http://mivo.truxoft.com
MIVO!
miva beyond limits

Unattended scheduled tasks, including backups and batch exports. Important up-to-date data, number of visitors shopping, order notifications in real-time. Alerts for oversized files, broken databases, corrupted data, lost orders and emails. Automated cleaning up oversized data and removing temporary files. Statistics. Order history. Bestsellers. Instant shutting down the store, deleting baskets, packing. Instant access to MM Admin.

1. Feature List
2. Screenshots
3. Description
4. Scheduler - How It Works
5. Control Elements
6. Configuration Options
7. Compatibility
8. Installation
9. BUY THE MODULE
10. Support
11. Known Limitations and Bugs
12. FAQ
13. Troubleshooting
14. Error Messages
15. Wish List
16. Change Log
17. Useful links
18. User Comments

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• Displays the number of currently shopping visitors (opened baskets)
• Automatically backs up and resets databases and deletes data files that grow over assigned file size quota - significant performance boost!
• Automatically deletes temporary files from interrupted packing (i.e. products.dbt00000001)
• Automatically deletes temporary upload files
• Scheduled  Backups, Batch Exports, etc. (see below in SCHEDULED TASKS)
• CHARTS
  Hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly charts including historical data (unlimited) in following modes. The length of the displayed period is configurable, browsing in the history is of course possible.
  • Abandoned baskets
  • Failed payments
  • Total revenue (sold value)
  • Total number of orders
  • Total number of sold products
  • Total collected tax value
  • Total collected shipment charges
  • Number of failed e-mail notifications
• STATISTICS
  Beside the data displayed in the charts and in the mouse-over popup windows over the charts, there are the following data available. The displayed values depend on the selected time mode - it shows either totals over the last hour, day, week, month, or year.
  • Number of new orders (unbatched orders)
  • Total number of orders in the given period
  • Total revenue in the given period
  • Total number of sold products in the given period
  • Total value of collected tax in the given period
  • Total value of collected shipping charges in the given period
  • Number of abandoned baskets in the given period
  • Number of failed payments in the given period
  • Number of failed e-mail notifications in the given period (with MmHTML, MmHTMLc or MmVENDOR)
  
  
  • Number of hits since the last reset (in MM Admin)
  • Number of visits since the last reset
  • Total revenue since the last reset
  • Total number of sold products since the last reset
  
  
  • List of bestsellers. It can contain limited number of bestesellers or list of all products sorted by number of sales. Values since the last reset in MM Admin.
• INSTANT ACCESS To MM ADMIN Functions
  From the MmTICKER window you can access the following often used MM Admin functions with a single click on a button:
  • Instant access to the standard MM Admin without the necessity to log in
  • Shutting down the store to the maintenance mode and re-opening it again
  • Deleting baskets (all or expired only)
  • Packing store and domain data
  • Instant access to the batch report of new arrived orders (click on the new order announcement). Works with both Ultra Batch and the built-in MM batch report.
• ALERTS AND EMAIL ALERTS
  MmTICKER watches your store and associated files and in addition to displaying an alert message on the screen it also sends e-mail alert to the store owner. Email alerts work even without the MmTICKER window opened!
  • File Quotas: MmTICKER warns if pre-defined files grow over the limit assigned to them. Works also with files 3rd party modules!
  • Database Consistency: MmTICKER verifies all pre-defined databases if they are not corrupted and do not contain duplicate records. Works also with databases 3rd party modules!
  • Alerts on failed schedule tasks or optionally email reporting of successfully finished scheduled tasks, too.
  • MmTICKER alerts when the number of failed payments in a day ig bigger the given limit (possibly signilizes problems with the payment gateway or fraud attempts)
• SCHEDULED TASKS
  You can set up unlimited number of scheduled tasks to be performed daily, monthly or yearly. The default pre-defined task schedules at 4:00AM the store for at the maintenance mode 15 minutes later, waits till the store is closed, deletes expired baskets, packs store data, packs domain data and re-opens the store. Scheduler may be configured so that it executes the tasks only if nobody is in the store. Currently, the following commands may be used:
  • Close - scheduling the store for the maintenance mode after a pre-define time (15 minutes by default)
  • WaitClose - waits till the store shuts down
  • DelExpBask - deletes expired baskets to increase the performance and reduce the file sizes
  • DelAllBask - deletes ALL baskets (even those not yet expired)
  • PackStore - packing store data to reduce store specific files and to rebuild store database indexes.
  • PackDomain - packing domain data to reduce common Merchant files and to rebuild mall database indexes.
  • ExportNew - exports new order to a file and sends the new batch by e-mail to the store owner (with Ultra Batch)
  • DelCC - for security reasons, deletes payment data (incl. CC numbers) of all processed orders (with Ultra Batch).
  • backup - creating full backup copy of Miva Merchant Data (Unix full shell servers only. Limited support).
  • mmubat - calls Ultra Batch module and performs tasks defined in passed arguments (with Ultra Batch, for advanced users only).
  • admin - calls MM Admin and performs tasks defined in passed arguments (for advanced users only).
  • shell - calls system commands (Unix full shell servers only. For advanced users only).
  • other commands for the scheduler may be added on request


• MmTicker logs unauthorized access attempts with detailed information about the user - logfile is browsable through the MmTICKER admin screen.
• Scheduled tasks are also logged and the records may be viewed in the Admin screen.
• Time zone setting and user-defined date and time format
• Animated "marquee" alerts, messages and statistics with configurable speed and possibilty to change the speed or stop the scrolling with a single mouseclick.
• Parts of the MmTICKER window may be hidden to reduce the size
• Flashing taskbar button and window popping up on alerts (optional)
• Configurable window size - the size of the window may be set to show charts over longer time period.
• Zoom - for those with bright eyes or oppositely with sight problems, the winod may be zoomed from 50% to 200%
• Mouse-over help and detailed info on items work overall on the MmTICKER window.
• MmTICKER window refresh frequency configurable
• Frequency for file size and database consistency check configurable
• Automated installation, no manual intervention needed
• Scheduled tasks may be triggered from the opened MmTICKER window, from a Unix cron table, from a remote server (i.e. truXoft) or directly from Miva Merchant.
• Does not require OpenUI. Works with both OUI and MMUI.
• Very easy installation, plug&play, no coding, no programming experience necessary
• No OUI hook conflicts - truXoft modules are 100% conform to the Miva Merchant API, they do not use OUI extensions and therefore never cause hook conflicts with other modules, otherwise common at OUI modules.

