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EDatCat User`s Manual

1. Enter the full server path to where the Edatcat CGI scripts will reside This is the server path to the cgi bin or the directory where the EDatCat scripts will reside example user home mysite www cgi bin Enter the full URL to where the EDatCat CGI scripts will reside This is the http URL to your script directory example http Awww mysite com cgi bin What is the file extension to be used for CGI scripts You can designate either cgi or pl It doesn t matter which unless your server has specific requirements exan pl or cgi Enter a 3 letter code to be used to identify this site s catalog files This 3 letter code will be used to name your scripts and files For instance if your company is named North American Apple Company your 3 letter code could be NAA for North American Apple In this case your m script would be named NAAstore cgi instead of edatcat cgi This is a good way to brand your software as uniqu your company This code will be case sensitive once your installer is created example BUP or TLS What is the file extension to be used for templates You can specify any extension you wish We recommend that it be no longer than 4 characters example txt or leave blank for none Enter the administration password you would like to use This will be the password for the administrative area of EDatCat This needs to be at least 8 characters long an will be case sensitive Enter the URL to your
2. 1 Setting base configs and gaining an understanding of how it all works This involves walking through a few select areas of the admin menu to get your store to a point that you can be EDatCat User s Manual Page 2 of 51 development in a testing environment These select areas are Program Settings Base Preferences Store Settings Cart Options Payment Options Confirmation Tracking Settings You may also enter your registration code at this point if you have one If you have not yet purchased one ther worry about that later Refer to the later portions of this manual for instruction on setting preferences in the sect listed above Once you have done this proceed to step two 2 Entering some sample data Go to the Modify Product Info section of the admin and enter a few items recommend entering a few simple it and then a few items more indicative your most complex data Five to ten items is all you need to enter at this p This will allow you to test out your customizations with actual data samples 3 Customizing your templates OK here s where the rubber meets the road It s time to start customizing the layout and appearance of your sti The Customization Guide on our support site will help you gain an understanding of how to do this I ll be there walk you through that as well You now have enough data and the important settings entered and out of the wa This will make your customization process much eas
3. nd or nM where n is the number of days d or months M Examples 7d 7 days 2M 2 months Caution If you don t enter this correctly it s possible that the shopper s cookie will not get saved Payment Options Date last updated 6 28 2004 The below options will ask you to configure your setup with regards to accepting processing and delivering orders anc payment information Once you configure these options you will be asked to provide additional details about your setu Begin by walking through the Payment Options below Completed Order Notification This is basically asking you how the orders should be delivered You have three options 1 Email Merchant Order using Regular Email This option will send the order to the merchant using regular email 2 Email using PGP This option sends the order via email securely using PGP PGP must be installed on your system for this option We do not support issues with PGP Please consult your server administrator or PGP support about issues with PGP 3 Don t send email Merchant will export order info See articles for more info on retrieving orders This option specifies that the order will NOT be emailed at all Secure Server Options Now that you have told EDatCat how to deliver orders it needs to know how the orders will be processed The options are very general and allow you to process your orders virtually anywhere 1 Local SSL Site Select this option if your SSL serv
4. or 11 202 or 12 5kg Do not enter the quotation marks e Shipping Dimensions Packaging If you have selected to use the UPS packaging feature in the Shipping Setup section of the admin then EDatC tell you how to package your items to achieve the same lowest rates obtained by the program To do this EDat need to know the dimensions of this item Enter the dimensions in inches and as follows L W H Example 2 3 The example shows that the item is 2 inches long 3 inches wide and a half inch tall e Ship Item Separately Used with UPS FedEx shipping If the item needs to be shipped all by itself and should not be included in a box other items then select this option If you are importing your catalog then a value of YES or NO must be prese this column e Shipping Cost Enter the shipping cost to used for this item This value will be multiplied by the quantity ordered to arrive at the shipping cost This option is needed if you are charging per item shipping fees You may use it in conjunction w other freight methods for additional shipping handling for this item e Categories Here you can select the categories that this product needs to be listed under The box on the left shows categc that exist in your database Simply select a category then click the Add button to place the item under that category Multiple categories may be selected e Status Select the current status of this item If you are using auto inventory
5. Items with errors were not imported Correct entries were EDatCat User s Manual Page 31 of 51 Import Current Price List This function imports a spreadsheet consisting of Catalog retail price wholesale price in that order Select a text file to import and specify which type of file format to use Do not include currency symbols Excel and other spreadsheets often lose their format when converting to csv or tab 1 doesn t matter the Edatcat script will format these numbers before displaying in the catalog Export Data Choose the file you wish to export 1 Choose to export all or selected fields 2 Specify destination file and file format 3 If you chose to select fields you will be asked to do so in the next screen 4 If you chose to export orders or order details you will be asked for a date range Note that while you can expori Orders and Order Details you cannot re import Order Details in addition if you re import Orders you will lose Details On completion of export the link to the file will be displayed for download You may need to right click and choose save For large files you may want to download using ftp The file will be found in the uploads directory Import Quantity Fields This utility is useful if you are using the auto inventory feature You will need to upload new shipments of your inventory Select a text file to import and specify which type of file format to use Make sure the fields are in the fo
6. When a specific order has been selected that order info will be displayed Shipping status and tracking can be updat this point Note that if you use UPS tracking you must change shipping status and enter tracking to facilitate the tracking butto the customer s order status screen Values for the shipping status drop down are set in store messages section There are 4 custom fields associated with an order USER1 USER2 etc These fields can be gathered on the checkou page or payment page and will be saved with other order info These values can be recorded on email confirmation by the shortcuts USER1 etc Order Reports Date last updated 6 28 2004 Orders can be veiwed and printed using this utility Sort order date range and report type are options that dictate what will be included and how it will be displayed The format for this report can be customized by editing the following files found in the admin directory order_report txt orderdet_row txt Welcome Message Date last updated 6 28 2004 EDatCat User s Manual Page 33 of 51 To display a store wide message seen by customer when log in enter your text or HTML code in this field You can usi Ystore welcome shortcut to display the message Customer Mailing List Date last updated 6 12 2002 coming soon Email Utility Date last updated 6 12 2002 The customer Email Utility allows the administrator to email all customers an email message THis message
7. great care should be taken or you may introduce multiple problems in your shopping cart In addition YOU MUST follow the below outlined procedure BEFORE you make changes to the admin templates YOU DO NOT follow this procedure and you experience problems as a result of your changes then WE WILL BILL HOURLY to fix it This policy is for your benefit as well as ours Before changing the admin templates 1 Make a list of the changes you wish to make 2 Submit this list to EDatCat Tech Support 3 Support will review your list and make you aware of any issues to be cautious of In addition Tech Support ma advise on the best way to approach your changes 4 Once you receive this response from Tech Support you may proceed with our blessing and we will assist yot you encounter problems When you get ready to change the admin templates e Make a backup of all of the default templates in your directory Store them someplace safe e Follow the below list of do s don t s when modifying the admin templates Do Not s 1 Do not change or delete any shortcuts on the template Example backordered_list 2 Do not delete or change form tags 3 Do not change or delete any hidden variables within the form tags EDatCat User s Manual Page 38 of 51 Example lt input type hidden name user_action value prog_admin gt 4 Do not change the names values or type of any form objects Size and formatting may be changed Exampl
8. DBM hashfiles Because there are a variety of perl modules available and some of them are implemented inconsistently it s not just good enough to make backups of the files Luckily eDatCat provides two mechanisms for making backups including one which can be used to restore from Data Backup and Restoration This is the preferred mechanism for backing up data in eDatCat You can also restore from these backups First backup the data directory All files in the data directory except for xxxinv xxxdata and xxxacct are in text formats and can be restored directly from these files The xxxinv xxxdata and xxxacct files are in system or implementation dependent formats and will need to be bi up using the Backup Data Files utility In the admin utility under Utilities select Backup Data Files Click Okay In your uploads directory you will find four files Xxxinv txt xxxacct txt xxxdata txt xxxerrors txt this may not be present and is often empty Note that this step applies to Version 3 Note that these backup files are made in a web accessible location by default You should make a backup of these to inaccessible location and remove them from the uploads directory immediately In order to restore these files first restore your data directory backup Then place the xxx txt files listed above in the uploads directory In the admin utility under Utilities select Restore Data Files Click Okay At this poin
9. To call your store front using the link function type in t following URL http www mysite com cgi bin xxxstore cgi user_action link amp link mainpage Mainpage at the end of the string is the template or page you are calling You can place any page within your templates directory at the end of this string and it will be called using the script For more information on using functions and templates please see the Customization Guide on our support site For more information see e Installation topics in the Knowledge Base Post Installation Date last updated 6 28 2004 This guide assumes you have just finished installing the EDatCat shopping cart There are steps you can take now tok prepare the cart for your store 1 Make a backup of your EDatCat installation This would include the data admin and templates directories and EDatCat scripts and xxxsetup edc file where xxx your three letter dbcode from the cgi bin directory It is use have a copy of the unmodified templates etc should you need to refer to them or if you wish to redesign one ot templates from the default 2 Under Utilities select Backup Data Files and click Okay 3 Confirm which perl DBM modules you have on your server Check with your ISP or use the free PerlDiver script Perl 5 003 or later or for Perl 5 6 or later script to confirm which perl DBM modules are on your system Note tr perldiver doesn t always confirm the existence of DB_File If you ne
10. change or n anything with re running your installer this is not a real bad thing but it is inconvenient sort of like having to reinstall software on your desktop When you ready click the button to begin installation This process may take a few minutes so be patient EDatCat is transferring files setting permissions testing and configuring the files settings This process may take up to a minute depending on the speed of your connection and your server When the installation is complete you will see a link to your admin area It s time to begin setting your preferences For more information see e eDatCat System Requirements e Installation topics in the Knowledge Base Troubleshooting Date last updated 6 12 2002 If the installer encounters error during the installation process it should display the problem in your browser window Si below for common errors and solutions 1 Could not locate or create specified directory This means that one of the paths you specified to the installer is not correct The directory in question should be displayed Double check the path to this directory using the PerlDiver cgi tool in the Helpful Tools section of our support site Once you fix the path if the error persists it may be a problem with your server configs Please co your server administrator for help 2 Could not write to specified directory This means that the installer could not write to and create files in a par
11. choices each on a separate line How Choices is used by EDatCat depends on your offering of choic and the Effects Price First create or edit a product to which you wish to add options At the top of the Modify Delete Product page you will s EDatCat User s Manual Page 25 of 51 the link Click here to add options for this product Follow that link to the Edit product Options page NP No Price This Effect Price setting has no effect on pricing It is useful for such things as color of an article of clothing size of an lt of clothing etc Label Optional An appropriate label of your choice Choices A list of choices with one choice per line Any prices listed will have no effect Example 1 You have a shirt and you wish to add color options that do not affect the price Label Color Effects Price NP No price Choices Red Blue Gray Black Example 2 You have a shirt and you wish to add size options that do not affect the price Label Size Effects Price NP No Price Choices S M L XL XXL Example 3 You have a shirt and you wish to offer the choice of V neck or crewneck Label Style Effects Price NP No Price Choices Crewneck V neck Example 4 You have a shirt and you wish to offer the choice of pocket or no pocket Label Pocket Effects Price NP No Price Choices Yes No You could if you wish combine Example 3 and Example 4 as shown in Example 5 Example 5 You have a shirt and
12. expedite matters if you need to contact Support This step is be performed along with the previous step If you encounter any difficulties or problems during this procedure contact EDatCat Tech Support Update to Newest Release Guide EDatCat User s Manual Page 41 of 51 Date last updated 6 28 2004 Generally speaking when using Update to Newest Release you should just be able to use Update to Newest Releas under Utilities However if there are any problems i e your web hosting provider goes down network congestion pre access to eDatCat as we have witnessed with outbreaks of certain email viruses etc the following is a recommende procedure to follow to minimize problems e As with all things computer related make a backup We cannot emphasize this enough This isn t restricted to eDatCat or updating your scripts A recent backup is always a good thing to have whenever anything goes wrong In particular we recommend you first use Backup Data Files under Utilities to make a backup of your data fi i e the data files that use the perl DBM modules After this we recommend you backup your eDatCat directorit scripts data uploads templates admin e At this point you should just be able to use Update to Newest Release under Utilities e lf there are any problems contact eDatCat Tech Support Data Backups in eDatCat Date last updated 6 23 2004 EDatCat Version 3 stores product customer and order data in perl
