Magento – Importing Product attribute values, an alternative method

attributesdataflowimport

By default, when importing products into magento via csv file, and you want to provide values for attributes for those products, you have to enter the attribute codes in the first line of the csv file, eg:

sku,colour,brand,custom_attribute_one,custom_attribute_two, ..etc..

This is absoloutly fine if you are using only a small number of attributes in your store.

However, when you have thousands of attributes, this becomes a problem as you would need to generate x number of rows, depending on how many you are using. So, lets say 1000 attributes = at least 1001 columns in the csv.

To export data from a database to this kind of format would be a nightmare, when the data is already normalised in the database.

So, the question is whether there is a way to import a csv containing a limited number of columns as below:

sku,attribute_code,value

Baring in mind that both the products and attributes would already created in magento, and this step is just to populate the actual values of each attribute relating to each imported product.

So, an example csv might look something like:

sku,         attribute_code,            value
UE46F5500AK, i_944_display_diagonal,    46
UE46F5500AK, i_11424_hd_type,           Full HD
UE46F5500AK, i_1585_display_resolution, 1920 x 1080
UE46F5500AK, i_39_aspect_ratio,         16:9

Now, i assume this would have to be done via a custom, or adapted php or dataflow script, and creating an array and using each column eg:

array(
sku[0]
attribute_code[1]
value[2]
)

However, with very little php knowledge i wouldnt even know where to start. If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be fantastic, as i have no idea of any other way to import all the values

edit. I already use magmi for importing of products, however there doesn't seem to be the needed functionality for importing the above csv example, ie you still have to enter each attribute code at the first line, which with a huge number of attributes, is no feasible

Best Answer

The simplest way is probably to use Magmi:

http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/magmi/index.php?title=Main_Page

This will let you update only the attributes you need to, and you can skip the ones you don't want to update or enter. So for example, if you are updating existing product, you need to only enter SKU and then at least 1 other attribute that you want updated. I think this is what you need if I understand your question correctly. If this isn't your answer, please re-word your question detailing the problem specifically.

Related Solutions

Magento – Importing product weights when multiple rows in CSV per product

The file you generated through Magento Export (whether this is default import/export module or default dataflow profile) is NOT going to work if you import it back, because it doesn't preserve the format.

If you want to update weights, I would recommend this:
1) filter your CSV in Excel, filter only those which have "sku" field assigned
2) copy-paste the filtered rows into new spreadsheet
3) leave only 2 columns - "sku", "weight"
4) import it back.

I'm pretty sure it's the easiest flow to solve your concrete task.

For those who are looking for tool for Magento that allows both export and import while having similar format for both routines, check out this one.

Magento – Import Attribute Position Values

I don't know if this helps you much, but I did something like this using a custom script like this.
In my case I had to read the values from a CSV file, but anything goes as long as you are able to get your data into an array that looks like this:

$values = array(
    array(
        'value'=>'Some value',
        'position'=>'3'
    ),
    ....
);

I also did this for the manufacturer attribute but it works for any other attribute. Let's assume you have the array in the form described above. Here goes:

$manufacturer = Mage::getModel('eav/config')->getAttribute('catalog_product', 'manufacturer'); //get the main attribute
$storeViews = Mage::getModel('core/store')->getCollection()->addFieldToFilter('store_id', array('gt'=>0)); //get all stores
$ids = $storeViews->getAllIds();//get all store ids
$saveOptions = array();//init options to save
if ($manufacturer){
    $_options = $manufacturer->getSource()->getAllOptions(false);//get all existing options so you won't add duplicates
    $options = array();
    foreach ($_options as $_option){ //format the existing options for save
        $options[$_option['label']] = $_option['value'];
    }
}
//read from the array to import $values
foreach ($values as $value){
    if (!isset($options[$name])){//check if the option does not exist
        $index = 'option_'.(count($toInsert) + 1);
        $toInsert[$index] = array();//if it doesn't exist add it to import array
        $toInsert[$index][0] = $value['value'];//set the option label for admin view
        foreach ($ids as $store){
           //empty values for stores - you can also set translated values if you need for each store
           $toInsert[$index][$store] = '';
        }
        $toInsertOrder[$index] = $value['position'];//set the option position
    }
}

Now you should have in the array $toInsert the labels that need to be added, and in $toInsertOrder the positions of the labels. just set the options to the attribute and save it.

$result = array('value' => $toInsert,'order' => $toInsertOrder);
$manufacturer->setData('option', $result);
$manufacturer->save();

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Magento – Importing product weights when multiple rows in CSV per product

Magento – Import Attribute Position Values

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