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• MmTICKER settings in Miva Merchant Admin » Stores » Utilities
  

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Paradoxically, although MmTICKER Mini Admin has a user interface of the smallest windows size ever seen at Miva Merchant software, it is up to date the most complex, the biggest and probably also the most powerful truXoft module for Miva Merchant.

Although the default size of the MmTICKER popup window is only some 100x400 pixels, it is filled with information and functionality. It brings the maximum data to the store owner, displays the number of currently shopping visitors, notifies when new orders come in, and alerts in case of troubles or hazardous situations.

Most often used functions like deleting baskets and packing data are accessible directly from the MmTICKER window. Additionally it allows the store owner to access the full Miva Merchant Admin instantly without the necessity to log in.

One of the most important features is the ability to define and perform unattended scheduled tasks.

The work with MmTICKER is very easy and does not require any training. You simply launch the MmTICKER in MM Admin Store Utilities. The window pops up, refreshes in defined frequency (5 min by default), keeps the displayed data up to date and performs regular checks and scheduled tasks.

In spite of the small window size it contains more information about the store than the standard MM Admin screens. Messages and statistical data are being scrolled over the window, all charts and other screen elements show detailed information in mouse-over popup windows, the top menu can be switched between time and chart type mode and charts may be browsed back to the history.

Even when the MmTICKER is not opened, the software still continues to perform its basic functions - files size and database consistency checking and scheduler are still active, as long as there are page hits in your store.

The scheduler and the quota / database watchdog may be triggered in four different ways:

1. From an open MmTICKER window. The windows refreshes periodically as defined in MmTICKER settings
2. From Miva Merchant. MmTICKER adds code to the Global Footer that launches the MmTICKER shceduler / watchdog in a hidden iFrame and allows so executing these tasks even with MmTICKER window closed.
3. From a Unix cron job. You can add a call to your Crontable periodically running MmTICKER. Detailed installation instructions will be available here later.
4. From a remote server. For those who do not have any possibility to set up cron jobs, truXoft will offer triggering their MmTICKER from our server.

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MmTICKER processes several tasks in the background. It executes not only the planned scheduled tasks, but also several other functions, like verifying the files size quotas of data files, reducing / resetting oversized databases and flat data files, removing temporary files, checking database consistency and duplicate orders, sending alerts in case of discovered problems (file size quota, corrupted databases, failed cron jobs, too many failed payments).

Normally all this tasks are processed when the MmTICKER window on your desktop reloads. However, it requires that the window remains opened and your PC is connected to the Internet permanently. For the case you cannot trigger the scheduler from the open MmTICKER window, the module inserts a tag into the store's Global Footer (see in Admin » Stores » 'your store' » Headers & Footers). With the help of the tag, MmTICKER can execute standard or scheduled tasks whenever a visitor loads a page of your store.

Although the latter method works fine for the above mentioned standard tasks, by default it does not work for the default cron job that closes the store, deletes baskets and packs the domain and store data. The reason is simple - usually you want to perform maintenance tasks when nobody is in the store. Therefore it is scheduled to 4AM by default, when the traffic should be low. Secondly, by default, cron jobs are disabled when active user baskets are found in the store (see option Allow cron with users shopping). At stores with high traffic or long basket timeout, it is recommended to enable this option ("Allow cron with users shopping"), otherwise the task could never be executed, but in the same time, when the store closes for the maintenance, there would be no more triggering available. So in fact, scheduler triggering from the Global Footer makes sense only for tasks that do not close the store.

There are still two other alternatives to trigger the scheduler to allow executing also tasks shutting down the store: the scheduler may be triggered from a Unix crontab or from a third party server such as truXoft. For details on setting up a Unix cron job triggering MmTICKER, please have a look at http://miva.truxoft.com/art0017.htm. Please note that support requests on this option are not included in the limited free support available with the purchase of MmTICKER and are subject of support fee of $100/hour (each started hour billable). Also triggering from truXoft server is a subject of an additional charge.

Important note: By default, the scheduled task starts only if there are no active baskets in the store. By default MmTICKER re-tries for 3 hours. If your store experiences heavy traffic at the scheduled time, or your basket timeout is quite long, it may easily happen that the scheduled job cannot start in the given time frame.

It is recommended executing the task in the time when there are less visitors, decreasing the Basket Expiration Time (second parameter on the MmTICKER screen), increasing the parameter "Re-try cron if failed" or enabling the option "Allow cron with users shopping" if the default settings prevent cron jobs from completing.

Important note: If you plan to close your store for longer time, or during the time normally scheduled for a task containing the open command, please be aware that it would be re-opened automatically. If you want to prevent it from happening, please disable scheduled tasks in MmTICKER settings.

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1. truXoft Logo - MmTICKER Settings
   
2. Chart
   
3. truXoft - Documentation
   
4. MM Admin Menu
   
5. File Quotas Alerts
   
6. Database Consistency Alerts
   
7. Notifications and Messages
   
8. Hide Message Pane
   
9. Hide Alerts Pane
   
10. Hide MM Admin Menu
    
11. Totals / Stats Pane
    
12. Hide Totals Pane
    
13. Number of Visitors
    
14. Last Refresh Time
    
15. Hide Top Menu
    
16. Hide Chart Pane
    
17. History Navigation Menu
    
18. Top Menu
    
19. Top Menu Switch
    

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• Click: launches a new Miva Merchant Admin window with the MmTICKER settings.
• Mousover: "Launch truXoft MmTICKER settings"

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The chart contains data for in selected mode where each bar represents an hour, resp. a day, week, month or a year, depending on the selection in the top menu (in time mode). In the top menu (in chart mode) you can also select the type of the chart data - abandoned baskets, failed payment, number of orders, number of products, total revenue, collected tax, collected shipping charges and number of failed email notifications (with truXoft notification modules only)

You can browse through the order history with the help of the navigation menu.

Move the mouse cursor over the chart to see detailed data of individual time intervals.

• Click: N.A.
• Doubleclick: restores previously hidden window panes.
• Mousover: for each bar of the chart, it displays detailed data about orders in the associated period.

