[ic] missing categories in item edit - Problem, provided workaround, request for solution :o)

[TMN Interchange]

Summary:

Our client insists on a large number of categories, and understandably
started yelling
when new ones stopped showing up in the item editor. This describes an
inelegant
hack (hey, it works at least), I am hoping for a better solution.

contactable via: interchange@welcometomyuniverse.com

Cheers,
Paul
_________

Inspiration/Kudos:

Cheers to Ven-X, not sure if their comment about ml=50 was directed at me or
someone
else, but gave me the starting point :o)

The Problem:

There are 49 categories and the blank category showing in the Item Editor.
New categories
do not show up, even after numerous checks on the tables, install of latest
version, and a
reasonable amount of searching through the mailing list.

Where I looked:

First thought it was something to do with the mv_metadata.asc file [products
directory of
catalog] (partially correct), and the way its doing lookups to find the
field names. These
seem fine. (I managed to break stuff, so good thing for backups!)

Have been through item_edit.html [~interchange/lib/UI/pages/admin/] and also
looked at
UI_STD_DBEDIT_TABLE [~interchange/lib/UI/vars/]. I think these are where a
solution
will eventually be found (see later on in this email) but I am no expert, so
will see what
someone else can "assist" with [solve] :o)

Through following parts of the code, and reasonable guesswork, came across
the module
DbSearch.pm [~interchange/lib/Vend/] which has a variable (set at 50) called
mv_matchlimit

What I think is happening:

The dropdown list is generated dynamically from the categories (I believe
from the product
database - wouldn't it be more sensible to use the category::name field?).

This I think is done through DbSearch.pm - and it has a default limit of 50.

Workaround/Kludge:

Changed (in  ~interchange/lib/UI/vars/DbSearch.pm) the value "mv_matchlimit
=> 50" to
"mv_matchlimit => 100".

My logic is that the missing categories have now reappeared! [note: remember
to do a
restart on Interchange :o)  ]

This is a Kludge!! Ideally the admin interface will drop down all categories
possible, and
this should not make a change to the default behaviour of the website.

Desired solution:

I believe by editing either edit_item.html (and however it calls
flex_editor) or the UI_STD_DBEDIT_TABLE
to increase mv_matchlimit internally, we can have as many categories as
desired through the
administration interface. Passing something internally like mv_matchlimit =
1000000 would
work even. [and if you have over a million categories - I'd hate to admin
your items!]

I have made some attempts at doing this already, but had no joy myself.
Short terms its
something I'd prefer to sleep on (being 5:50am local time aargh)

1;    # return constructive criticism :o)
__END__