13. lists indented lists images bold or italic text etc e Picture You may provide the complete HTTP path URL of the product image or upload the image directly from your computer The size and border of the image is controlled on the templates This path and or upload will simply lt the image to the page Uploaded images will be placed in the uploads directory e Retail Price This field must be completed Do not enter dollar or currency symbols only numbers and decimals You must s decimal settings in the Base preferences section of the admin for the decimal places to appear in your catalog e Wholesale Price If you have selected to use Wholesale or Retail Wholesale pricing then this option will be present If you have selected to use only Retail pricing then this field will not appear Enter the wholesale price using the same guidelines shown above for the retail price field e Taxable Check the box if tax should be charged for this item If this box is not checked tax will not be applied If you are importing your catalog then this column must contain a YES or NO value for applicable items e Shipping Wt This should be the exact weight of the product If you are not using weight based shipping fees then this field is important and may be left blank However for UPS or other weight based fees this field must be completed in for accurate rates to be delivered to the customer during checkout Enter value in this format 10 oz 2 Ib
14. option if not already checked It prevents hackers from builing their own post reques their own prices Uncheck if you get an invalid referrer message while testing which is extremely rare Card Types Accepted Select your payment types You can also supply additional card types such as your own credit card or foreign types n listed If you utilize payment types other than credit cards you will need to adjust your payment template Add additional radio buttons for the other payment types such as COD Check by Phone Net 30 etc Code the input type using the following example being sure to retain the name paytype This example adds a COD paytype lt input type radio name paytype value COD COD_checked gt COD_checked is useful if the shopper is sent back to the payment page the COD if checked will remain checked Additional custom input fields may also be added and reported on the merchants email Using the objects name as a shortcut On the second screen you will be asked to provide additional information about your selections If you are using a payn gateway please see the documentation in the section of this manual that addresses your gateway If you will be using SSL site please see the appropriate sub topic of this section For more information see e Customization Guide section on SSL and Payment Gateways SSL Setup Date last updated 6 12 2002 For further details on configuring your templates to p
15. site This should be the complete http address of your site s home page example http www mysite com Enter the absolute server path to the URL above This is the complete server path to your root web directory example usr home mysite www Enter your company s Store Name as it will appear on web pages This is fairly self explanatory Just enter your company name Be careful about odd characters example Nortt American Apple Co Once you have specified the information on this page and have verified that it is correct proceed to the next page EDatCat User s Manual Page 5 of 51 On this final page you will be aske dto specify the paths and URLs to the other five directories you created for EDatCa specified the path and URL to the cgi bin on the previous page 1 Directory path for uploaded image files This should be the server path example usr home mysite www uploads 2 URL to uploaded image files This should be the complete URL example http Awww mysite com uploads 3 Directory path to templates This should be the server path example usr home mysite www templates 4 URL to templates This should be the complete URL example http Awww mysite com templates 5 Directory path to admin and templates This should be the server path example usr home mysite www admin 6 URL to admin templates and files This should be the complete URL example http www mysite com admin 7 Path to the direc
16. time with eDatCat recommend that you prepare yourself and your client for about a two week development period After you ve done this once the next time will be a snap Our Greek distributor I Magic gr set up a complete 60 000 item store in under three days start to finish Not too bad Program Settings Date last updated 4 22 2004 1 Admin Access Permissions Top Level Password This will serve as the primary admin login with full administrative privileges 2nd Level Password This is helpful if your client needs to login and change product information All of the vital configs options are disabled for the secondary admin user 2 Test Mode Test Mode Test Mode effects how error diagnostic messages will be displayed It is recommend that you place EDatCat in test mode while developing your site or when troubleshooting errors When test mode is off the shopper will see a generic error message customizable in the admin error messages Carterror is the template used for non test mode messages 3 Template Mode This option is important for users upgrading from a version earlier than 2 0 Version 2 template structure allows you to specify code for a complete HTML page rather than using header or footer files New users can select which option they prefer More information on the templates can be found in the Customization Guide on our support site EDatCat User s Manual Page 10 of 51 e Full Page Style select if you wish to provide c
17. you wish to offer the choice of pocket vs no pocket on both crewneck and V neck t sl Label Style Effects Price N No Price Choices Crewneck pocket Crewneck no pocket V neck pocket V neck no pocket EDatCat User s Manual Page 26 of 51 This has the advantage of keeping more options free for other choices if necessary AP Add to Price This Effect Price setting modifies the Product s Retail Price by adding the given values It is useful when you wish to ofi value added options that would increase the cost of an item Label Optional An appropriate label of your choice Choices A list of choices with one choice per line Each option much be followed by a comma and the price Example 1 You are selling high quality photgraphic prints of pictures from electronic sources A customer uploads em etc a picture to your store and you print and mail it to them By default you print 4x6 for a base price of 2 00 Howeve you wish to provide the customer the opportunity to increase the size for an extra fee Label Increase size Effects price AP Add to Price Choices Increase to 5x7 1 00 Increase to 8x10 8 00 Increase to 16x20 50 00 No thanks 4x6 please 0 00 Example 2 You are selling pre built wooden furniture such as a table chair Your customers vary in terms of their preference for adding a finish themselves or having it finished by you Your base price may be 50 00 for an unfinishec chair but for an extra 25 00 y
18. Check with your server admin sure your domain DNS is configured properly For more information see e Installation topics in the Knowledge Base e Helpful Tools Calling the Scripts Date last updated 4 5 2004 Once you have successfully installed EDatCat you will want to begin configuring your preferences and you may even to check out the default appearance of your new storefront To call your admin section simply type in the URL to the xxxadmin cgi script in your script directory where xxx is your letter db code To browse to your storefront you use one of two methods e The easiest is just to type in the URL to your xxxstore cgi script in your script directory where xxx is your 3 lette code When you see your storefront note that this page is customized by editing the mainpage template in y templates directory e The second method is by using the link function We will discuss the EDatCat functions in greater detail later lt but we ll give a quick lesson here just for kicks The link function allows you to call any file within your templates directory whether it be an EDatCat template just a regular HTML file What is the benefit of calling other HTML files from within your templates directory Sir EDatCat User s Manual Page 8 of 51 all of the EDatCat functions and shortcuts will work on any page inside this directory and called using this functi even if the page is not at all related to the shopping cart
19. EDatCat User s Manual Page 1 of 51 eDatCat User s Manual Last Updated 2004 06 30 The User s Manual for the eDatCat Shopping Cart System is designed to be used in tandem with the eDatCat administrative section Use this material as a guide as you walk through the admin section and begin to discover its flexibility and dynamic appeal Introduction Welcome to the eDatCat Shopping Cart System Before we get to the specifics of the software it will be helpful to you to understand the important principles upon which eDatCat was built 1 eDatCat does not can anything for you nor is it a quick fix solution This is a product that will enhance your ability to meet your clients needs As such it relies on your creativity and development ability to create a seamless and effective shopping environment It is not designed to be implemented overnight Particularly during your first experience with eDatCat there will most likely be a slight learning curve as you begin to understand how it all comes together eDatCat is extremely flexible This is a great thing but it also leaves a lot of things up to you You must first understand how all of the different aspects of the product work in conjunction with each other to present your work to the world Then you will be in a better position to effectively utilize the product to its highest potential 2 Because of the inherent flexibility your creativity will be your greatest asset as you implement
20. File use NDBM_File or use SDBM_File depending on s availability and as you see fit e In your updater script you will see a line such as db_module use DB_File Depending on server availability and your preferences choose one of db_module use DB _File db_module use GDBM_File db_module use NDBM_File db_module use SDBM File e In your SSL store or admin scripts you will see a line such as use DB File You can use one of EDatCat User s Manual Page 44 of 51 use DB File use GDBM File use NDBM File use SDBM File e In your echo script you will see a line such as use DB File You can use one of use DB File use GDBM File use NDBM File use SDBM File Regardless of the perl DBM module you choose above make sure it s the same one for each step Selected perl DBM module not sufficiently powerful enough Most likely you are using SDBM_File and you will need to use GDBM_File or DB_ File Steps for changing your cart s preference can be found in the Change DBM Module Preference section of the eDatCat User s Manual At this stage you should have selected the best perl DBM module for your system If it is DB_File or GDBM_File you should be able to add a larger number of products with larger descriptions SSL amp Internal Server Errors If you are using Remote SSL consider all other details of this document e g end of line characters permissions etc
21. GP configured in the same man so we have tried to make it as easy as possible to interface with your version of PGP EDatCat should work with pretty any version of PGP It is important to note that we do not support problems with PGP or problems interfacing EDatCat with PGP PGP is a complicated program and due to the number of variables involved it would be nearly impossible for us to troubleshoot issues with PGP on your server EDatCat s PGP interface works Please consult your server admin to get the values needed on this page If you have difficulties and are certain they represent a problem with the EDatCat interface please let us know and we will examine situation However if you have difficulties getting PGP itself to work then please consult your server admin or PGP sur to troubleshoot that issue Registration Code Date last updated 6 12 2002 This option is used when you have purchased EDatCat When you purchase you are actually purchasing the registrati code itself and upon successful purchase the code will be displayed on your screen and it will be emailed to you If yo have not yet purchased your registration code then omit this option until you have done so EDatCat will remain fully functional for 10 days following installation Once you have purchased enter your registration code EXACTLY as it is shown The code is case sensitive and may include decimal places or other punctuation marks so be sure to enter it very caref
22. NIX Example usr lib sendmail EDatCat User s Manual Page 11 of 51 Not Required for EDatCat Mail e Mail Server This is required for BlatMail only Example mail mydomain com e Merchant Email Specify the email address of the merchant to receive orders and payment info e From Email Specify the address to appear in the from field on customer order receipts e Reply To specify a reply to address for all automated messages sent by the script e Select to Test To test your mail settings select this box and specify a test address to send confirmation to Do this the whenever you configure your mail settings Base Preferences Date last updated 6 12 2002 1 Pricing Options e Retail Pricing Select only if you will offer one level of pricing or if you wish to display only one price for each product e Wholesale Pricing Select this option ONLY if you will be offering wholesale pricing only When this option is selected non wholesale customers will not see ANY price at all for each item e Both Select this option if your items will display or utilize retail and wholesale pricing You can hide one or the other for customers depending on their retail wholesale status Also if you will only accept one price but wish to show an original price or list price you may select this option and use the wholesale price field to display the non used price for each item you ll need to label it accordingly on your templates 2 Currency Field Fo
23. Page 20 of 51 This is determined by the merchant s arrangement with UPS if any If they do not have a pick up arrangement select Customer Counter e Default Shipping Costs In the event that the UPS server is unavailable or inthe event of an error EDatCat needs to be able to provide base fees for shipping options Enter default costs for each of Ground 2nd Day Air and Next Day Air e Use Dimensions Dimensions are not required for actual UPS costs If you would like to use product dimensions in your shipping costs EDatCat can take into account the containers you use to ship items For instance if someone buys 10 apples from you EDatCat knows how many will fit within each container you use to ship and get the shipping costs accordingly e Default Dimension This dimension will be used if no dimensions are found in a product s record This should be the average size of your products e Largest Container Enter the Length Width and Height of your largest container box that you use to ship your orders in the following format L W H or 36 36 36 e Smallest Container Enter the Length Width and Height of your smallest container box that you use to ship your orders in the following format L W H or 24 24 24 For additional information on the UPS options above please see the UPS web site at http Awww ups com or contact your local UPS office at 1 800 PICK UPS 1 800 742 5877 2 Cost based on total order weight This will be a p
24. Program Configuration Once eDatCat is installed it is time to begin setting your preferences and customizing the appearance This process can get very involved depending on how much customization you will be doing and exactly how your site will be configured By now you have noticed that eDatCat is fairly different from other cgi software The installation was a piece of cake hopefully By automating the process we made it very simple for you to install a very complex program Now here s where scare you grin From here on what you do and how you do it is totally up to you This is a great thing for a web developer because it means that you have total control over the output appearance and presentation of your online store However if this is your first time to use eDatCat you may feel a little overwhelmed This is understandable but let me assure you that it is not as difficult as it first appears You re now sitting here with dozens of templates and scripts an admin area with dozens of options and a deadline for your client thinking yeah right promise it isn t But will say this your first time through eDatCat will take some time And it should A site done well and done right always take a little time eDatCat does not can anything for you This is a good thing but it also means that there will be a slight learning curve your first time through I m here to help you deal with that learning curve If this is your first