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• Click: launches a new window with this MmTICKER documentation.
• Mousover: "truXoft MmTICKER v1.xx documentation"

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• Click: initiates the respective action:
  • admin  - Launches Miva Merchant Admin in a new window without the neccessity to log in.
  • close  - Schedules the store to be out offline to the maintenance mode in pre-defined number of minutes (15 by default) or instantly (if time set to zero). It is recommended to wach the Number of Visitors display and possibly shutting down when there are no or just few visitors.
  • open  - Replaces the 'close' button at a store that is already shut down. It terminates the maintenance mode instantly.
  • del  - Depending on the settings it deletes expired or all baskets in the store.
  • pack  - It packs the store data when the Pack domain data option selected, it packs also the domain data. It is very important for the performance and consistency of the store to delete baskets and pack data regularly.
• Mousover: shows description of the function associtated with each button

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MmTICKER periodically checks sizes of all pre-defined files against allowed file size quotas assigned to them. List of files that are over the given limit is displayed in this alert marquee and rotated on the screen. If enabled, an alert e-mail is sent to the store owner too.

Many files are being automatically reduced when you pack the data. Some other files (i.e. the log files like malf.log and elf.log) may be deleted. Some other files must be reduced manually. If you are not familiar with the structure of Miva Merchant files, please contact a professional or ask for an advice on the Miva Merchant User list. If you decide editing the files yourself, please be sure to make a backup copy before doing so.

Speed of the alert marquee scrolling is set in the MmTICKER settings: Scrolling delay [ms]

• Click:  First click doubles the scrolling speed. Second click stops the marquee. Third click restarts the sliding with the original speed.
• Mousover:  While the animated marquee shows always just a fraction of the message, the mouseover popup window contains the entire text. TIP: mouseover popups usually stay on the screen just few seconds. In case of longer texts, it may be insufficient. Keep the mouse cursor moving few pixels to avoid disappearing of the popup help.

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Most frequent problems in Merchant are corrupted database indexes due to a duplicate record. There are many possible reasons, but one of the most usual ones is a sloppy server. If a duplicate record is not promptly removed, it may lead to serious problems and lost orders. MmTICKER alerts you about such problems within minutes so that you can avoid the disaster.

Some duplicate records may be fixed in the way described in the FAQ, others need to be repaired manually. You need a fully dBase compatible editor, such as dBase, FoxPro, Access, dbfUtils or similar. If you are not familiar with the structure of Miva Merchant files, please contact a professional to do the work for you or ask for an advice on the Miva Merchant User list. If you decide editing the files yourself, please be sure to make a backup copy before doing so.

Speed of the alert marquee scrolling is set in the MmTICKER settings: Scrolling delay [ms]

• Click:  First click doubles the scrolling speed. Second click stops the marquee. Third click restarts the sliding with the original speed.
• Mousover:  While the animated marquee shows always just a fraction of the message, the mouseover popup window contains the entire text. TIP: mouseover popups usually stay on the screen just few seconds. In case of longer texts, it may be insufficient. Keep the mouse cursor moving few pixels to avoid disappearing of the popup help.

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Diverse messages, for example Miva Co. notifications, new order and store status notifications, results of performed actions and others are being displayed in this sliding marquee.

Speed of the alert marquee scrolling is set in the MmTICKER settings: Scrolling delay [ms]. Most message are being displayed during few (1-3) refresh cycles only. Afterwards the message is cleeared and the window size is reduced.

• Click:  First click doubles the scrolling speed. Second click stops the marquee. Third click restarts the sliding with the original speed.
• Mousover:  While the animated marquee shows always just a fraction of the message, the mouseover popup window contains the entire text. TIP: mouseover popups usually stay on the screen just few seconds. In case of longer texts, it may be insufficient. Keep the mouse cursor moving few pixels to avoid disappearing of the popup help.

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• Click:  Hides the message marquee and reduces the window size.
• Mousover: "HIDE messages"

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• Click:  Hides the alerts marquee and reduces the window size.
• Mousover: "HIDE alerts"

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• Click:  Hides the buttons of the MM Admin Menu and reduces the window size.
• Mousover: "HIDE Admin Menu"

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The right Totals / Stats pane shows data for the current time period. It may be the current hour, day, week, month or year, depending on the time mode selected in the Top Menu. Additionally it shows information about hits, visits, revenue and sold products for the period since the last reset in the MM Admin fron page. If enabled, it includes also a limited or full list of bestsellers. At the top of the pane there is a static (non-scrolling) bar showing the time of the last ticker window update and the number of visitors shopping in the store at that time.

• Click:  First click doubles the scrolling speed. Second click stops the marquee. Third click restarts the sliding with the original speed.
• Mousover:  Displays the currently active time period (hour, day, week, month or year)

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• Click:  Hides the Totals / Statistics / Bestseller pane and reduces the window size.
• Mousover: "HIDE totals"

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At the top of the Totals / Stats pane there is a static (non-scrolling) bar showing the time of the last ticker window update and the number of visitors shopping in the store at that time.

• Click:  n.a.
• Mousover:  explanation

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At the top of the Totals / Stats pane there is a static (non-scrolling) bar showing the time of the last ticker window update and the number of visitors shopping in the store at that time.

• Click:  n.a.
• Mousover:  explanation, including the time of the next refresh.

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• Click:  Hides the Top Menu and reduces the window size.
• Mousover: "HIDE Top Menu"

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• Click:  Hides the chart pane and reduces the window size.
• Mousover: "HIDE chart"

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If the currently availble order history does not fit completely into the chart, this navigation menu appears to the right of the chart. There are four buttons for displaying the beginning of the order history, showing previous page, next page or jumping to the end of the last records of the history.

• Click:  displays a chart for the selected period of the order history
• Mousover:  description of each button

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Depending on the menu mode selection in the MmTICKER settings, either the Time Mode or the Chart Mode menu appears. You can toggle the menus with the help of the sw button, left in the menu. See detailed explanation of the Time Mode and Chart Mode options in the Configuration manual below.

