http://lists.akopia.com/mailman/listinfo/interchange-users