RO CSVI

Writing a rule plugin

| RO CSVI

Rule plugins are a powerful new tool in CSV Improved because it allows us with surgical precision to tailor the import and export process. Out of the box CSV Improved comes with 4 such plugins:

  • Combine
    This adds the option to combine fields
  • Copy
    This adds the option to copy the content of one field to other fields
  • Margin
    This adds the option to recalculate prices
  • Replace
    This adds the option to replace values in a field

These four plugins are useful but not always what you are looking for as you may need something specific. That is why CSV Improved can be extended by writing your own plugins.

Structure of a rule plugin

A CSVI rule plugin is actually a regular Joomla plugin of the type csvirules. A plugin consists of these files:

  • foo.php
  • form_foo.xml
  • foo.xml

The main file

The main file is foo.php, this file contains all the code that does all the work. This is a class that is created like this:

class PlgCsvirulesFoo extends RantaiPluginDispatcher

A rule plugin must always extend the RantaiPluginDispatcher as this dispatcher calls the plugin.

The class contains several mandatory functions and variables:

  • private $id = 'csvifoo';
  • public function getName() {}
  • public function getSingleName($plugin) {}
  • public function getForm($plugin, $options=array()) {}
  • public function runRule($plugin, $settings, $field, CsviHelperFields $fields) {}
$id

This is the unique ID of your rule.

getName()

The getName() function provides CSVI with the name and ID of your rule, this is shown in the dropdown of available rules when creating a new template field.

getSingleName()

The getSingleName() function provides CSVI with only the name of your rule. This is used for display purposes.

getForm()

The getForm() function provides CSVI with a form the user can fill in if your rule requires certain settings. For example a field that allows the user to set which fields should be affected, or a field with values that needs to be matched. It can be almost anything. This function relies on the existence of the form_foo.xml file.

runRule()

The runRule() function does the actual work, this is where the magic happens. In this function you put all the logic of your rule and update the fields with their new values.

The form file

The form file is form_foo.php. This file is optional and only needed if you want to get input from the user. The fields used are standard JForm fields so you can use any field available in Joomla. The structure of the file looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<form>
 <fields name="pluginform">
 <fieldset name="foo">
 <field name="source"
 type="textarea"
 rows="5"
 required="true"
 class="input-xxlarge"
 filter="raw" />
 </fieldset>
 </fields>
</form>

 The only requirement is that the fieldset name matches the name of your rule, in this case foo.

Running your code

The runRule() function is the heart of your rule, without it, nothing is going to happen. Here are some pointers to help you understand what is going on in runRule(). The function takes 4 arguments:

  1. $plugin
  2. $settings
  3. $field
  4. $fields

$plugin

This is the ID of the plugin being called. So you need to check if it is your name being called, if not, do not run your code.

$settings

This is an object with data saved by the user from the form provided by your rule.

$field

The current field being processed.

$fields

An instance of CsviHelperFields. This is the class to use to manipulate the fields because it contains all the fields.

There are 2 ways in which you can modify a field that is being imported:

  • $fields->updateField()
    This function is the same for both import and export
  • $fields->set()
    This function takes different arguments depending on whether it is an import or export. The updateField() is the preferred method of modifying a field.

Identifying a field

Fields are always identified by the value in the xml_node variable. This variable contains the unique identifier for that field. One word of caution, when dealing with XML files that have duplicate nodes, this field may contain a value that is the same for multiple fields.

Installation XML

To be able to install a plugin in Joomla, an XML file is required. This is a regular Joomla XML file, just make sure the group is set to csvirules as shown here:

<extension version="3.3" type="plugin" group="csvirules" method="upgrade">

Language files

In case you want to make your rule plugin multi-lingual you can include language files as per the Joomla standard.

Examples

If you want to check out some examples, have a look at the rule plugins that come with CSV Improved, they contain all kinds of ways of handling the fields.

Read more ...

Source tab option to Load from textfield

| RO CSVI

This option is to paste the import content into a textarea field and import the content from the textarea. The content can be either CSV or XML.

 

Load from textfield

 

 

The field to enter the import content is seen after selecting the import template and before the preview page.

Load from textfield field

 

Read more ...

Not Acceptable error

| RO CSVI

Requirements;

CSVI Pro 5.8+

The following error can be seen on some restrictive servers:

"Not Acceptable

An appropriate representation of the requested resource /administrator/index.php could not be found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request."

 

Fixing the problem

  1. Login
  2. You may see an empty screen, click the logout button. This is to reset your session.
  3. Login again
  4. Go to Components -> CSVI Pro -> Settings
  5. Set to the option Use cookies to No
  6. Save the settings
  7. You should be able to use CSVI now

Read more ...

Setting up a front-end export template

| RO CSVI

A front-end template allows you to run an export from the menu or via a link.

Export via a menu item

To make a template show up in your menu, you can create a regular menu item and users can use this link to execute a template. First you will need to create an export template in CSVI, otherwise the menu won't know there is a template. How to create a template is explained in the Create a template tutorial.

The template settings need to look like this to be able to use it for a menu item:

CSVI edit menu template

These conditions apply to use a template for front-end export:

  • The template must be enabled
  • Enable front-end/cron must be enabled
  • A secret key must be set
  1. Go to Menus -> Manage
  2. Click on New to create a new menu item
  3. Enter a Menu Title
  4. Select the Menu Item Type Export front-end by clicking on the Select button
    CSVI Menu item type
  5. Select the template you want to use for the menu item
    CSVI Menu Select template
  6. Enter the secret key. This is required to prevent templates to be executed without authorization.
    CSVI Menu Secret key
  7. Set any other settings you would like to apply, for example a specific usergroup that is only allowed to use the menu item. When all done, the settings will look like this:
    csvi menu item template
  8. Save the menu item

 The menu item will now show up on the front-end if the user has the correct permissions.

 Export via a link

It is also possible to run an export via a link, this way the export doesn't have to be visible in the menu. The link can actually be seen in the menu item above as this will be the same link.

The link looks like this:
http://www.example.com/index.php?option=com_csvi&view=export&csvi_template_id=121&exportto=template&task=export&tmpl=component&key=abcd

The link has 3 important parts:

  • csvi_template_id
    This is the ID of the template you want to use. This number can be found when you edit the template
  • exportto
    This sets the location where the exported file should be sent to. By default this is template, meaning the settings in the template will be used. Other options are:
    • tofront
      Show the export result in the browser
    • todownload
      Download the export file
  • key
    This needs to be the same as the secret key set in the template

Styling the output

In case you have chosen to export the type HTML on the Options page, CSV Improved will render an HTML table. This table has no styling at all, however you can add your own CSS file and style the page as you wish.

Create a CSS file called exporttable.css and place it in the folder media/com_csvi/css and this file will be loaded when the table is rendered.

Override template settings

It is possible to override options you have in your template to make the export more flexible. Each option must begin with form_ and then followed by the name of the option. For example to set a specific order number in the HikaShop export, the URL will look like this:
http://www.example.com/index.php?option=com_csvi&view=export&csvi_template_id=121&exportto=template&task=export&tmpl=component&key=abcd&form_orderlist=15

This will export only order ID 15.

Read more ...

Import Source tab option to Load from database

| RO CSVI

Starting with RO CSVI 7.14.0 version, there is a new option added to Load from database if to use Local(Joomla) connection or Remote connection.

Read more ...

Subcategories

Custom Filters

PhocaCart