• Click:  reloads the window in the selected mode
• Mousover:  explanation of each button

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• Click:  toggles the menu between the Time Mode and Chart Mode
• Mousover:  "SWITCH MENU"

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Ticker Window

Totals / Statistics pane configuration

Alerts Configuration

Email Alerts

MM Admin Integration

Cron / Scheduled tasks

Access Logs

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By default the MmTICKER window automatically reloads each 5 minutes. Use lower value to get the information quicker. Higher refresh rates put less load on the server. To avoid the necessity of logging on each page reload at a long refresh time, the maximum value is limited by the Miva Merchant Admin session timeout as defined in your MM Admin domain settings.

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MmTICKER displays the current number of visitors in the store, better told by default it counts the number of visitors whose baskets are not yet expired. The basket expiration time is determined by the Basket Timeout in your Store Settings. In the case you use long expiration time in the store settings to allow customers to come back to their baskets later, you may consider decreasing the basket expiration time in MmTICKER settings only. So for example, if you reduce it to 10 minutes, baskets will still use the Miva Merchant timeout settings, but MmTICKER will count as active only those visitors who hit a page during the last ten minutes.

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MmTICKER horizontal window size in pixels. When MmTICKER launches, it pops up in a defined window size. You can set the window size bigger. Charts at a window with higher Size X value will contain longer history. The size of the window may be also increased or decreased with the use of the zoom option, that scales not only the window size and the chart but all elements including fonts and buttons.

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MmTICKER vertical window size in pixels. When MmTICKER launches, it pops up in a defined window size. You can set the window size bigger. The vertical Size Y has influence only on the height of the Chart and the size of the Totals pane. The size of the window may be also increased or decreased with the use of the zoom option, that scales not only the window size and the chart but all elements including fonts and buttons.

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Default horizontal position of the left upper corner of the MmTICKER window on the desktop.

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Default vertical position of the left upper corner of the MmTICKER window on the desktop.

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If you want the totals pane wider (i.e. to match longer product names in the bestseller list), adjust this parameter accordingly. Please increase the MmTICKER Size X in the same time.

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You can scale down or up the entire MmTICKER window. It scales not only the window size and the chart but all elements including fonts and buttons. Use higher values for better readability.

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When you launch the MmTICKER window, it pops up with the selected menu, but you can switch it between the time and chart mode any time with clicking the red SW button left in the menu. When none of the available modes is selected, the menu does not show in the MmTICKER window at all.

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When you launch the MmTICKER window it pops up in the selected chart mode, but may be changed any time in the menu.

• bsk  - number of abandoned baskets in given period. Abandoned baskets come from visitors who entered the store, but left before completeing the order or because of a failed payment.
• pay  - number of failed payments in the given period. MmTICKER counts visitors who already entered their personal data during the checkout process, but did not pass through the payment process. There may be numerous reasons: they changed their mind or were just playing with your store  •  they did not manage to enter the payment data correctly or their card was rejected by your payment gateway  •  the payment gateway was down  •  there is a problem in your payment module, it is misconfigured or outdated  •  there is a bug in one of your fulfillment modules  •  your data are corrupted  •  your server is overloaded  •  there were network problems ... MmTICKER can also send you an e-mail alert if the number of such failed payments grows over given daily limit.
• ord  - number of completed orders in the given period
• prd  - total number of sold products in the given period
• sum  - total revenue in the given period (total sold value including tax and shipping)
• tax  - total collected tax in the given period
• ship  - total collected shipping charges in the given period
• eml  - number of failed e-mail notifications in the given period. Notifications may fail for numerous reasons. For a detailed explanation, please see truXoft's Miva Merchant FAQ. This feature is available only with truXoft notification modules: MmHTML, MmHTMLc or MmVENDOR

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When you launch the MmTICKER window it will pop up in the selected time mode, but may be changed any time in the menu.

• H  (hourly mode) - each bar in the chart represents one hour. The date and hour associated with the bar and all collected data may be viewed in a popup window if you move the mouse cursor over the bar. In the default configuration, the chart holds order history of 75 hours. If the order history is longer than this time, you can view previous records with the help of the history navigation menu right to the chart. The Totals / Stats pane contains data for the current hour.
• D  (daily mode) - each bar in the chart represents one day. The date and hour associated with the bar and all collected data may be viewed in a popup window if you move the mouse cursor over the bar. In the default configuration, the chart holds order history of 56 days. If the order history is longer than this time, you can view previous records with the help of the history navigation menu right to the chart. The Totals / Stats pane contains data for the current day.
• W  (weekly mode) - each bar in the chart represents one hour. The date and hour associated with the bar and all collected data may be viewed in a popup window if you move the mouse cursor over the bar. In the default window size, the chart holds order history of 46 weeks. If the order history is longer than this time, you can view previous records with the help of the history navigation menu right to the chart. The Totals / Stats pane contains data for the current week.
• M  (monthly mode) - each bar in the chart represents one hour. The date and hour associated with the bar and all collected data may be viewed in a popup window if you move the mouse cursor over the bar. In the default window size, the chart holds order history of 28 months. If the order history is longer than this time, you can view previous records with the help of the history navigation menu right to the chart. The Totals / Stats pane contains data for the current month.
• Y  (yearly mode) - each bar in the chart represents one hour. The date and hour associated with the bar and all collected data may be viewed in a popup window if you move the mouse cursor over the bar. In the default window size, the chart holds order history of 5 years. If the order history is longer than this time, you can view previous records with the help of the history navigation menu right to the chart. The Totals / Stats pane contains data for the current year.

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With the help of this formatting string you can precisely define the appearance of most of the date and time stamps. Token available in the format string:

• dd - day of month (numeric)
• wday - English name of the weekday
• mm - month (numeric)
• month - English name of the month
• mon - abbreviated name of the month (3 characters)
• yyyy - year (4digits)
• yy - year (2 digits)
• hr - hour (padded with 0)
• mn - minute (padded with 0)
• sc - second (padded with 0)
• AM - if used, US 12 hrs instead of 24hrs time is displayed (12AM/12PM)

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Unless you can change the system time on your server, standard Miva Merchant display everywhere GMT time, that may be difficult to read especially if you are located in the USA. With this parameter you can adjust the time zone so, that it displays the time values in the zone of your choice. You can use both negative and positive values to adjust the time so that it reflects your physical location.

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Messages slide in the marquee below the chart. You can click on the marquee to double the speed, to stop the scrolling, or to restart the marquee with the original default speed. The default speed may be changed with this parameter. Enter higher number to slow down the scrolling/sliding speed of the bottom notification message line (below the alerts). Lower numbers speed it up.