25. This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights that vary from state to stat province to province 8 Limited Remedies Good data processing procedure dictates that any program be thoroughly tested with non ct data before relying on it The user must assume the entire risk of using the Software THE LIABILITY OF EDat Inc FOR A DEFECTIVE COPY OF THE SOFTWARE WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO THE REPLACEM OF YOUR COPY OF THE SOFTWARE APPLICATION ANOTHER COPY OR REFUND OF THE INITIAL LICE FEE EDatCattm Inc RECEIVED FROM YOU FOR THE DEFECTIVE COPY OF THE PRODUCT IN NO EVE WILL EDatCattm Inc OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT SPECIAL INCIDENTAL CONSEQUEN INCLUDING LOST PROFIT OR LOST SAVINGS OR OTHER DAMAGE WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT TORT OR OTHERWISE EVEN IF AN EDatCattm Inc REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY THIRD PARTY Some states or provinces not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages so the above limitation or exclusior EDatCat User s Manual Page 51 of 51 not apply to you 9 Submissions Should you decide to transmit to EDatCattm by any means or by any media any information incl without limitation ideas concepts or techniques for new or improved services and products whether as information feedback data questions comments suggestions or the like you agree such submissions are unrestricted and shal
26. VELAND MS 38732 USA Attn Ellison Belt Copyright 2002 2003 2004 eDatCat Inc
27. and sensitive information and should be protected The below image outlines two comm directory structures A F public directory B carts a cgi bin fr data E Siore Go public directory store HO cgi bin carts fF store data a store templates A templates a admin m admin l CEJ uploads A uploads Once the directories are created set permissions to 777 This includes the cgi bin The installer must be able to write t cgi bin during installation Once installation is complete you may change the cgi bin back to 755 but the other director must remain set to 777 For more information see e Installation topics in the Knowledge Base EDatCat User s Manual Page 4 of 51 Creating the Installer Date last updated 6 29 2004 Once the directories have been created and permissions have been set it is time to generate your customer installer 1 done from our web site at http www edatcat com download html On this page select your platform and proceed On the following page you will be asked to provide a number of syster paths and URLs We have a tool available on this site that will help you determine the correct information to provide PI see the PerlDiver cgi tools available here http www edatcatsupport com tools html Once you are sure of the correct paths and URLs enter them as follows A 10 What is the path to Perl5 on your server This should be the path to the perl directory i e usr local bin per
28. are unable to determine the source of the problem try running the SSL script from the Address bar directly from your secure server using https Do you get an Internal Server error e Yes Confirm that other potential sources as listed in this document of Internal Server Errors have been ruled these are not the source of the problem contact your web hosting provider and ask them if there is any reason a script won t execute on the SSL server e No Write a small html page on your regular server that posts to the SSL script on the SSL server You may use example below as a template lt html gt lt body gt lt form name Test Form method post action https www my secure server com cgi bin ABCSSL pl gt lt input type submit name Submit value Click here to run parameterless SSL script gt lt form gt lt body gt lt html gt Do you get an Internal Server Error when accessing the script using POST o Yes Contact your web hosting provider and tell them that you do not get Internal Server Errors while rui a script from the address bar on the SSL server but you do when you attempt to post to the script The script when executed without parameters should give a Missing parameters error not an Internal Ser Error O No If you do not get an Internal Server Error when running the SSL script from the SSL server from the Address Bar and you do not get an Internal Server Error when posting to it from the html co
29. at Version 3 0 5e your ABCdata ABCinv and ABCacct files are not stored in an eDatCat file for they are stored in perl DBM hash file formats which are not typically human readable vary across implementations se and versions While Tech Support will provide advice on how you might be able to recover your data the fact is that we typically cannot recover your data for you Non Existent Userids If the scripts are owned by a non existent user or are running under a non existent userid this could be a problem In addition this could cause a problem with using the email utility Script Timeout Settings It s possible this is caused by the scripts timing out Try setting script timeout settings to a higher value In particular it help to increase the script timeout settings to a higher value if you are getting Internal Server Errors at times when you a greater volume of sales or site hits LWP Simple Issues Confirm that LWP Simple on your SSL server works properly PayFlow Pro Installed in Non Standard Paths If for whatever reason Payflow Pro wasn t installed within the normal perl library paths and if this is the source of the problem you may be able to fix it by adding a line to the SSL script just after the usr bin perl such as EDatCat User s Manual Page 47 of 51 use lib path to perl library e g use lib usr home my_account www pfpro linux perl lib perl5 site_perl 5 6 1 i386 linux Be awar
30. ate last updated 6 12 2002 After installation you will notice that the box on this page is filled with default data fields that Edatcat has supplied You cannot delete these however you do not have to use all of the fields or display them on your templates You make ce changes to them labels length select options such as on the status fields and notes You can add your own fields 42 well Please note that editing data fields utilizes the same fields as the Add Data Field menu so please see descriptions be for tips guides and limitations on editing data fields 1 Field Name Field Names should start with a letter Letters and numbers can be used but do not include space special characters Field names should be single words do not use multiple words for field names 2 Label Labels will be used for display purposes on the admin screens Labels can contain multiple words but be careful with odd characters Do not include carriage returns in this field 3 Type Select a type for your data field 4 Special This is necessary if you are adding a comment or list field For a list place the values separated by a semicolon For comment fields enter the HTML clause for wrapping text within a textarea box in this field 5 Length Specify the maximum length of the field if text and rows columns for comments There is no built in limi on length but some DBM modules do have limitations If you are unable to edit the length for thi
31. book Spiral binding price WBMath001L 1 Mathematics Workbook Non bound Three hole punched price Example 2 You sell guns However you live in a state where it is mandatory for guns to be sold with gun lock kits You to provide your customer with a choice of gun lock kits Label Which gun lock kit would you like Effects Price IN Inventory Item Choices AA001 1 Basic gun lock kit price AA002 1 Deluxe gun lock kit price Text Input Options In the lower section of this page in your admin menu you will see a table for Text Input Options This is useful if you ari selling T Shirts and want your customer to be able to specify the text that should be added to their shirts for monogramming custom messages etc To create a custom text input field in the form of a comment box you would the following in the Text Input Option table Label the name of the field i e Message Name Initials etc Required Input Yes or No you can mark this as a required field if you wish Attributes this would be the size of the comment box and the wrap option i e 4 50 physical In this exmaple the box be 4 rows high 50 columns wide and text would use a physical wrap You can also specify virtua wrap for text Error Message This is the message a customer sees if the field is marked as required and they do not enter any text Using Product Options To add your product options to your detail template use an EDa
32. can includ customer variables which will be filled in by the script For more information see e Complete List of Shortcuts Chapter 7 Shortcut Configuration Here you can customize the output of various system shortcuts Use HTML code to make changes Template Shortcuts Date last updated 6 28 2004 In this screen you can customize the look of edatcat shortcuts The first group are shortcuts that call Edatcat functions second group are not really shortcuts but are HTML snippets used in shortcuts Ycatfeature_tmpl is used with the catfeature shortcut You can customize how Edatcat will display the category featured item All product variables and shortcuts are available in this code snippet You can even add an adc cart button feature_tmpl works the same way but displays the main featured items specified in the admin section feature items Category Shortcuts Date last updated 6 28 2004 These templates are used when generating category shortcuts The main aspects you ll want to control here is font and user_action User_action can either be category which will di EDatCat User s Manual Page 34 of 51 the category page or list to list all items in a category For more information see e Customization Guide section on Shortcuts Store Messages Date last updated 6 28 2004 This is where you can customize miscellaneous store messages Do not use carriage returns on any of these entries 1 are te
33. controls the status is automatically update qty on hand reaches 0 or if it is replenished In addition you can print specific messages about delivery of the if based on its status by using the IF THEN statements See the Customization Guide for more details e Template If you need to use a special template for this product rather than use the default detail template you can do so providing the complete server path to the template in this field If a path is provided the program will use this EDatCat User s Manual Page 24 of 51 template instead of the regular detail template e Popup This field although it is called popup is merely a placeholder for another HTML page or image providing information on this product You simply type in the complete HTTP URL to the page or image you wish to link tc can supply JavaScript code on the template to create a popup window or you can use the IF THEN statement optionally remove reference to this field on the template if no URL is provided See the Customization Guide for more details e Related Items You can cross reference items that may be related by entering the catalog numbers of items in this field separa by commas You can control the display and presentation of this list of items on the detail template by editing th relitems and relrow templates e Setup Charge This is a one time fee or charge associated with this product Enter a numerical value may contain decimals b dollar or cu
34. customizations and see how it works When troubleshooting Internal Server Errors script modifications you may want to consider other situations described in this document e g wrong end of line characters permissions etc Disk Space and Quota Check your disk quota Are you under quota If your disk usage fluctuates were you under quota when you had the problems Determine or check with your web hosting provider if you have enough disk space Note that while you shc have access to all of your quota you may want to check with your web hosting provider Some providers allow users tc over and be billed for the extra usage Note that if they do not enforce disk usage so that the minimum disk offered is actually available it s possible that you may not have access to all the space you should Also be aware that if you hit your quota and or use all available diskspace it s possible that writes to the database files be denied and as a result the files became corrupt In this case one possibility would be to make a backup of your ABCdata ABCinv and ABCacct files from your data directory and delete them Then restore from a backup If you restore from a backup you may be able to recover portions of your data from the files in a text editor but it may be ver difficult Bandwidth Quota Check your bandwidth quota Were you over quota at the time of the internal server errors Server Load Can your server handle the load We
35. d on each row in the list A value of 2 means that two items will be display each row and so on 4 Related Items Listing e Number of columns to display related items Controls the number of columns on the relitems template A value means that one item will displayed on each row in the list A value of 2 means that two items will be displayed o each row and so on After you specify all of the above settings and click the button to save them the script will generate the new index wher save button is clicked Please be patient The amount of wait will vary with number of products your connection speed the speed of your server For more information see e Creating Search Forms Re Generate Product Indexes Date last updated 6 12 2002 You should execute this option after you have used the import function to import products Or if you are making produc changes that would effect category order and you did not select the link to regenerate at that time Should you suspect listing is not ordered correctly you should run this option Change DBM Module Preference EDatCat User s Manual Page 16 of 51 Date last updated 5 7 2004 For best results you ll want to choose the best possible database which your system supports Your server will choose database module by default however it may not necessarily be the best choice for your store Here s how to pick the b database module to use with your store and get your store to use it F
36. dated 6 12 2002 For additional shipping options please see http Awww xtracat com and check out the power shipping module 1 UPS Shipping Cost This option will require EDatCat to go to UPS at the point of checkout and retrieve exact shipping costs based on the o destination and product specs weight dimensions provided in each product s records There are several other option will need to config if you choose this option To use UPS shipping costs you must supply enough information so that EDatCat can generate accurate costs In addition since this feature relies on third party software you must also tell EDatCat what to do in the event that the UPS server is unavailable The information you must provide is as follows e Default Shipping Weight Provide a default shipping weight in the event that a product does have a weight entered in its record e Shipper Zip This should be the zip code of the mechant who will be shipping the goods e Shipper Number The shipper number is provided by UPS to the merchant and used in the tracking process e Delivery Confirmation Select the type of delivery confirmation you wish to use e Confirmation Required This is used for confirming large orders For instance if you ship 5 000 worth of your products you might not want UPS to leave it on the front porch if no one is home You can specify the amount over which confirmation of delivery is required e Pickup Type EDatCat User s Manual
