how do I make configurable products with custom designs unique enough to add them as separate cart lines on reordering

Question

I have built a model that can add some custom design info (link to pdg, design type, document id, upload location) to the quote items. The design screen is opened in a popup, and saves the design values to the session

In the sales_quote_add_item observer I look at which design is in the session (weather that is the best idea or not is not the point)

So far so good

The problem I am facing is the following one:

On reordering 2 configurable products (same config options, same "child" sku") but with different designs only one quote-line with qty = 2 is added with the design options of the last product from the original order

This should have been 2 quote-lines with 1 qty = 2 with each their own design

I have tried debugging the problem down from

Mage_Checkout_Model_Cart::addOrderItem

Where I now force to add a different design method per item

$info->setDesignMethod((string)$orderItem->getDesignMethod());

To

Mage_Checkout_Model_Cart::addProduct

where var_dump($request); gives 2 different design_method's for 2 products

object(Varien_Object)[1470]
  protected '_data' => 
    array (size=10)
      'uenc' => string 'aHR0cDovL2R2Yy5kZXYubWVkaWFjdGhxLm5sL2JlYWNodmxhZy1zcGxhc2g,' (length=60)
      'product' => string '3119' (length=4)
      'form_key' => string 'ToaYzvESXcg2k56k' (length=16)
      'related_product' => string '' (length=0)
      'super_attribute' => 
        array (size=6)
          187 => string '1143' (length=4)
          254 => string '1397' (length=4)
          188 => string '121' (length=3)
          186 => string '390' (length=3)
          192 => string '384' (length=3)
          193 => string '389' (length=3)
      'productiontime_sku' => string 'production-24h' (length=14)
      'idSimple' => string '73' (length=2)
      'designoptions' => string 'true' (length=4)
      'qty' => string '1.0000' (length=6)
      'design_method' => string 'online_design' (length=13)
  protected '_hasDataChanges' => boolean true
  protected '_origData' => null
  protected '_idFieldName' => null
  protected '_isDeleted' => boolean false
  protected '_oldFieldsMap' => 
    array (size=0)
      empty
  protected '_syncFieldsMap' => 
    array (size=0)
      empty

object(Varien_Object)[1808]
  protected '_data' => 
    array (size=10)
      'uenc' => string 'aHR0cDovL2R2Yy5kZXYubWVkaWFjdGhxLm5sL2JlYWNodmxhZy1zcGxhc2g,' (length=60)
      'product' => string '3119' (length=4)
      'form_key' => string 'ToaYzvESXcg2k56k' (length=16)
      'related_product' => string '' (length=0)
      'super_attribute' => 
        array (size=6)
          187 => string '1143' (length=4)
          254 => string '1397' (length=4)
          188 => string '121' (length=3)
          186 => string '390' (length=3)
          192 => string '384' (length=3)
          193 => string '389' (length=3)
      'productiontime_sku' => string 'production-24h' (length=14)
      'idSimple' => string '73' (length=2)
      'designoptions' => string 'true' (length=4)
      'qty' => string '1.0000' (length=6)
      'design_method' => string 'offline_design' (length=12)
  protected '_hasDataChanges' => boolean true
  protected '_origData' => null
  protected '_idFieldName' => null
  protected '_isDeleted' => boolean false
  protected '_oldFieldsMap' => 
    array (size=0)
      empty
  protected '_syncFieldsMap' => 
    array (size=0)
      empty

To

Mage_Sales_Model_Quote::addProductAdvanced

where Mage_Sales_Model_Quote::_prepareProduct is called

Before returning $product the buy requests shows different design options for the products

$optionstest = $product->getCustomOptions();
var_dump($optionstest['info_buyRequest']->getValue());

gives:

string 'a:10:{s:4:"uenc";s:60:"aHR0cDovL2R2Yy5kZXYubWVkaWFjdGhxLm5sL2JlYWNodmxhZy1zcGxhc2g,";s:7:"product";s:4:"3119";s:8:"form_key";s:16:"ToaYzvESXcg2k56k";s:15:"related_product";s:0:"";s:15:"super_attribute";a:6:{i:187;s:4:"1143";i:254;s:4:"1397";i:188;s:3:"121";i:186;s:3:"390";i:192;s:3:"384";i:193;s:3:"389";}s:18:"productiontime_sku";s:14:"production-24h";s:8:"idSimple";s:2:"73";s:13:"designoptions";s:4:"true";s:3:"qty";s:6:"1.0000";s:13:"design_method";s:13:"online_design";}' (length=476)
string 'a:10:{s:4:"uenc";s:60:"aHR0cDovL2R2Yy5kZXYubWVkaWFjdGhxLm5sL2JlYWNodmxhZy1zcGxhc2g,";s:7:"product";s:4:"3119";s:8:"form_key";s:16:"ToaYzvESXcg2k56k";s:15:"related_product";s:0:"";s:15:"super_attribute";a:6:{i:187;s:4:"1143";i:254;s:4:"1397";i:188;s:3:"121";i:186;s:3:"390";i:192;s:3:"384";i:193;s:3:"389";}s:18:"productiontime_sku";s:14:"production-24h";s:8:"idSimple";s:2:"73";s:13:"designoptions";s:4:"true";s:3:"qty";s:6:"1.0000";s:13:"design_method";s:12:"offline_design";}' (length=475)

These options are also available in

Mage_Sales_Model_Quote::_addCatalogProduct

But for some reason Magento adds 2 of the same products with 1 design

I do not have these problems if I order 2 configurable products with different options (another "child" sku)

My guess is that my configurable just isn't unique enough

I just need to figure out how to make it unique enough for magento to make it 2 different quote items with qty = 1

My guess was that by modifying the "info_buyRequest" this could be done

Question:

How do I make configurable products unique enough to add them as separate cart lines on reordering?

Answer 1

The logic to determine if a item is to be added to the cart as a line item is here: Mage_Sales_Model_Quote_Item::representProduct

Yes, you are correct in the fact that if you make the info_buyRequest unique, then the representProduct routine should return a false (thus separate line items)

This can be seen by this code in the routine:

$itemOptions = $this->getOptionsByCode();
$productOptions = $product->getCustomOptions();

if (!$this->compareOptions($itemOptions, $productOptions)) {
    return false;
}
if (!$this->compareOptions($productOptions, $itemOptions)) {
    return false;
}

This should give you a place to debug, and figure out why your info_buyrequest are not triggering the uniqueness.

If I can also suggest to get a debugger going, and step through the code, rather than relying on echo debugging. It will make your life a lot easier :)

Answer 2

You can add a hidden option like this

$quoteItem->addOption(new Varien_Object(array(
    'product' => $product,
    'code' => 'design_method',
    'value' => $designMethod
    )));

These options are, unlike the buyRequest option, used for comparison when Magento determines, which items should be merged.