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Messages slide in the marquee below the chart. You can click on the marquee to double the speed, to stop the scrolling, or to restart the marquee with the original default speed. The default speed may be changed with this parameter. Enter higher number to slow down the scrolling/sliding speed of the bottom notification message line (below the alerts). Lower numbers speed it up.

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Miva Co. sends notification about newsletters, updates, conferences and other events that are normally displayed on the MM Admin front page. When this option is active, MmTICKER will display the domain notifications shortly in the ticker window too. You can click on the scrolling links to open a popup window with full text of the notification.

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If there is a store notification available in Miva Merchant, that is normally visible only on the MM Admin front page, MmTICKER may shortly display it on the screen too. When this option is active, MmTICKER will display the domain notifications shortly in the ticker window too. You can click on the scrolling links to open a popup window with full text of the notification.

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MmTICKER was developed for MSIE6 and when started checks the browser version and will stop if a non-compatible browser found. It is not guaranteed that it works correctly with other browsers, but if you want to try it anyway, disable this option to bypass the check.

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The right pane of MmTICKER containing totals and statistical data may be hidden.

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Detailed information scroll vertically in the Totals / Stats pane right to the chart. You can click on the pane to double the speed, to stop the scrolling, or to restart the marquee with the original default speed. The default speed may be changed with this parameter. Enter higher number to slow down the scrolling/sliding speed of the bottom notification message line (below the alerts). Lower numbers speed it up.

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The number of top bestselling products. It appears in the scrolling text of the right Totals / Stats pane. Increase the value if you want to see a longer list. Set to zero to disable bestselling information completely.

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If your product names are too long and not fitting into the MmTICKER window, display product code codes instead.

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Alerts pane displays information about files that grew over the given limit and about corrupted databases. You can completely disable the alerts with deselecting this checkbox.

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When an alert is issued, MmTICKER starts flashing the title bar of the ticker window and also its button in the Windows task bar. You can disable it if you find it annoying.

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When an alert is issued and the MmTICKER window is in background it pops up front. You may disable it if you find it annoying.

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Alert messages slide in the marquee below the chart. You can click on the marquee to double the speed, to stop the scrolling, or to restart the marquee with the original default speed. The default speed may be changed with this parameter. Enter higher number to slow down the scrolling/sliding speed of the bottom notification message line (below the alerts). Lower numbers speed it up.

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For reducing the load on the server, MmTICKER can verify filesize quotas and database consistency in lower frequency then the MmTICKER window refresh rate.

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MmTICKER can notify you when customers for some reason do not complete their orders. There may be numerous reasons for it, i.e. broken modules, corrupted databases, non-working payment gateway, overloaded server, fraud attempts, etc. When MmTICKER finds more than the indicated number of failed payment attempts (it means baskets abandoned during the checkout) within a single day, it displays an alert message and sends the alert by e-mail (if enabled). Set to zero to disable this feature. Please note that the value of 1 alerts at more than one (it means at two) failed payments in a day. Day start at midnight with using the timezone difference in your settings.

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MmTICKER periodically verifies file sizes of listed files and displays alerts on the ticker window and optionally sends them by e-mail if a file grows over the assigned size quota. The filename and the desired maximal size of the file in bytes, kilobytes (kB), Megabytes (MB) or Gigabytes (GB) should be separated with a colon. Each record must be on a separate line. File paths should be relative to the Miva Data directory root.

Additionally, at each file you can define an action to be performed if the file grows over the assigned limit. Following commands are available. They should be separated from the file size by a colon and if multiple actions are to be performed on a file, the commands have to be separated by commas.

• backup  - MmTICKER stores a backup copy of the file to a /backup/ subdirectory of the store's Data directory (typically mivadata/Merchant2/00000001/backup/). Current date is appended to the file name. You can download and/or delete the backup files.
• delete  - designed for flat files and some databases that are re-created automatically when deleted (this feature is available at some truXoft modules). It is recommended to use together with the backup command.
• reset(records, index list)  - designed for standard Miva Merchant databases. MmTICKER removes all but the number of last records specified by the first argument passed in the parentheses. A comma separated list of index files associated to the database should follow the record number. Use file names only, with no path specification (same path as at the database will be used). If no indexes are available for the database, append only a comma after the record number. It is recommended to use together with the backup command.

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MmTICKER periodically scans listed databases together with associated unique indexes and verifies if they do not contain duplicate records and if the databases or indexes are not corrupted in another way too. If duplicate records or other data problems are found, MmTICKER displays an alert message and sends the alert by e-mail (if enabled). Unlike at the filesize watchlist, please use paths relative to the Miva Merchant root here! Only unique indexes should be used in the list.

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Send alerts by e-mail. MmTICKER sends alerts by e-mail to the store owner when files over quota found, broken databases or uniques indexes with duplicate records found, when more than allowed number of orders failed during the payment or when a scheduled task failed. Disable if you do not wish to get the alerts by e-mail.

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Send alerts to this email address. Multiple comma separated addresses may be used.

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Send copies of the alerts also to this email address. Multiple comma separated addresses may be used.

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If no new alert appears, MmTICKER will not resend the e-mail within this time period. If the problem was not fixed within the given time, the alert is being re-sent.

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When active, MmTICKER window contains buttons for launching full Miva Merchant Admin in a separate window, closing the store (maintenance mode), deleting baskets and packing data. Unselecting the checkbox hides the menu from the ticker window.

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When you hit the CLOSE button in MmTICKER, visitors receive a warning that the store closes in defined time (15 minutes by default), and can finish their purchase. Increase or decrease the value, as you feel acceptable. You can set it to zero, if you wish to shut the store immediately. In this case watching the number of active visitors, before closing the store is a good idea.

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When selected, MmTICKER will not allow packing data or deleting baskets on a store that was not previously shut down to the maintenance mode. Under certain circumstances, packing and deleting with the store online and visitors shopping could lead to data corruption and/or resetting customer's baskets.

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When selected, MmTICKER deletes all baskets, including the ones not yet expired. If cleared, only expired baskets are being deleted. Edit the basket timeout in MM Admin Store Settings to reduce or increase the expiration time.