37. de above bi do when you attempt to access the script with your store contact EDatCat Support EDatCat User s Manual Page 45 of 51 If you are using Local SSL setup confirm that the other potential sources in this document are not a problem Once yot have ruled these out try running the script over SSL from the address bar If you get an Internal Server Error try runn the script over regular http from the address bar If you do not get an Internal Server Error it may be one of the follow e The scripts may run under different userids depending on whether they are accessed via regular http or SSL h In this case changing permissions and or ownership of the scripts and or data files being accessed may help Alternatively although your files are stored on the same server you may still configure your server using the Re SSL setup This often solves the problem e You may to contact your web hosting provider and tell them that scripts are not executing over SSL This may preferable if you are using shared virtual web hosting and you do not want to change file permissions or owerns in such a way as to make your data less private or secure Erroneous Script Customizations We cannot offer support for scripts modifications other than those made by eDatCat Please see our support policy wh includes some recommendations and why we have this policy In this case we recommend you rollback if possible ai practical depending on your script
38. duler suct cron Update to Newest Release Date last updated 6 28 2004 This utility updates your eDatCat scripts to the most current version It does not write over templates or data If you should have trouble updating the most common causes of problems are e Changing ownership of the scripts by downloading and uploading The solution is to change all script permissic 777 The update script will automatically change them back e Bad internet connection heavy site traffic Try the process again later If you have made any script modifications you will need to re apply those changes Script modifications should be mac accommodate as little change to the main scripts as possible Generally speaking when using Update to Newest Release you should just be able to use Update to Newest Releas under Utilities However if there are any problems i e your web hosting provider goes down network congestion pre EDatCat User s Manual Page 36 of 51 access to eDatCat as we have witnessed with outbreaks of certain email viruses etc the following is a recommende procedure to follow to minimize problems e As with all things computer related make a backup We cannot emphasize this enough This isn t restricted to eDatCat or updating your scripts A recent backup is always a good thing to have whenever anything goes wrong In particular we recommend you first use Backup Data Files under Utilities to make a backup of your data fi i e
39. e lt input name test_mode_fl type checkbox value ON test_mode_checked gt Do not cha anything in the form object 5 Do not change the name including case of template names 6 Do not change the name of buttons You may change the caption or value Example lt input type submit name delete_cat value Delete Category width 200 gt Do s 1 Translate labels headings and instructions 2 Change formatting column layout colors and fonts 3 Change button look amp values not names 4 Change look and size of input objects 5 Add images text popups and links 6 Delete input fields and manually set them as hidden variables only if absolutely positive of what you re doing Example lt input type hidden name template_style value full gt This will ensure that template style never gets changed to the old style 7 Change value of function_heading This value is displayed as function name on the completion page admin_saved txt After making any changes you should thoroughly test your cart Also whenever you submit a new ticket to eDatCat Te Support or when you first re open update etc a ticket opened previous to the admin template changes you MUST te eDatCat of the admin template changes Basically we need to know even if it doesn t seem related Moving to Another Server Date last updated 6 11 2004 The following instructions apply to Version 3 of EDatCat If you are moving Version 2 cart o
40. e problems you are encountering are specific to eDatCat and not the third party plugin 7 PGP while offered as documented functionality is not directly supported We will help you if we can but given number of PGP implementations available we cannot guarantee support 8 Unless there is a specific reason why you cannot or should not update please consider updating to the latest version Some problems have been fixed in patches to the software If you have a reason why you cannot upda software contact us Minor updates are free Typically they are bug fixes but occasionally we will add extra functionality that we feel is necessary in the current version Instructions for updating to the latest version can b found in the Update to Latest Version section of the eDatCat User s Manual Be sure read the release notes f the latest version These can usually be found in the link in the News section which typically has a reference latest version EULA End User License Agreement Date last updated 6 13 2002 Please read this End User License Agreement the EULA before downloading By downloading you indicat agreement with these terms IMPORTANT READ CAREFULLY By installing copying or otherwise using the Software you are agreeing to be bi by the terms of this EULA including the WARRANTY DISCLAIMERS LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY and TERMINATIC PROVISIONS If you do not agree to the terms of this EULA do not press the I Accept button a
41. e that if you update your scripts the line you added will be overwritten so you may want to keep track of what worked and have it ready to be re implemented whenever you update your scripts Also before making this change m backup of your original SSL script Uploading Data If you have uploaded data from an external database e g products customer data etc it s possible that unless they v stored in text only format you may have corrupted your database files In this case we recommend you make a copy lt delete the ABCdata ABCinv ABCacct files in the data directory and restore from a backup If you are using the REPLACE method for importing it s possible that in the creation of the new data or customers data permissions were changed If this is the case reset permissions Exactly what permissions you need to use will vary o server setup etc Did EDatCat Tech Support solve a previous Internal Server Error for you If so you may want to look back on that ticket In our experience sometimes developers use the same web hosting prc and server related issues that apply to one store may often apply to other stores you set up on the same server or on servers configured similarly as servers from the same web hosting provider sometimes are Did you clear your cache and cookies after making a change to troubleshoot or resolve an Internal Server Erro Sometimes when an Internal Server Error occurs the script involved may ha
42. ed to check for DB_File ask your hosting provider or ask EDatCat Support for a copy of a small test script that can sometimes detect it While not all perl DBM modules are created equal and some of them are not implemented in a consistent mann generally the following holds true Windows Server DB_File good SDBM_File bad Basically if you re hosting on a Windows server and only SDBM_File is available you should contact your host provider and request that DB_File be installed It is available for ActivePer for Windows UNIX Server Sometimes as many as four DBM modules supported by EDatCat are available GDBM_File NDBM_File DB_File SDBM_File We recommend against using SDBM_File Generally we recommend GDBM for UNIX Under Database Settings select Change DBM Preferences Select the best DBM module that you have conf is available on your server and click Save WARNING Ensure that the DBM module you select is indeed on your system If you select a DBM module that is not on your system the cart will not function properly EDatCat User s Manual Page 9 of 51 4 Under Utilities select Update to Newest Release and click Okay 5 Under Utilities select Restore Data Files and click Okay That s it You have now updated your cart to the latest patch version and set it to use the best available DBM module If you have any questions or encounter any problems during this procedure contact EDatCat Tech Support Chapter 2
43. er uses the same physical directories as your normal HTTP pages Check if you will be processing credit cards manually or if you will be using a gateway to process but wish customers to enter payment information on your site 2 Remote SSL Site Select this option if your secure server resides on a separate machine or uses different physical directories than your regular HTTP pages Check if you will be processing credit cards manually or if you will be using a gateway to process but wish customers to enter payment information on your site 3 No SSL site will be utilized Select this option if you will be collecting payment information on a page provided by your payment gateway or if you will not be collecting credit card information at all Payment Processing Service These options allow you to specify which payment gateway you will be using If you will not be utilizing any select Non AuthorizeNet Echo and VeriSign Payflow Link and Pro configuration is handled automatically If you are using anoth gateway we have provided notes and instructions on setting up configuration in this section of the manual If you are not using AuthorizeNet or VeriSign Payflow Link then select the Other will provide parameters manually and examine the documentation your gateway provides as well as the documentation in the Other Gateways section EDatCat User s Manual Page 18 of 51 this manual Valid URL Referrer It is recommended you check this
44. ercentage based shipping fee Weight is calculated using the weight field in each product s record You provide the parameters for this option by using the four fields below the main features Freight Rate Freight Rate Unit Cost Max Cost Handling Fee 3 Cost based on total shipping costs in product file If you specified specific shipping charges for each product this option will add those together to create the shipping tot You may provide the parameters for this option by using the four fields below the main features Freight Rate Min Cos Max Cost Handling Fee 4 Cost based on fixed price per order This is a flat rate shipping fee You can also add an handling fee to this charge by providing the amount in the Handlinc field 5 Custom Freight Table You can provide your own freight table based on order total For instance you can charge 5 shipping for orders totallil 0 25 10 shipping for orders totalling 26 50 etc You can also add an handling fee to this charge by providing the amount in the Handling Fee field 6 Cost based on percentage of order total If this option is selected then the shipping fee will be a percentage of the total order amount EDatCat User s Manual Page 21 of 51 Additional Variables e Freight rate e Freight rate unit Freight based weight will be calculated per unit specified by this entry This unit will also be us default weight unit if not specified in product record Unit specified
45. f Stock Status Status that reflects when item is out of stock When quantity on hand for an item changes to zero the product s status will be changed to this value e In Stock Status Status that reflects when item is in stock When quantity on hand for an item changes to greater than zero the product s status will be changed to this value Note The values for this drop down list can be changed by going to data fields and selecting the status field The values are found in the special entry for this field 6 Customer File Uploads e Save to Directory This is the directory where uploaded files are stored when using the upload feature If you will not be using this feature then you can ignore this option e Max Upload Size Specify the maximum file size in KB that customers can upload It is also the maximum file size you can upload via the Upload button in the admin utility 7 Email Settings e Program Selection SendMail for UNIX or Windows BlatMail for Windows only or EDatCat Email for UNIX or Windows highly recommend SendMail for Unix or Windows The SendMail program for Windows is actually very good BlatMail is very buggy EDatCat mail should only be used if there is an actual mail server functioning SendMail for NT is available at http www indigostar com sendmail htm e Program Location Enter complete path and program name of the mail program Windows Example Use DOS path name C Progra 1 Blatma 1 blat exe U
46. gular basis Ha recent backup of your working store will greatly expedite matters if you need to contact Support Copy your files to the new server Exactly which files to transfer will depend on your site but typical directories include data carts admin templates uploads cgi bin Edit the following scripts and xxxsetup edc file in the cgi bin directory to reflect the new domain name and or file directory path settings setup edc admin pl SSL pl echo pl store pl chkout pl purge pl In these files in addition to the paths and or urls at the beginning of the files you will see near the beginning of the following format if e C Inetpub Scripts ABCcustomprogramming cgiext my custprogfile C Inetpub Scripts ABCcustomprogramming cgiext You will have to replace C Inetpub Scripts with the path of your own scripts directory file and replace ABC witr own three letter dbcode Go through the admin utility to ensure that any urls and or pathnamse are changed as necessary Under Utilities select Restore Data Files and click Okay If you have hard coded the url or pathname in products or category settings etc you will have to change them If you specified the url or pathname in any of the files in the data directory you will need to change them there lt well The url or pathname is not typically specified in any files in the data directory unless it were placed there manually or it is from a setting within
47. hat are normally sold by an amount e g per item by the yard foot etc This Effect Price setting allows you to set different prices for different amount ranges It is useful for anything sold per unit or in bulk Label Optional An appropriate label of your choice Choices A list of choices with one choice per line Each choice has a range separated by a hyphen followed by a cor followed by the amount that applies if the quantity chosen is in the range Example 1 You are selling cases of pencils in bulk You wish to offer a quantity break for multiple cases Label Quantity Break Effects Price QB Quantity Break Choices 1 9 1 00 ea 10 49 95 ea 50 99 90 ea 100 199 85 ea 200 1000 80 ea Example 2 You sell fabric by the yard You wish to offer a quantity break for people who buy above a certain yardage Label Quantity Break Per Yard Effects Price QB Quantity Break Choices 1 9 3 00 ea 10 49 2 95 ea 50 99 2 85 ea 100 199 2 75 ea OP One time charge Sometimes you will sell items for which you wish to charge a standard Retail Price but whenever the quantity is more t one you will only want to charge an extra fee for the first one Label Optional An appropriate label of your choice Choices A list of choices with one choice per line Any prices listed will be added to the product s Retail Price Example 1 You produce professional quality publications based on raw data provided to you by your customer Si
48. have had a small number of customers with a very large product catalog and a volume of sales upgrade to more powerful servers with positive results Note that we re not suggesting you upgrade ju because you received Internal Server Errors it is just the case for very busy stores that you may need to It depends o business and the server you are using If server load appears to be an issue you may also want to look at the perl DBM module being used One way to determine if it is a case of server load is to attempt to reproduce the problem when the server is less busy Wrong Installer Sometimes an Internal Server Error can be caused by downloading the eDatCat installer for the wrong operating syste you are installing in Windows use the Windows installer if you are installing in UNIX use the UNIX installer Corrupt Templates or Data Files If you have made any changes to your templates or data files and just uploaded then check to see if they became corr EDatCat User s Manual Page 46 of 51 Occasionally we have had reports of users who corrupted their templates with ftp Once they realized their templates v corrupt and fixed it worked fine Codes in URLS If you have any hard coded links that have spaces try substituting 2B for each space and 3B for each semicolon you upgraded from a previous version of eDatCat try replacing plus signs which may have been used in the place spaces with 2B or a space Memory Res
