Google Feed Patch

Applies to: AbleCommerce 7.x (all versions)

Date:  10/10/2011

Addendum:  10/11/2011 - Enhanced Availability options

Resolved Issue:

The Google feed has stopped working because of a new requirement.  Without the "Availability" attribute, all products will be rejected.

The proposed patch is a replacement to the Google Base configuration page found within the Merchant Menu under Marketing > Feeds.  The patch will work will all versions of AbleCommerce, and the feed will be updated every 6 hours automatically.  

For more information, installation instructions, and configuration options, please read below.

Download:

https://www.ablecommerce.com/patches/GoogleFeedPatch.zip

Instructions:

1. Extract the files to a temporary location.

2. Determine the version of AbleCommerce you are using.

3. Copy GoogleBaseFeed.cs to the \App_Code\ folder of your AbleCommerce installation.

4. A modified version of global.asax from version 7.0.7 is included -

   1. If you have not modified global.asax, and you are running version 7.0.7, you can overwrite your existing file in the root folder of your installation.  
      Backup your original file as a precaution.

   2. If you have any other situation, it is safer NOT to overwrite your file, and instead make a modification to your existing file.
      Open the included readme.txt for specific instructions.

Implementation:

1. After the GoogleBaseFeed.cs file is in place, and the global.asax is modified, simply visit the store.

2. The Google Feed file should generate to a file named GoogleFeed.txt in the root of your installation.  (The files as distributed will refresh this file every 6 hours.)

3. Reconfigure your GoogleBase account to point to the new URL -
   
   e.g.  http://your_store_domain/googlefeed.txt

Additional information:

Please see the readme.txt file for configuration and feed customization options.

Addendum - Enhanced Availability options

For stores using inventory control, the availability indicator in the feed will now be more accurate.  Any product that has a positive inventory value, will have an "in stock" value.  Any product that has a zero or negative inventory value, with the ability to back-order, will be indicated by a "pre order" value in the feed.  Products that do not allow back-order, and that also have an inventory value of 0, will be indicated by a "out of stock" value.

With regards to products using inventory at the option, or variant level, the feed generator will always use an "in stock" value, otherwise the additional calculations could add a significant amount of time to perform the feed generation.