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Not recommended! Miva Merchant offers the possibility to re-use order numbers of deleted baskets that were not completed. There is certain risk of corrupting the databases when using this feature.

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If selected MmTICKER packs the store data and then the domain data. If cleared, only store data are being packed. Frequent packing of data is important for the store performance and database consistency. It is a good prevention to avoid data corruption and failed or duplicate orders. Domain data are common data shared by multiple stores in Miva Merchant.

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If checked, no scheduled tasks will be processed. Useful for example, when you are closing the store for a longer period and want to prevent that it is being re-opened by a scheduled task.

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If selected, scheduled tasks may be performed even if the MmTICKER window is not open on admin's PC and also no other triggering is used (i.e. cron job, or a remote triggering from truXoft). It is not recommended deleting all baskets with this option enabled. Please note that if you allow triggering scheduled tasks from the user interface (it means performing the scheduled job when a customer hits a Merchant page after the scheduled time), it may considerably slow down the page load at the moment of starting the job. However, it should happen only once at each task (it means once a day at a daily task), or maximally few times at long jobs (i.e. packing a huge store on a slow server). It is preferred to trigger the scheduler from an opened MmTICKER window, from a UNIX cron job or from a remote server.

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At many tasks it is recommended to shut down the store before performing them, but even if you do not do it, unless you select this option, MmTICKER waits till all baskets are expired before starting the scheduled task. If you use to have many visitors in any day time, it is recommended to enable this option and set the maintenance delay to a value long enough for the customers to complete their orders.

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Access to MmTICKER's scheduler without authorization may be permitted to the server itself, or to a 3rd party server. Only scheduled tasks and watchdog functions may be executed from this server in this manner (without authorization). If you do not plan to use external triggering from a Unix cron job, it is not necessary to set this parameter. If you use a Unix cron job on the same server to trigger MmTICKER, the default value set at the installation is usally correct. In case of doubts you can use program such as TxDIAG to display system variables and use the value of the variable s.remote_host or alternatively s.remote_addr. In case of using a 3rd party server for the triggering, the values of the remote server must be used.

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If a non-zero number used, records older than the given number of days ago will be deleted from the log.

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MmTICKER can send you notification after successfully finished or failed scheduled tasks.

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MmTICKER re-trys to run a cron job maximally during this time. If it could not be run within the time frame (i.e. because no cron triggering was active), MmTICKER will not run it at all. If set to zero, MmTICKER will run the job any time, when it founds it was not executed yet.

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This option is necessary only for cron commands calling system commands (currently only backup and shell). MmTICKER needs to know the location of your Miva Data directory on the server.

Please note that commands requiring this option are available only on UNIX servers and that any support or installation help from truXoft on these commands is a subject of additional charges $100/hour!

Please do not forget a trailing slash!

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List of scheduled tasks. You can defined any number of tasks to be executed at the scheduled time. Each task has to be on a separate line. Tasks may be planned daily, monthly or yearly. The syntax is following:

Time must be in 24hours mode (AM/PM is not parsed). MmTICKER timezone setting is used. Values in brackets are optional. Each command may be used only once in every task.

Currently available commands (others may be included in future versions):

• close  - schedules the store to be closed in defined time
• waitClosed  - waits till the store is in maintenance mode. It does not allow to continue with commands listed after it to be executed until then.
• open  - terminates the maintenance mode, re-opens the store.
• delExpBask  - deletes expired baskets.
• delAllBask  - deletes ALL baskets, including those not yet expired.
• packStore  - packs store data.
• packDomain  - packs common domain data.
• exportNew  - batches all new (unbatched) orders, exports them to a file and sends the file by e-mail to the store owner (with Ultra Batch only).
• backup  - creating full backup copy of Miva Merchant Data (Unix servers only. Limited support). The entire Miva Merchant Data directory is being packed into a tar zipped archive named by the data and time and store in the /backup/ subdirectory of the Miva Data directory root.
• mmubat  - calls the Ultra Batch module. Diverse commands may be passed through the global variables passed in parentheses (for advanced users only)
• admin  - calls MM Admin and performs tasks defined in passed arguments (for advanced users only).
• shell  - calls system commands (Unix servers only. For advanced users only).
• other commands for the scheduler may be added on request

Global variables (name/value pairs) may be passed in parentheses together with each command in the following way:

Please note that the commands backup and shell are available only on Unix systems and support costs extra. For successfully using the backup command you have to enter the proper path to your Miva data directory.

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Log file of previous scheduled tasks and their results. MmTICKER logs each command of a scheduled task separately. The record contains the time of the command execution, originally scheduled time (in brackets), result of the command (OK / ERR), the name of the command and the string returned by the command. Times used in the log are displayed using the MmTICKER timezone setting.

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Unauthorized Access Log

Log of all unathorized and blocked access attempts. MmTICKER may be launched only from Miva Merchant Admin Store Utilities after correctly logging in. Attempt to access mmticker directly without previous authorization are being logged. The log file contains detailed information about the intruder, including the IP address, host domain name, cookie user id, browser version, language settings and others. The window in MmTICKER settings is visible only if there already were any unauthorized attempts.

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MmTICKER is compatible with the following following configurations:

• Miva Empresa 3.9x
• Miva Merchant 3.xx, 4.xx (MM 2.2x not yet tested, but probably compatible)
• MMUI, OUI, any UI
• MSIE 5, MSIE 6

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1. Unpack the zip archive you recevied from the reseller
2. In Merchant Admin go to Modules » Add module
3. Click on the upload button
4. Select the mmticker.mv file on your local disk
5. Upload
6. Do not forget to click the Add button after you uploaded the file!
7. In MM Admin go to Stores » "your store" » Utilities
8. Select the checkbox at truXoft MmTICKER · Mini Admin and click UPDATE
9. Enter your license key and click UPDATE
10. Verify the settings, modify if necessary and click UPDATE at the bottom. Especially check the cron job - the default cron job starts at 4AM, but will be performed any time you open MmTICKER if it was not executed during the last 24 hours. Also be sure to adjust the file size quotas to reasonable values so that you do not receive too many alerts.
11. Click Start Ticker to launch the MmTICKER window. You do not need to keep the Admin open but you must not logout of the Admin window. You may close the window, but not logout, this will disable the Ticker.