49. here does not limit unit used in product recor Our converter will convert product weights for you e Minimum Maximum shipping costs Set your limits here e Extra handling Charge will be added to the total order cost How do offer Free Shipping To offer free shipping to your customer which can greatly influence their decision to purchase simply select the third o Fixed Price per Order and supply 0 00 as the amount You may also specify free shipping for certain items by modifyi that items record and checking the field free shipping Tax Options Date last updated 6 28 2004 To configure your state tax options simply enter the tax rate you will need to charge next to each applicable state Sho who supply that state code will be charged the corresponding tax rate For instance if you do business in Mississippi and need to charge MS residents 7 sales tax then locate that state in tax table and enter 07 for the amount of sales tax i e MS Mississippi 0 07 Do this for every state that applies If you are not sure about the tax figures or local sales tax laws you might contact y accountant or the local city clerk for guidance For VAT tax Edatcat supports multiple tax rates To set these rates up use the tax table found on this screen These ti rate codes will be applied to all orders if set If using multiple rate codes the script will look for the appropriate rate cod the following order until it finds an entry produc
50. ier 4 Setting all of your preferences When you re done customizing the appearance walk through the admin and set up the rest of your preferences can now test and tweak your layout and presentation to make the most of things 5 Entering the rest of your data The final step in development is entering the rest of your data This is where you will either enter everything ma or import the entire catalog in one quick motion You may want to browse through the store and make some fin modifications to the layout to accommodate some odd ball items if you have any 6 Testing testing testing EDatCat produces a complex high impact web site This is not some meager little perl app You ve created a w class system It needs to be tested before you go live Test re test and then when you ve tested everything thoroughly test it again Have your client test it Be sure everything works before you go live This is a standard procedure in any serious e commerce development venture The process outlined above is the one follow and trust me it works It will help you stay focused develop in an order fashion and not get sidetracked on things that may not be necessary early on Have fun and enjoy For more information see e Customization Guide Chapter 1 Installation The installation process for eDatCat is very easy and generally takes about 10 15 minutes Because the process is automated you can be up and running in minute
51. ile bad EDatCat User s Manual Page 40 of 51 If your system only has SDBM_File we recommend you contact your web host and request a better alternative DB_Fi available for UNIX and ActivePerl for Windows and is often a safe bet GDBM_File is also available for Linux If your web hosting provider is moving to a FreeBSD system you should confirm beforehand that EDatCat will work W have had trouble with some FreeBSD systems Even if your site is working fine on a FreeBSD system now if you re mc to a different one test beforehand These instructions work for most users However it s possible that you may have to change your file ownserships and permissions on the destination server If you encounter any difficulties or problems during this procedure contact EDatCat Tech Support Routine Maintenance Date last updated 6 23 2004 Once you have EDatCat installed configured and customized there are a set of regular steps you can do to increase uptime and reduce the likelihood of unforeseen problems The following steps are intended to be practiced on a regula basis How often you perform them is your decision A general guideline is If something unforeseen happens how reci would you like your backup to be 1 In Import Export export all datasets you wish to have a record for Note that as of Version 3 0 5d you can exe Orders and Order Details but you cannot re import Order Details and importing Orders will erase Order Details This w
52. ill be changed in a future patch The purpose of this backup is to have an extra copy if necessary Note that these backup files are made in a web accessible location by default You should move them immediz 2 Under Utilities select Backup Data Files and click Okay In your uploads directory you will notice the set of fi where xxx is your three letter docode Xxxinv txt xxxacct txt xxxdata txt xxxerrors txt this may not be present and is often empty Note that this step applies to Version 3 These files are backups in text format of the data files that are normally stored in a perl DBM module file form your hosting provider switches servers changes the perl installation configration or adds deletes or otherwise changes the default perl DBM module on your system etc you may need these files if there are any incompatibilities between the different DBM module file formats Ideally your web hosting provider should notify before making these kinds of changes to the server so you can make a backup immediately beforehand Howe you perform this step on a regular basis and the server is changed without your knowledge you can use these backups to restore the files Note that these backup files are made in a web accessible location by default You should move them immediz 3 Make a complete backup of your site This is good general practice and should be done on a regular basis Hay recent backup of your working store will greatly
53. ions that use it The end result is that the person doing the script modifications is responsible for supporting those modifications Another reason why it s not good enough to say that the script modifications do not affect such and such is experience We have already been told script modifications did not affect certain functionality only to look at the affected section of the code to see that what we were told was indeed wrong In summary we cannot support scripts modified by anybody other than eDatCat If you do have modified scripts you may be able to determine if a problem is an issue with eDatCat or the customizations by undoing the modifications or otherwise restoring the unmodified code and attempting to repre the problem Note that you should not attempt this unless the programmer s involved in the customizations a you to do so and we still reserve the right to refuse support The reason for this is quite simple we do not k what effect your modifications had on the data files And we cannot know this unless we look at the modificatior putting us back in the situation described above And for the same reasons described above telling us that the modifications did not affect the data files or the problematic behaviour is not acceptable While we do not wish any inconvenience to our users the fact remains that we cannot reasonably offer support scripts modified by anybody but us You should refer to the support policies of your custom
54. irst install perldiver to your scripts directory You can find more about perldiver at our Helpful Tools page Make sure permissions for perl diver are properly set and then point your web browser at the perldiver script At the bottom of the which perldiver produces you will see a list of installed modules Look for the following GDBM_File DB_File NDBM_File SDBM_File The above list is in order of best to least best so take note of the one which is highest in the list above and appears it perldiver s list Note that DB_ File does not always show within perldiver so if you want to use DB_File you can check with your web hosting provider to confirm it s on your server or ask EDatCat Tech Support for a small test script that we sometimes us check for DB_File Now that you know which database module you want to use you must perform the following procedure 1 Because the default mechanism for changing the perl DBM module requires you to update your scripts we recommend you make a complete backup of your eDatCat system first 2 Under Utilities select Backup Data Files and click Okay Once the database types are switched the old date becomes inaccessible hence the need to backup the data files as the format used for backup is plain text 3 From the main admin panel under Database Settings select Change DBM Preference Choose your preferre perl DBM module Be sure to choose one that s on your system and click Save 4 From
55. l be deemed non confidential and you automatically grant EDatCattm and its assigns a no exclusive royalty free worldwide perpetual irrevocable license with the right to sublicense to use copy trans distribute create derivative works of display and perform the same 10 Distribution and Backups a DISTRIBUTION OF THE REGISTERED VERSION OF THE Software IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED and is a violation of United States copyright laws and international treaties punishable by severe criminal and civil penal b You may make copies of the Registered Version of the Software for backup purposes only All backup copie must be an exact copy of the original Software 11 Governing Law The validity construction and performance of this Agreement will be governed by the substant law of the State of Mississippi 12 U S Government Restricted Rights The Software and documentation are provided with RESTRICTED RIGHT Use duplication or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph c 1 ii the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252 227 7013 or subparagraphs c 1 lt 2 of the Commercial Computer Software Restricted Rights at 48 CFR 52 227 19 as applicable Manufacture such purposes is EDatCattm Inc P O Box 1788 Cleveland MS 38732 Copyright 2000 EDatCattm Inc All Rights Reserved If you have any questions about this license contact EDatCattm Inc at PO BOX 1788 CLE
56. lation of copyright laws and international treaties c Modifying any portion of the Software source code or asking any individual or entity to modify the Software s code other than EDatCattm Inc is a violation of copyright laws and international treaties d EDatCattm Inc is not required to notify you of or to provide you freely with any upgrades to the Software e If you upgrade the Software to a higher version of the Software this EULA is terminated and your rights shall limited to the EULA associated with the higher version 4 Proprietary Rights All title and copyrights in and to the Software including without limitation any images photographs animations video audio music text and applets incorporated into the Software Application th accompanying media and printed materials and any copies of the Software are owned by EDatCattm The Sofi is protected by copyright laws and international treaty provisions Therefore you must treat the Software like ar other copyrighted material subject to the provisions of this EULA 5 Termination Rights Without prejudice to any other rights EDatCattm Inc may terminate this EULA if you fail tc comply with the terms and conditions of this EULA In such event you must destroy all copies of the Software of its component parts and EDatCattm may suspend or deactivate your use of the Software with or without noti 6 Export Control You may not export or re export the Software or any cop
57. llowing order Catalog quantity on hand Choose update Action Replace exchanges the old field value with the new Add to addes the new field value to the old Chapter 6 Customer Accounts eDatCat allows your customers to create an account This can be advantageous for both the customer and the business owner since there is great marketing potential in maintaining a customer list You can even create custom greetings for each customer extending the hospitality of your web site and increasing the effectiveness of your sales presentation See the Customization Guide for details Account Status Date last updated 6 28 2004 Search for account info by account ID or account name or add new accounts EDatCat User s Manual Page 32 of 51 When a specific ID has been selected account info will be displayed All entries are visible and can be edited In addition there are 5 custom variables available On the customer s account setup these can be labeled appropriate on the admin screen they appear as CUST1 CUST2 etc To report these variables on order info use the shortcuts CUST1 etc These fields add great potential to the account features of eDatCat See the Customization Guide for more information using account flags to display messages and other bits of information For more information see e Using Account Flags Order Status Date last updated 6 28 2004 Search for orders by order last name or by order date
58. messages will be display using the template carterror They will be displayed in this format only when the testmode is set off Do not use carriage returns These are HTML snippets Special Functions Date last updated 6 28 2004 If you plan to use the What s New feature or the Most Popular feature you may want to customize your settings here 1 EDatCat User s Manual Page 35 of 51 where you can specify the number of items to display number of columns to display it in etc Number of items refers to total number of items to display which is also the total number to display on the page So onl page will display for either of these functions Max days on what s new list will specify when an item will no longer appear on the list Most popular for the last __days tells the script how far back to count the times ordered Chapter 8 Utilities This section has huge implications on the performance of your store Read each section carefully before executing an option Test SSL Setup Date last updated 6 12 2002 This function will test your configuration of the payment setup SSL setup etc Enter an email address to run the repor Purge Expired Carts Date last updated 6 28 2004 Use this utility to delete expired carts and wishlists and other temporary files in the cart directory They will not automat delete themselves It is recommended you edit the purge script instructions are in the script and run in using some type of sche
59. missions and Ownership This issue is not specific to eDatCat but applies to perl scripts in general Sometimes an Internal Server Error is an indication that a data file being accessed or modified by a script has the wro permissions or ownership In particular consider the following EDatCat User s Manual Page 43 of 51 Script Permissions Ensure that the script you are attempting to run has executable permissions set Depending on you server setup and the ownership of the scripts the script may need to be set to owner executable group executable ar executable by everybody File Permissions Ensure that any data files being accessed by the scripts are readable and or writeable depending oi function Depending on your server setup and ownership of the data files userid of the script processes etc you may to set these files to be owner readable writeable group readable writeable and or readable writeable by everybody Script Process Userid Ensure that the permissions of the scripts and data files are consistent with the userid of the s processes For example if you wish to use mode 600 for a data file you ll need to have the script userid to be the sam the userid of the owner of the file Otherwise you ll need to set the permissions to 660 or 666 depending on the group file etc A variation on this is some server configurations will not allow scripts to be executed in subdirectories of the scripts directory As well s
60. n Category level2 category level3 category Notice that semi colons are used to divide the parent from its child Up to five levels of categories are supported This does not mean 5 subcategories It means 5 levels deep For example category subcategory sub subcategory sub sub subcategory and so on 2 Special Options 1 Feature Product Enter a valid Catalog Number for a feature product for this category this is optional Only the first product listed is featured This featured item can be displayed only on the category temp when using the catfeature shortcut but can also be displayed on the list template if using the feature shortcut and only one item is entered Category Discount Enter the discount for this category using this format rate code where code is P for percent or F for fixed For instance 25 P equals a 25 discount on al items in this category VAT Rate Code If applicable Select a valid VAT rate code not the actual rate for this category The defaults are A B C but can be changed in the tax setup portion of the admin menu You must set those lt prior to selecting them here The code if found in a product s record overrides this category code You ci edit this code later after you have setup VAT codes Category Description Enter the description for this category This description can be displayed only on category template IT IS IMPORTANT that you do NOT include ANY carriage returns in this field U
