osCommerce

osCommerce Online Merchant v3.0 Alpha 5 has taken a big step forward in utilizing newer PHP and MySQL features. The minimum requirements to run v3.0 Alpha 5 are PHP v5.2.0+ and MySQL v4.1.13+ or v5.0.7+. A further requirement is the mysqli extension in PHP as the normal mysql database class was removed from v3.0 Alpha 5.

Both PHP and MySQL highly recommend the use of the newer mysqli extension over the older mysql extension.

It’s been reported that there are still service providers using MySQL v5.0.67. This is actually fine as it is a much newer version than the minimum requirement of v5.0.7.

To clarify the MySQL versioning scheme, the third number in the version string (”7″) is incremented for each new release in the release level.

MySQL v5.0.7 was actually a beta released on the 15th June 2005, and v5.0.67 was released on the 8th August 2008.

There have also been some reports that some service providers are still using PHP v5.1.6. RedHat Enterprise Linux and CentOS are vendors still using PHP v5.1.6. This is unfortunate as it does not meet the minimum PHP v5.2.0 requirement to install and use osCommerce Online Merchant v3.0 Alpha 5.

PHP v5.2.0 was released on the 2nd November 2006.

The first reports of v3.0 Alpha 5 not running properly was due to the use of PHP v5.1.6 which does not contain the json_encode() function introduced in PHP v5.2.0. This function is used heavily in the Administration Tool with the new dynamic table listing and live search features.

A compatibility function exists that might be the saviour to the json_encode() problem for earlier PHP v5.X versions. If you are interested in testing this out, feel free to fork osCommerce on Github and report back of your findings.

osCommerce Online Merchant v3.0 Alpha 5 was scheduled for release by the end of February and has been postponed to ensure the quality of the release. It will now be released on Wednesday the 11th of March. This release also brings in a new roadmap and release strategy for the v3.x series.

Our focus has changed with this release from implementing additional features into the core to concentrating on the framework and to add the features to future releases. This allows v3.0 to be released sooner with a stable framework, and allows a much faster release cycle for new features compared to the previous “release every 6 months” release strategy.

This release is a stable production-ready release and will be the first supported release in the v3.x series. This release is still marked as an Alpha release due to framework changes that are still planned. We therefore recommend the installation of this release to those that are performing it themselves, and for hosting and service providers to wait until the final release of v3.0 before making it available to their customers.

The community add-ons site will be accepting uploads for this release and discussion channels will be available on the community support forums.

The v2.2 -> v3.0 Alpha 5 migration tool will be made available by the end of March for existing installations to use, and is only recommended to those that will be updating their installations leading up to the final v3.0 release.

The roadmap for v3.0 is now:

v3.0 Alpha 5

• Product Attributes Implementation
• Dynamic Table Listings (Administration Tool)
• Live Search (Administration Tool)
• Administration Tool sections now self-contained Applications
• Error Logging; both PHP and MySQL errors and warnings now logged (forced runtime usage of PHP E_ALL and MySQL STRICT_ALL_TABLES)
• Stabilized Framework
• Usage of JSON for RPC calls
• Inclusion of jQuery v1.3.2 and jQuery UI v1.6rc6

v3.0 Beta 1

• HTML E-Mails
• Purchase Without Account
• Frozen Framework
• Updated Frontend/GUI
• Upgrade from v2.2 and v3.0 Alpha 5

v3.0

• Bugfixes
• Finalize Updated Frontend/GUI
• Documentation
• Certified Modules
• Upgrade from v2.2 and v3.0 Beta 1

v3.1

• Backup/Import/Export Features

v3.2

• Gift Vouchers and Coupons

The v3.0 Alpha 5 release will also be the first osCommerce Online Merchant release using Git to attract an even greater wave of developers to help with add-ons and core framework improvements. Git is a distributed version control system which allows developers to clone and create branches on their own local development machines. A discussion channel will be made available on the community support forums to manage the discussions on clones, patches, and keeping up to date with everyones changes.

The Git development repository is hosted at:

http://github.com/osCommerce/oscommerce/

Developers, feel free to fork the git master branch now and keep up to date with the commits leading up to the release. Be ready to show the world your creativity in making osCommerce Online Merchant an even better e-commerce solution

PayPal are pleased to offer this exclusive promotion to UK osCommerce merchants. Sign up to Website Payments Pro or Express Checkout by the 7th June 2008 and you could be in with a chance of winning one of 10 prizes allowing you to pay no monthly fees or transactional fees for three months with PayPal!

Simply call 0800 358 9450 and quote osCommerce. (Terms and Conditions)

osCommerce V2.2RC2a comes with the PayPal modules as default payment options, including Website Payments Standard, Website Payments Pro (UK & US) and Express Checkout (as a stand alone option). These new modules can also be downloaded as Add-Ons for osCommerce merchants running version 2.2MS2 and above.

The new community add-ons site is now live which aims to replace the current contributions section on the support site by providing additional features to help developers maintain their add-on packages.

The new site will be rolled out in 3 stages with the first stage contemplating the existing contributions section. In addition, community members and developers can help clean the structure of add-on packages by reporting uploads to be removed.

The following changes are planned for the second and third stages of updating the new site:

2nd Stage Updates:

• register_globals compatibility flag for 2.2-RC1 and 2.2-Final installations
• Maintainers can assign their add-ons as public or private to allow or disallow additional uploads from other community members
• If an add-on is private, maintainers can assign other community members as maintainers who are allowed to upload files to the package

3rd Stage Updates:

• Allow maintainers to edit descriptions
• Allow maintainers to link their uploads to a forum topic (for support)
• Allow maintainers to upload screenshots of the add-on in action
• Allow maintainers to link to other add-ons as a “related” feature
• Allow community members to adopt an inactive add-on

The new community add-ons site can be reached at:

http://addons.oscommerce.com

We look forward to rolling out the additional features in the coming weeks and look forward to the additional suggestions the community has for improving the experience of finding, downloading, and contributing additional add-on packages.

Although the product attributes implementation has been replaced with the newer Product Variants feature, a new feature of the same title is being introduced to 3.0 Alpha 5 which deals with non-core related product data with a flexible and modular implementation.

This allows modules to be created to define new data parameters for a product which can easily be accessed via its module code.

Once a product attribute module has been installed via the Administration Tool (in the same manner payment and shipping modules are installed), its field is automatically added to the edit product page where the module controls the presentation of having its value defined.

This allows add-ons to be installed that add data fields to the product without the need to modify the edit product page in order to save the data in the database.

A minor change to the database class has also been performed to automatically bind the database table names in SQL queries which allows any database table to be accessed without the need to define it first in the includes/database_tables.php file. (This file will be removed in the 3.0 release)

Here is a short QuickTime movie showing the new Product Attributes feature with the following attribute modules:

1) Date Available (javascript controlled input field)
2) Manufacturer (pull down menu)
3) Shipping Availability (pull down menu)

osCommerce Online Merchant Product Attributes QuickTime Movie; 1.1MB

The product information page on the store front-end has also been updated to allow the dynamic product variant combination values to control certain data on the page, such as the product price and the product model.

osCommerce Online Merchant Product Info Page

The introduction of the new Product Attributes feature is currently defined for master products only, which product variants will use, and will be definable at the product variants level once the edit product page has been redesigned to handle the presentation of the data.