In Miva Merchant stores with long order history stored on the server (many hundreds or thousands of orders kept in Admin), couple of first MmTICKER window passes may be quite long to show any data. It is cause by the module scanning and analyzing all the available orders and baskets and storing them in own databases for the use in charts. Once the order history is completely loaded, next passes will be quicker. The same delays will happen each time you enter a unused time mode (hourly/daily/weekly/monthly/yearly charts).

For better reliability of the built-in scheduler it is recommended keeping the MmTICKER window open and the PC connected to the Internet all the time or setting up external triggering from a Unix crontab or a remote server (help with setting up Unix cron jobs is not included in the limited free support - see support). An example of a Unix cron job is below:

*/5 * * * * GET http://yourdomain/Merchant2/4.12/mmticker.mv > /dev/null

At compiled v2.00 MmTICKER, you have to use the following form (replace the store code and the module root with values correct for your system):

GET http://yourdomain/Merchant2/4.18/truxoft/mmticker.mvc\?
Module_Root=/Merchant2/4.18/\&Store_Code=yourStoreCode

This command calls the MmTICKER scheduler each 5 minutes. You have to replace the domain with your real domain name, and the path may also vary on your system. After the installation, there are two mmticker.mv files - you have to use the path to the smaller one, usually in the Merchant2/4.xx/ directory at MM4 or in Merchant2/ at MM2 and MM3.

Before adding the cron job, make sure that your system supports the GET command - type:

GET http://yourdomain/Merchant2/4.12/mmticker.mv\?debug=1

Use this form for v2.00:

GET http://yourdomain/Merchant2/4.18/truxoft/mmticker.mvc\?
Module_Root=/Merchant2/4.18/\&Store_Code=yourStoreCode\&debug=1

on the command line in a Telnet/SSH session (use your domain and path here too, of course). The command should display text on the console, where at the top you should see three debugging lines similar to the following ones:

<!-- DEBUG MmTICKER remote_host: www.yourdomain.com -->
<!-- DEBUG MmTICKER remote_addr: 123.23.234.12 -->
<!-- DEBUG MmTICKER ext_cron: 1 -->

If your system does not support GET, check the art0017 for other solutions. In MmTICKER settings, do not forget to verify if the correct server name is entered into the Allow triggering from parameter. The value as set by default after the installation is usually the right one. Unix cron table may be edited from Telnet/SSH with the command crontab -e. In case of confusion, please contact your system administrator for help.

MmTICKER adds code to Category Tree Footer that is used for alternative triggering of the scheduler by visitor page hits. Make sure that your page layout or functionality is not influenced by the code. If you find any problems, you can simply remove the code from the Category Tree Footer in Admin Store Settings - it is not needed if other kind of triggerring is used (permanently opened MmTICKER window, Unix crontab, triggering from an external server).

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truXoft offers a  limited free suport  within 30 days after the date of the purchase for modules bought directly at  truXoft Co.  or at affiliated resellers as written above. The support is limited to platforms from our compatibility list below and does not include any help with installation or configuration of other Miva or 3rd party modules, or other general Miva Merchant problems.

Some questions may be answered in the FAQ or may be solved with the help of other more experienced users on the Miva Merchant User List. I am monitoring all Miva lists and, if possible, will help with related problems posted to the user groups.

Features designed for advanced users, for Unix platforms and other features explicitly named in the document, are not supported. Support requests and installation help with these unsupported question will be charged $100/hour (each started hour billable).

List of options excluded from the Limited Free Support:

• advanced cron commands backup, mmubat, admin, shell
• user-defined cron commands
• option "Absolute path to Miva Data dir" in MmTICKER options
• adding 3rd party files to File Quota Watchdog and 3rd party databases to Duplicate Records / Database Consistency watchdog
• setting up UNIX crontab triggering of MmTICKER

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• Limitation: the MmTICKER Mini Admin interface works only with MSIE 5 and MSIE 6. Proper functionality is not guaranteeed on other browsers on the admin end.

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• Why doesn't the module appear in my store?
• I don't know how to install the module and can't follow these instructions
• I want to add this module to another store, what do I do?
• How do I update the module?

• Why I am getting 500 Internal Server Error when trying to display some reports?
• How to stop the annoying popping up of the ticker window?
• What is a UNIX Full Shell Server?

• How to use the mmubat and admin cron commands?
• How to add a task for FTP-ing exported batches to a remote server?
• How do I set up weekly scheduled tasks?
• How do I batch and process orders daily or weekly?

faq

INSTALLATION

I guess you have forgotten to hit the Add button after uploading the file in Modules/AddModule

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Read the Module Installation documentation at http://www.miva.com/docs/merchant/

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This module requires one license per use. You won't need to repeat the installation, but you will need a different license key to assign it to your new store.

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Click on the update link in the header of the module's control panel in Admin. Download the updated module from the MvCool upgrade center. In Admin Go to Modules » module name » Files, click the upload icon button right to the Module input field, check "Overwrite", locate the new file on your disk, click UPLOAD and when you are back in the big window do not forget to click the UPDATE button! Click back to the Information tab and verify if the version was updated.

Please note that if you have bought the module at other reseller than MvCool, usually you have to use the address of the reseller as the "e-mail address associated with the license" (for example sales@vikingcoders.com for modules baught Viking Coders or truxoft@metageneral.com for METAgeneral purchases). You should have received detailed intstructions from the reseller when purchasing the module.

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GENERAL QUESTIONS

When a report is run the first time in a time mode that was not displayed yet (i.e. Daily, Weekly, ...) MmTICKER analyses the entire order history available in your store. At store with long history and a huge number of orders, it may require quite a lot of system resources and long time. Some hosts limit the use of CPU/memory used by a single process and when a more intensive Miva task is started, the server aborts the process and generates the 500 Internal Server Error. It is especially the case at host who have under-dimensioned, overloaded servers with too many domains on a machine. I recommend moving to a host that is specialized for hosting of Miva Merchant stores, understand its needs and have the machine optimized for Miva Empresa.

At servers that do not have any CPU/memory limitations, the most intensive tasks on huge order history databases would terminate wit a timeout message instead. In that case ask your host to increase the globaltimeout parameter in your miva.conf configuration file. Default value is 90 seconds, but a longer time (180 - 300) is often needed for more intensive tasks.