61. nce work goes into the initial copy once it is commissioned you do not mind selling copies as a greatly discounted fee Ins of using a quantity break you could set the Retail Price to be the copy of the publication itself and use a One Time Che to cover the cost of compilation Label Compilation Fee Effects Price OP One time charge Choices Text only 500 00 Graphics with minor text only 500 00 Mixed content 800 00 EDatCat User s Manual Page 28 of 51 The selected option will be added to the Retail Price of the product IN Inventory Item In all the other Effects Price options you are dealing with a single product in your inventory IN Inventory Item works sil to AP Add to Price but its options consist of other items in your inventory to be added with the item purchases Label Optional An appropriate label of your choice Choices A list of choices with one choice per line The format of each line is catalogno quantity displayed text price F may be a hardcoded price or may use the price shortcut Example 1 You sell instructional kits for academic subject areas Your kits always include student workbooks that you happen to sell separately however because the books you sell are of different types you wish to provide with the choi which type Label Add how many student workbooks Effects Price IN Inventory Item Choices WBMath001P 1 Mathematics Workbook Perfect binding price WBMath001S 1 Mathematics Work
62. nd do not install or use Software You are entitled to receive a full refund of any payment made for the Software by so requesting and returning any medi materials in unopened unused condition within seven 7 days after date of payment LICENSE TERMS 1 The Software is supplied by EDatCattm Inc and is licensed not sold under the terms of this EULA and EDatC Inc reserves all rights not expressly granted to you EDatCattm Inc retains the ownership of the Software 2 Software License a EDatCattm Inc grants you a license to use one copy of the Software You may not modify or disable any licensing or control features of the Software b This Software is licensed to operate on only one hostname or IP address c Only one company may use the Software for its intended purpose on the hostname or IP address This com may not sell the products or services of other companies in the capacity of an on line mall or buyer service If m than one company wishes to use the Software they must purchase a separate license EDatCat User s Manual Page 50 of 51 3 License Restrictions a By accepting this EULA you are agreeing not to reverse engineer decompile or disassemble the Software Application except and only to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstan this limitation b You are the exclusive licensee of the Software and sharing any source code of the Software with any individ entity is a vio
63. ome server configrations prevent the execution of scripts that are world writeable and or group writeable Th would be a security mechanism Basically if you are executing a script that is set to be world writeable anybody who F account on that system could write whatever they like to it and then execute it unless there are other security mechans preventing it Note e Your ownerships and permissions should be set in such a way that your scripts can read and write your files bt nobody else can You may want to consult with your system administrator or web hosting provider about how tc this It varies depending on the server configuration whether you are using virtual shared hosting or a dedicate server etc Selected perl DBM module not on system If you choose a perl DBM module that is not on your system you will get an Internal Server Error Supported perl DBM modules include GDBM_File DB_File NDBM_File and SDBM_File most common typically a part of perl itself but nc recommended as it is usually only useful for a small number of products with a small amount of data If you accidentally change the perl DBM module and update your scripts so it will take effect and you end up with script errors you will have to modify the scripts directory to fix it as follows e In your xxxsetup edc file where xxx your three letter docode you will see a line such as db_module use DB_File You can use one of use DB _File use GDBM_
64. omplete HTML code for each template You can optionally include headers footers and other consistent elements on any page you wish using this option This option allows the highest level of control over the presentation on each page e Old style This is the standard template structure used by version 1 5h and earlier Headers footers body tag and head tags are required in separate files for most pages 4 Database Module Preference WARNING Leave this setting blank unless you know what you are doing File damage could occur if used improperly This setting will not take effect until you update your software from the admin menu You will need to export data first from the product customer and order file if you wish to keep it Then import data after update Preferred DBM module EDatCat will use the database modules DB_File NDBM_File GDBM_File or SDBM_File When you first add a product or customer record EDatCat will make use of the default module on your server Some are better than others depending on your situation DB_File is consistently the most reliable in all situations while SDBM_File is acceptable only for small databases with small records 5 Inventory Quantity Accounting e Auto Inventory Mode Select this option if you want EDatCat to keep track of quantity on hand If this option is selected you can optionally remove the addtocart button and or print a message on the site if an item is out of stock e Out o
65. ort 1 Choose file to import Note that while you can export Orders and Order Details you cannot re import Order Det in addition if you re import Orders you will lose Order Details 2 Select whether you want to import all fields or select Select will let you select fields in next screen 3 You must select a file to upload or enter the name of a file you have manually uploaded with FTP Recommenc for large data files Choose your file format 4 You will have three different options of how to handle the import file 1 Replace this option will cause the new file to completely replace the existing file The existing file will be deleted before the new file is imported 2 Overwrite this option will overlay the new file over the existing file Changes to the existing file will be completed 3 Append this option will add the new file to the existing file Duplicate catalog numbers are not allowed option is useful if you are adding a number of new items to what is already in the database 5 Reset date added Product file only This is important if you are using the what s new function If you would like script to insert the current date select no Otherwise you will need to supply the date added if this is a new iten you are in replace mode 6 If you picked select fields you will now be asked to select them The key field is always required as the first fiel If there were any errors a link to that file will be displayed
66. ou may check them out as follows EDatCat User s Manual EDatCat Customization Guide EDatCat Knowledge Base In particular the following deal with some of the most frequently asked questions Moving EDatCat to another server Routine Maintenance Updating to the latest patch Data Backups in EDatCat EDatCat User s Manual Page 48 of 51 Internal Server Errors 2 Did you make any effort to troubleshoot the problem yourself Every time you submit a question that can be lt with a little troubleshooting on your part you are taking time away from a question that may require a much hig degree of support You may not care about this if you re the asking the question that only required a little troubleshooting but you will if you re waiting for a response from us on a more serious issue but we re backlog because we had a surge of urgent questions they re all urgent not just yours that could be solved with minir troubleshooting on the part of the user We are here to help but please show some consideration for your fellow users Having said that if you re stuck we will try to help you get unstuck 3 Wedo not support script modifications made by anybody but eDatCat staff While eDatCat does not discourage users from modifying their scripts we do not support third party script modifications In particular we reserve the right to deny support or to bill for support those who have modified tl scripts Unfo
67. ou would finish it for the customer Label Finish Effects price AP Add to Price Choices Unfinished 0 00 Finished 10 00 PR Replace Price This Effect Price setting causes the price given in the Options to replace any Retail Price set for the product Label Optional An appropriate label of your choice Choices A list of choices with one choice per line Any prices listed will replace the product s Retail Price Example 1 As a variation on the previous example in AP Add to Price you decide to list the base Retail Price of 50 0 an unfinished chair but want your options to show the total price depending on whether or not the customer wishes to receive the chair finished or not instead of how much would be added to the base price Label Finished Effects Price PR Replace Price Choices Unfinished 50 00 Finished 75 00 Example 2 You sell books including paperbacks softcover and hardcover You do not wish to list the books as separe items so you have one product which represents a book regardless of its covering Label Binding Effects price PR Replace price Choices Paperback 8 99 Soft Cover 15 99 Hardcover 29 99 EDatCat User s Manual Page 27 of 51 Example 3 You are selling a phone and there are three models for this phone all priced differently Label Model Effects Price PR Replace Price Choices Model A 45 00 Model B 55 00 Model C 65 00 QB Quantity Break Sometimes you will sell items t
68. programmer s This policy is for your benefit as well as ours A disproportionate amount of time would go towards supporting tr party customizations which would adversely affect the support we can provide to other users or even your owr unmodified stores Note that this applies to any custom programming In addition to modifications make directly to the scripts this applies to any custom programming in your customprogramming customshipping etc scripts that allow for cus programming without modifying the eDatCat source code directly EDatCat User s Manual Page 49 of 51 4 We do not support changes made to the admin templates unless you follow our procedure In your admin direct you will find a file called a_READ_ME txt Please read it If you wish to make changes to the admin directory y must follow this procedure or we will bill you for support Again this is similar to third party script modifications same complications apply If you change the admin templates we have to take a disproportionate amount of tin figure out what you did and how it affects everything before we can attempt to troubleshoot a problem It also m that we don t know if a problem that arises is the result of default eDatCat behaviour or your modifications 5 We do not support third party plugins You will have to contact your plugin developer such as XtraCat for support 6 If you are using a third party plugin please disable it and test eDatCat to ensure that th
69. r are moving a Version 2 cz and wish to upgrade to Version 3 at the same time contact EDatCat Tech Support eDatCat is a single license product meaning that it is designed to operate on a single domain for a single store Howe we understand that from time to time it may be necessary to move your web site to another server location Your registration code is valid only for your domain name If your domain name will change when you move your site tc new server you will need to contact us for a new code at no charge if the site is just changing names or URL s NOTE there are some limitations on this You CANNOT move your site from one server to another by simply transferring the files There are ownership and permissions issues and file format issues with many of the files that would make this a total nightmare The easiest procedure to follow is outlined below Note that it applies to Version 3 of EDatCat 1 In Import Export export all datasets you wish to have a record for Note that as of Version 3 0 5d you can exe Orders and Order Details but you cannot re import Order Details and importing Orders will erase Order Details This will be changed in a future patch The purpose of this backup is to have an extra copy if necessary EDatCat User s Manual Page 39 of 51 10 11 12 Under Utilities select Backup Data Files and click Okay Make a complete backup of your site This is good general practice and should be done on a re
70. ranslated properly you may encounter the Internal Server Error There are ty possible solutions for this e Whenever you transfer perl scripts between operating systems set your FTP client to use ASCII mode This us translates the characters properly e There are a number of utilities available that will translate files for you Many varieties of UNIX come with dos2v and unix2dos pre installed or as an option Similarly you can find many varieties of these utilities available for Windows by doing a search on the net In particular note that if you have transferred a file multiple times and in varying transfer modes sometimes ASCII sometimes binary you will probably end up with a file that has messy end of lines Shebang notation in UNIX This issue is not specific to eDatCat but applies to perl scripts in general If you are running your scripts on a UNIX server you may need to use the shebang notation at the beginning of your sc e g usr bin perl or usr local bin perl Note that these lines are usually present when eDatCat is installed as the pa perl is required when you download the installer You may confirm this with your web hosting provider or use the perldi script more information about the perldiver script can be found on the Helpful Tools page Notes e In some perl implementations you may not be allowed to have anything else before the shebang line e This line is not typically required in Windows File Per
71. resent these settings appropriately see the Customization Guide Secure Server Location e URLto SSL Script this should be the complete https URL to the eDatCat xxxSSL cgi script located on your sec server you will need to upload this script to the correct place and set 755 permissions e Path to Template Directory You ll need to create a tempaltes directory on the secure server permissions set to 777 and provide the complete SYSTEM path not URL here Payment Notification Options e Select your preferred method of receiving payment and order information e Paths to data and payment upload directories again you ll need to create these directories and set appropriate permissions and then give the full system paths here e SSL Email payment info select your preferred email program for delivery of payment and order information EDatCat User s Manual Page 19 of 51 For more information see e Customization Guide section on SSL and Payment Gateways Payment Gateway Setup Date last updated 6 12 2002 Before you set options in this section you need to specify which gateway you will be using in the Payment Options sec Once this is done this section will allow you to specify a number of settings for your particular gateway The values to placed in these fields can be obtained from your gateway provider For more information see e Customization Guide section on SSL and Payment Gateways Shipping Options Date last up
72. rite this option will overlay the new file over the existing file Changes to the existing file will be complete e Append this option will add the new file to the existing file Duplicate catalog numbers are not allowed This opt useful if you are adding a number of new items to what is already in the database Import Data ALWAYS KEEP A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR DATA Before importing a new file ALWAYS export your existing data a keep it as a recent backup When you create your spreadsheet the data must be entered in a certain format It is generally a good idea to enter a items manually and then export the file to see how it is formatted You can then use this exported file as a guide in cree your data sheet In addition we have provided sample data files from our demo web site see the Supply Pack section htto www edatcatdemo com to download an example file When you create your spreadsheet we recommend using Microsoft Excel Other spreadsheet applications including n used by MAC computers will add additional characters at the end of each row causing carriage returns and corrupt da DO NOT ENTER CARRIAGE RETURNS IN YOUR DATA FILE Use HTML code to control layout and presentation Be sure that you do not enter any duplicate catalog numbers If you do so you will receive errors when you try to impor The error file will be located in your uploads directory and will be named xxxerrors txt where xxx is your 3 letter db cod Running the imp