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The MmTICKER window pops up only when there is an alert pending - i.e. some files are bigger than assigned file quotas or some of your databases are broken. I highly recommend fixing the problems as soon as the alert appears - you can avoid much more serious problems later. Once the reason of the alert is removed, the MmTICKER window will no more pop up. As for file quotas: many files may be considerably reduced if you pack your store and domain data. Some of the files (i.e. the malf.log, elf.log) may be deleted (I recommend deleting them regularly after backing them up). Some of the files have to be reduced manually (i.e. baskchrg.dbf). If you get permanent file size quota alerts anyway, please modify the size quotas in the MmTICKER settings accordingly.

You can also disable the popping up completely, in MmTICKER Alert settings, but I really recommend fixing the reason of the alert instead.

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Certain advanced scheduler commands are available only on UNIX Full Shell servers. With UNIX it is meant for example Linux, FreeBSD, SunOS, SCO and other Unix clones. Full Shell account is such Unix account that has access to Unix command shell - usually Bourne Shell /bin/sh or its Linux equivalent Bourne Again SHell /bin/bash. If you have Telnet or SSH access to your server, it usually means that you have a full shell account.

For running the "shell" cron command, additionally to the full shell Unix account, your Apache configuration has to allow overriding the .htaccess files - it means there has to be the dirrective AllowOverride all in the global settings or the settings of your VirtualHost in the Apaches configuration file httpd.conf. By default (when the AllowOverride directive is completely missing), the overriding is enabled, but some hosts use to increase the server's security with stricter settings (i.e. Driftwood.com).

NOTE:  Because of too many possible configurations and unfortunately quite common misconfigured Miva Empresa installations with wrong ownerships or permissions, all the MmTICKER Unix based features are not included in the Limited Free Support - any help with setting up such features will be charged separately.

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CRON / SCHEDULED TASKS

This topic is unfortunately currently undocumented. I am afraid that I would need to spend at least half a year on the documentation if I tried to describe it in details.

Principally you can set any global variables inside of the parentheses in this way:

12:00 [mmubat(some_var=some_val&other_var=val&yet_another_var=something)]

MmTICKER splits the name/value pairs and assigns the values to the variables before MvDOing the Ultra Batch. It means, in this way you can set any global or form variable used in Ultra Batch.

Practically it means that you have to look up the HTML source of an Ultra Batch screen (you do not need to read the Miva script source - just the resulting HTML). Inside of the code you can see diverse INPUT or HIDDEN form fields. Through the mmubat cron command you can then set values to the variables.

So for example if you open the HTML source you can see the INPUT field "ubat_srch" that is used for passing the search string. There is also the ubat_srchOK submit button (I am typing the variable names from memory - I may have misspelled them - please verify). So if you assign these two variables in the mmubat command you can have a scheduled filtered report:

Please note: this is a very simplified example, normally you would need to assign also the ultra batch mode, the batch id, the search mode and possibly other variables. If you do not specify some of the variables, either default values will be used or the values you left active the last time you used Ultra Batch. It means that the scheduled task could return different results depending in what state you let the Ultra Batch at your last use.

NOTE:  Because of the complexity, because of too many possible configurations and unfortunately quite commonly misconfigured Miva Empresa installations with wrong ownerships or permissions, all the MmTICKER Unix based features are not included in the Limited Free Support - any help with setting up such features will be charged separately.

faq

See above ho to use the mmubat command to export a batch with the help of Ultra Batch or use the command ExportNew, and see the Ultra Batch FAQ to see how to export batches to files instead of sending them by e-mail.

For adding an FTP cron job to the MmTICKER task list please read FTP man-pages. Simply log into your server through SSH (or Telnet) and type:

to get the help on the syntax. Once you see how to form the command line and test it directly in SSH (or Telnet), you can then copy and past the command line into the MmTICKER task list in this way:

Please note that you will have to create a .netrc file containing the login/password and the macro actually ftp-ing the file you desire. Detailed information is available in the mentioned man pages.

NOTE:  Because of the complexity, because of too many possible configurations and unfortunately quite commonly misconfigured Miva Empresa installations with wrong ownerships or permissions, all the MmTICKER Unix based features are not included in the Limited Free Support - any help with setting up such features will be charged separately.

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MmTICKER currently supports daily, monthly or yearly scheduled tasks. For executing a task on a weekly basis, you have to create four monthly tasks (i.e. on the 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd of each month) in the following way:

MmTICKER v2.0 (build 2.00023 and newer) supports now weekdays too. The syntax is flexible - the first three examples have the same effect; the third one will execute the task only each Tuesday in February; and the last example executes the task only on Fridays 13th:

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You could use the mmubat or admin commands, setting global variables so that the desired action is performed, but in fact it is what the command exportNew does. It batches all new orders, exports the new batch and sends the exported file to you by e-mail. If you additionally wish to process the orders, or perform other actions, follow the instructions mentioned above. For example for batching and processing orders daily, the following cron task could work for you:

For batching weekly, please refer to the previous FAQ.

NOTE:  Because of the complexity, because of too many possible configurations and unfortunately quite commonly misconfigured Miva Empresa installations with wrong ownerships or permissions, all the MmTICKER Unix based features are not included in the Limited Free Support - any help with setting up such features will be charged separately.

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In case of troubles, before contacting the support, please be sure to:

1. read the FAQ
2. check the changelog and update the module to the latest version
3. read known limitation and bugs

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MmTICKER watches your store and sends you alerts by e-mail when it discovers certain problems. Find more verbose explanation of those warnings here:

Some duplicate orders are easy to fix by deleting redundant orders or deleting baskets (see also the Merchant FAQ). Others have to be fixed manually - downloading the database, removing the duplicate errors in an xBase compatible editor, uploading the database back to the server and packing the store and domain data afterwards. If you are not familiar with such tasks, contact a Miva Merchant developer for help.

MmTICKER reports also other kinds of database corruption, but they are extremely rare. If such problem occurs, it is usually due to an improper editing of the database in an incompatible editor (i.e. Excel), imporperly uploading the .dbt, .dbf or .mvx files in text mode instead of the correct binary mode, or due to a drive failure. In such case you will usually need to contact an expert for help or restoring the data from a backup copy.

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• Mall version for multiple stores

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