73. rmat Decimal Places Enter number of decimal places you wish to display for each item s price and the total order tax and shipping amounts Enter 0 for none If 0 or nothing is entered then prices containing decimals will be rounded up to the nearest whole dollar amount 3 Exchange Rates e Euro Exchange Rate This rate will be used to divide price fields for euro equivalent If you know the prices use a sample item and divide the smaller price by the larger price to arrive at the exchange rate For example if the US price for an item is 50 and the Euro price is 65 then you would divide 50 by 65 and arrive at an exchange rate of 769230769 e Other Exchange Rate This rate will be used to divide price fields for another currency equivalent You arrive at the exchange rate in the same manner as above 4 Date Format Select this option if you wish to use European Date Style dd mm yyyy EDatCat User s Manual Page 12 of 51 Store Settings Date last updated 6 12 2002 1 Store Name This obviously is the name of your business as you want it to appear 2 Main Page URL This would be the URL to the page you wish to use as your home page 3 Store Entrance URL This is the URL to the page you wish to use as your store entrance 4 Use European date format Select to use the European date format PGP Settings Date last updated 6 12 2002 These settings will vary depending on your PGP configs Rarely are two instances of P
74. rowse products by category and select the one you wish to edit from a list Note that when you press enter instead of clicking the go button some browsers will select the top button 2 Add a new item The second option on this page allows you to add a new item Click the button to proceed On the next page you will be presented with a series of blank fields Adding an item is as simple as completing the necessary fields and clicking the button The following explanation is also relevant when editing a product EXPLANATION OF FIELDS In this section fields marked with a red asterisk are required and must contain some data even if you do not plan to di that data in your catalog e Catalog Number This is the most important field in the product database This field may contain letters or numbers but should no include any spaces or odd characters Underscores or dashes are acceptable We recommend that this field co no more than 10 characters e Item This is the name of the product Be careful with odd characters You may include HTML code in this section to display any odd characters such as trademark symbols or copyright marks e Description This is a description of the item DO NOT INCLUDE CARRIAGE RETURNS in this field Doing so will result in EDatCat User s Manual Page 23 of 51 corrupt database You may use HTML code to control the layout and presentation of the description including formatting for bullet lists numbered
75. rrency symbols This fee will be multiplied by the quantity of the item the customer selects e Free Freight Select this option if no shipping charges should apply for this item Setup costs will still be applied e Date Added This is the date the product was added and is used in conjunction with the what s new feature It can be modifie e Qty on Hand Enter the number of items you currently have in stock This is required when automatic inventory controls are b used There is also an import utility to update this field e Vat Rate Code If a different tax code rate for this item needs to be charged for international orders enter that code here This s be a valid code found in the Vat Rate Code table Do not enter the rate here Manage Inventory Product Options Date last updated 5 1 2004 Not all of your products will be cut and dry simple items Some products may require additional options such as color quantity customized text etc Some of these options may require additional pricing To do this you will take advantage EDatCat s Product Options feature Drop Down Options EDatCat provides up to five drop down options The three parameters are Label Effects Price and Choices Label In all cases label is purely informative for the customer Your choice of label may affect your customer s decisio it does not have any affect on EDatCat Effects Price This determines how the choices will affect price Choices A list of
76. rtunately third party script modifications are a very time consuming drain on support resources an is unfair to those who do not modify their scripts and need help Why do we not support third party script modifications It s a case of time If a script has been modified we have to understand what script modifications have been mz and how these modifications work before we can attempt to debug them determine workarounds etc Basically you re asking us to support software we did not write It s not good enough to tell us that the script modifications do not affect such and such a problem you are havin First some eDatCat users who pay others to make script modifications do not understand what modifications made therefore while the documented behaviour of a script modification appears to affect only certain function in order to achieve this other areas of the code may have been modified Certain functions in the perl scripts ar used in a variety of ways and if one of these functions were modified to affect one possible result they may inadvertantly affect others Unless you know which portions of the code were actually modified you can t neces predict it Even if you know which portions of the code was modified that is not to say you can predict how this would affe other areas of the code As aforementioned some functions are used in many different ways and it is not alway clear how affecting one of those functions will affect other funct
77. s Before you begin the process of installing eDatCat please be sure that your server meets the requirements These requirements are listed in the previous section of this manual along with several tools that can help you determine if the required modules are in place EDatCat User s Manual Page 3 of 51 Once you have verified that your server meets the requirements you may proceed with the installation of eDatCat Preparing Your Server Date last updated 6 12 2002 The first step in the installation process is to create a few directories on your server EDatCat requires six directories Y may create these directories anywhere you wish and you may name them whatever you please You will provide the installer with the paths to these directories in the next step To begin create the following directories 1 cgi bin this is probably already there if so great This is where the scripts are stored The scripts will run from directory you choose as long as your server allows it 2 carts this is where customer shopping carts are stored 3 data this is where the vital configs and databases are stored 4 admin this is where the administrative files are stored 5 uploads this is where uploaded images and files are stored 6 templates this is where the EDatCat templates are stored Where possible we recommend placing the carts and data directories above the public viewable area of your web lt s These directories contain vital
78. s If everything looks fine then edit your setup file in the following manner At the top of the actual script you will see the first three lines EDatCat User s Manual Page 7 of 51 use CGI qw standard html3 use CGI Carp qw fatals ToBrowser BEGIN Remove the comment from the second line so that it looks like this use CGI qw standard html3 use CGI Carp qw fatals ToBrowser BEGIN Save the script and upload it to your script directory and then refresh your browser window This action will alloy installer to be a little more liberal in trapping certain errors If an error message results in more specific informat when you refresh the page you will know better how to handle it 6 500 Internal Server Error when calling the setup script This error is usually the result of one of three issues a The setup script is not set to 755 Check to be sure that this file has 755 permissions b Your server does not allow you to run script with the cgi bin set to 777 Some servers require that the cgi bin set to 755 If this is the case then create another directory outside the cgi bin called test and set its permissio 755 move the setup script to this directory and set permission to 755 and run it from there c The LWP module is not installed See 4 above for solutions 7 404 File Not Found or DNS Error when calling the setup script This is a rare error is caused by an incorrect URL or a misconfig on your server
79. s field in the ad try manually editing the xxxflds edc file in the data directory Just be sure that you do not change ownership of t file if you do change it back if necessary 6 Required Specify whether this field is required or not 7 Note Place any special comments here These comments serve as simple reminders in the admin area for tho entering data in this field Your comments will not be displayed on your web site only on the admin area EDatCat User s Manual Page 15 of 51 Sorting Listing Date last updated 6 12 2002 1 Sort Your Data Specify how your data will be sorted within a category listing Only one sort field is allowed the first sort field is automa category For additional sorting and listing options please visit http www xtracat com and review the Power Search Module 2 Category Listing e Number of items to display per result page Controls the number of items listed on each page e Number of columns to display per result page Controls the number of columns on the category listpage templa value of 1 means that one item will displayed on each row in the list A value of 2 means that two items will be displayed on each row and so on 3 Customer Search Listing e Number of items to display per result page Controls the number of items listed on each page e Number of columns to display per result page Controls the number of columns on the searchpage template A of 1 means that one item will displaye
80. se HTML to control the layout and presentation of this description Using carriage returns will result in a cot category file 3 Optional Templates amp Images EDatCat User s Manual Page 14 of 51 Custom Template Enter full path and file name to custom template You may also opt to upload a template fror your computer Your file will be placed in the templates directory To create a custom template simply copy the default category template rename it and customize it for this category EDatCat will use your template instead default for this category You can do this for every category if you wish Custom Listpage amp Listrow Templates By default all categories use the standard listpage amp listrow templates However if your project requires otherwise you can specify a custom listpage amp listrow template for use with e category Custom Image Enter URL and file name to image file This is useful if you have a logo or category image for e lt category This image will display only on the category and listpage templates You may also opt to upload a image from your computer Your file will be placed in the uploads directory 4 Product Display Options By default when the function user_action category is used the script displays the category template You can bypass this automatically and default to the listpage template by selecting this option For more information see e Creating Custom Templates Data Fields D
81. t you should rei the backup files from your uploads directory Note that this method will over write any data already present in eDatCat the contents of the backup files EDatCat User s Manual Page 42 of 51 Secondary Backup Exports Under Inventory Control select Import Export Select Export Data Here you can select which dataset you wish to expt Products Categories Customers Orders Order Details You must provide a filename and select whether you wish tc have the files stored in comma separated values i e comma delimited or tab delimited If you select Orders or Order Details you will be prompted for a date range Upon exporting the data you will find the output in the filename you spe in the Uploads directory We recommend you move the file from that directory You can also re import some data using Import Data Note however that as of Version 3 0 5e while Orders and Orde Details can be exported Order Details cannot be imported and if you import Orders you will lose Order Details Internal Server Errors Date last updated 5 11 2004 End of line characters This issue is not specific to eDatCat but applies to perl scripts in general End of line characters eol of a perl script must correspond to that of the operating system Generally speaking Windc UNIX and MacOS all have different end of line characters If you are running a script on one system that was written o1 another unless your eol characters were t
82. t record category then first rate code in the table You can use any code you like and have as many codes you want EX FAW 05 It will be added to the total invoice amount Its variable name is vat_tax Confirmation Tracking Options Date last updated 6 12 2002 1 Customer Confirmation Email e Send Confirmation to Customer Select yes or no for this option EDatCat User s Manual Page 22 of 51 e Subject Text This will be the subject of the order notification to the customer e Merchant Email Address This will serve as the from or reply to address for order notices 2 UPS Tracking In this section you will need to supply a number of parameters for the UPS tracking features This information should k relatively self explanatory Chapter 5 Inventory Control This section contains many of the day to day functions used to maintain your site s inventory These options allow a great deal of flexibility in presenting your products See the Customization Guide for details on making adjustments to your templates to present the data in the manner it needs to be presented Manage Inventory Date last updated 6 12 2002 1 Search for a product to modify or delete This section gives you four different search options that allow you to call up a single product record You may enter a specific catalog number must be exactly as it is shown in the database or search for text within the item s name or description Finally you may b
83. tCat shortcut The shortcut you would use is dispoptionl dispoption2 dispoption3 etc for as many product options as you have When you use this shortcut all you have to do is place it in the template where you want it to be displayed EDatCat wi print the label as well as the drop down list for the option if it applies to the product If no options are specified for a pro nothing will be displayed To display text options user disptext1 disptext2 etc EDatCat User s Manual Page 29 of 51 You must include these shortcuts within your add to cart form Displaying Product Options In your cartrow template add in the shortcut seloptions and or seltext This will display the selected opi for each product Similarly for the emailrow etc templates Featured Products Date last updated 5 1 2004 Featured products can be shown on any template Enter valid catalog numbers of items you wish to feature in the field provided You can add as many featured items as needed Category specific featured items can be entered in the Edit Category menu section of the admin Store Discounts Date last updated 5 1 2004 coming soon Inventory Reports Date last updated 5 1 2004 Import Export Date last updated 6 28 2004 You can import or export your product customer or inventory databases This option must be executed very carefully Please see the Notes Articles section for more information on creating yo
84. the data files that use the perl DBM modules After this we recommend you backup your eDatCat directorie scripts data uploads templates admin e Atthis point you should just be able to use Update to Newest Release under Utilities e lf there are any problems contact eDatCat Tech Support Export Payment Info Date last updated 6 28 2004 To run this utility you must first configure the export parameters in the payment options This function downloads the payment data file from the SSL site then deletes the file If needed a backup is made whi can also be retrieved via FTP Chapter 9 Add on Modules If you use add on modules purchased from XtraCat this section will help you administer their behavior Appendix A Error and Response Codes Date last updated 6 29 2004 A new error guide is in progress Coming soon Miscellaneous Troubleshooting Date last updated 6 29 2004 Coming soon Appendix B EDatCat User s Manual Page 37 of 51 About Changing the Source Code Date last updated 6 29 2004 Coming soon Creating Your Own Add on Modules Date last updated 6 29 2004 Coming soon Altering the Admin Templates Date last updated 5 14 2004 In Release 3 0 all admin screens are now generated using templates found in the admin directory These templates m modified to change the look of your admin interface similar to the way in which the store templates are modified When modifying these templates
85. the eDatCat solution eDatCat is not the final product it is a toolbox that you will use to create the final product eDatCat does not build the site for you it is a tool with which you build the site This gives you the final word but it also may require that take a moment to do things with forethought Understanding these two principles will help you as you begin to walk through the software If this is your first time we suggest that you follow the following procedure 1 Read this manual 2 Install the software 3 Configure the software 4 Add a couple of test items 5 Make backups of the templates 6 Play around with the templates until you are comfortable Once you have a solid feel for the software and how it all comes together then you can begin the work of deploying your client s web site Your first time through the software we suggest that you allow 2 weeks from start to finish depending on how busy your schedule is After that who knows We do have a customer who has deployed a 60 000 item store in about 3 days not too shabby We encourage you to have a little fun with eDatCat remember not long ago tools like these were very high priced and hard to come by You now have within your hands the ability to create a world class e commerce web site Enjoy it Where to Start Date last updated 6 12 2002 For starters let me lay it out for you Below is the process recommend you follow as you develop your web site
86. the main admin panel under Utilities select Update to Newest Release Click Okay Note that this will overwrite any modifications you have made to scripts 5 Again from the main admin panel under Utilities select Restore Data Files and click Okay Check to make sure your store is working If not make sure the ABCdata txt ABCacct txt and ABCinv txt files exist in t uploads directory and then rename any ABCdata ABCinv and ABCacct files in your store s data directory Then r the Restore Data Files utility Chapter 4 Checkout Configuration This section allows you to customize the manner in which your shopping cart handles the checkout procedure This section can be tricky so proceed with care and be sure to check the Customization Guide for details on making adjustments to your templates to reflect the changes you make in this section Cart Cookie Settings Date last updated 6 12 2002 Enter the expiration code in standard Set cookie format This code will dictate how long cart and wishlist files are store your server and when the shopper s cookie will expire The default is 4 days for both It is recommended that you store information for no longer than 10 days this wishlist for perhaps longer You must use the purge expired carts to actuall delete the expired files from the cart directory They will not automatically get deleted Enter the time period you desire for each in the format of EDatCat User s Manual Page 17 of 51
87. the software e g category product admin settings In the case of setting made within the admin utility it s recommended you change them from there In the case of settings made man you may have to change them manually If you had to change your url to the admin utility contact EDatCat Tech Support for a new Registration Code Y will need to supply the old and new urls including complete path to the admin utility NOTE that there are som limitations on this TEST EVERYTHING While the above outlined procedure may take only a few minutes you need to walk throu the entire site to be sure all of your options and settings were maintained After testing make another backup of your data If you get Internal Server Errors etc double check all of your url and directory settings Once you have ruled out url an directory issues you may need to change your perl DBM module which would be done before Step 7 above Confirm your ISP or use the free PerlDiver script for Perl 5 6 or later or for Perl 5 003 or later script to confirm what perl DBM modules are on your system Note that perldiver doesn t always confirm the existence of DB_File If you need to check DB_File you can ask your hosting provider if they have it or you may ask EDatCat Support for a copy of a small test sc that can sometimes detect it Windows DB_File good SDBM_File bad UNIX GDBM_File we generally find this one acceptable for most users NDBM_File DB_File SDBM_F
88. ticular directory Be sure that the permiss on the directory are set to 777 3 Could not create specified file This normally means that the cgi bin does not have 777 permissions Double check to be sure 4 Could not download EDatCat files This means that the installer encountered an error when trying to transfer files from our server The most comm reason for this is that the LWP module is not installed on your server If you have already downloaded the PerlDiver tool the LWP module should display in the list of installed moduli is present If it is not present please contact your server administrator and ask them to install the LWP User_A module This module can be obtained directly from CPAN or from http www linpro no lwp There is not a lot of good documentation on the LWP module and we will not get involved in installing and configuring the module on your server That is a job for your server admin If LWP does display in the list of installed modules but you continue to get this error we have a test script in thi Helpful Tools section of our support web site that will tell you very quickly if this module is installed and working properly If you get an error when running this script please contact your server administrator for help 5 500 Internal Server Error after clicking to begin installation This is a rare error and means that the installer encountered an error that it could not trap Check permissions c directorie
89. tory where EDatCat will store shopping carts Preferably this will be a directory outside of the viewable web pages or restricts directory listings example usr home mysite carts 8 Path to where EDatCat will setup the data files Preferably this will be a directory outside of the viewable web pages or restricts directory listings example usr home mysite data Once you have specified this information click to proceed At this point a custom installer script will be generated using the data you have provided Download this script to your harddrive For more information see e Installation topics in the Knowledge Base Uploading amp Running the Installer Date last updated 6 12 2002 When you have downloaded the installer file upload it to your cgi bin or script directory and set permissions to 755 Be to upload this file in ASCII format Uploading in binary format will result in a corrupt file Once you have uploaded and set permissions on your installer run it from your browser You can access it by clicking link on the page displayed on our site when your installer was created On the initial page you will be prompted to enter your admin password EDatCat User s Manual Page 6 of 51 On the next page you will see all of the info you specified on our web site Check this information one last time to be s is correct ad that everything is where it needs to be Once your program is installed you will not be able to
90. trictions Does your server have memory restrictions on scripts If so is it set too low Too low varies and depends on the sen e g how many other scripts are sharing the same memory restriction etc Incompatible perl DBM modules If the perl installation or the perl DBM module implementations on your server have been modified it s possible your ok DBM modules are incompatible with the current ones This may cause Internal Server Errors In this case we recomme you backup your data directory with the ABCdata ABCinv and ABCacct files and delete the ABCdata ABCinv ABCacct files in the data directory At this point eDatCat should create new files that are compatible with the current DBM modules You will have to restore your data from backups made using this procedure You did make regular bac didn t you If you do not have a recent backup the following may help you recover your data e Get access to the old server and perform backups on your data using this procedure e Have the same distribution of perl installed on your current server in a different location and adjust the perl path your scripts to use that distribution and upon putting back your previously incompatible ABCdata ABCinv ar ABCacct files attempt to back them up using this procedure e If you open the ABCdata ABCinv and ABCacct files directly in a text or hex editor you may be able to recc portions of your data Note As of eDatC
91. ully It is wise to simply copy and pa this code into the field provided If you have problems or receive an error when you save your code verify the following before contacting our support department e the URL to the store script was entered completely and correctly This is the full http URL to the script directory e the DB code was entered correctly Your 3 letter DB code is case sensitive EDatCat User s Manual Page 13 of 51 e the data directory has 777 permissions and the XXXlicense txt file has been deleted After you have verified that these three things are not the cause of your error please contact support edatcat com an we ll see you are taken care of immediately Chapter 3 Database The Database section of your admin area provides you the opportunity to create and edit categories data fields specify sorting and listing options and more This section has a huge impact on the behavior of your store and should be approached with care Categories Subcategories Date last updated 4 21 2004 After installation you will notice that the box on this page is empty The reason for that is because you have not yet eni categories Your first step here is creating a new category Please note that editing categories utilizes the same fields as the Add Category menu so please see descriptions be for tips guides and limitations on editing categories 1 Category Name Category Enter category names with this format Mai
92. ur spreadsheet and importing a file to your database ALWAYS KEEP A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR DATA Before importing a new file ALWAYS export your existing and keep it as a recent backup When you create your spreadsheet the data must be entered in a certain format It is generally a good idea to enter a items manually and then export the file to see how it is formatted You can then use this exported file as a guide in cree your data sheet In addition we have provided sample data files from our demo web site see the Supply Pack section http www edatcatdemo com to download an example file When you create your spreadsheet we recommend using Microsoft Excel Other spreadsheet applications including n used by MAC computers will add additional characters at the end of each row causing carriage returns and corrupt da DO NOT ENTER CARRIAGE RETURNS IN YOUR DATA FILE Use HTML code to control layout and presentation Be sure that you do not enter any duplicate catalog numbers If you do so you will receive errors when you try to impor The error file will be located in your uploads directory and will be named xxxerrors txt where xxx is your 3 letter db cod When importing you will have three different options of how to handle the import file EDatCat User s Manual Page 30 of 51 e Replace this option will cause the new file to completely replace the existing file The existing file will be deletex before the new file is imported e Overw
93. ve partially executed This could leave stal data in the cache or in a cookie that is not applicable to other portions of your data In other words your script partially processed some data but other data such as that stored in a cookie is inconsistent Any time you encounter an Intern Server Error after making any change to resolve it you should clear or cache and your cookies EDatCat Support Policy Date last updated 6 28 2004 Up to and including the latest version of EDatCat Version 3 we offer free online support While response time will var depending on a number of factors there are a few guidelines you can follow which will decrease response time In add there are certain circumstances where we do not offer free support e g third party script modifications and unauthorize changes to the admin utility This policy is not new It has always been the case though when we are less busy we sometimes offer faster support Unfortunately this has led some to believe our policy has changed when in fact it hasr Below is a list of guidelines and limitations 1 Please check the documentation to see if the issue you are experiencing has not already been addressed or if 1 information can be found there We put in quite a bit of effort in the past few months to improving our document We added several new sections to the Manual and Customization Guide and a number of new entries to the KnowledgeBase We have also updated several existing sections Y
94. xt or HTML snippets List Results Templates These are used in conjunction with the shortcut resultstatus on listpage searchpage newpage and poppage templates It is an optional shortcut but can be modifed to fit your site Page Status Templates Used in conjuntion with the pagestatus shortcut Found on the same templates as list results Note the entry for pagestatus_one is empty This may be supplied if desired Search Nav Bar used in conjuntion with navbar on the same templates as list results See additional info in th article section on how to incorporate graphics etc The next section are messages used on the account status setup function and login function include_all is used in the category drop down list on the search page template Customize as needed Order Status constants These choices are used in the drop down status box in the admin order status screen Separa choices with a pending_stat When an order is set its status is set to the status specified in this field Be sure to enter a value from thi ord_stat_choice shipped_stat When order is set to this value customer can view tracking screen if enabled Be sure to enter a value f the ord_stat Choices conf_subject is the subject text found on the customer confirmation It can also be set in confirmation setup Error Text Date last updated 6 28 2004 Messages generated by Edatcat error routines can be customized in this screen These error
95. y or adaptation of the Software in violat any applicable laws or regulations 7 Limited Warranty a EDatCattm Inc warrants that EDatCattm Inc Software will be free from defects in materials and workmans after the date of purchase for a period 90 days If EDatCattm Inc receives notice from you of such defects duri the warranty period EDatCattm Inc will at its option either repair or replace products which prove to be defex b If EDatCattm Inc is unable within a reasonable time to repair or replace any product to a condition as warra you will be entitled to a refund of the purchase price upon prompt return of the Software c EDatCattm Inc does not warrant that the operation of EDatCattm Inc Software will be uninterrupted or errc free EDatCattm Inc Software may contain third party functions or may have been subject to incidental use d Warranty does not apply to defects resulting from improper or inadequate maintenance or calibration softwe interface routines or functions NOT developed by EDatCattm Inc unauthorized specifications for the Software improper site preparation or maintenance Beta Software encryption mechanisms or routines e ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS LIMITED TO THE DURATION OF THE EXPRESS WARRANTY SET FORTH ABOVE Some states or province not allow limitations on the duration of an implied warranty so the above limitation or exclusion might not apply you

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