import customer entity_id

Question

Is there a way to import customer entity_id? I found solution how to export customer entity_id but when I try to import its not working. Still there is same number in ascending order. so 1,2,3,4,5,....

http://dltr.org/blog/magento/146/Magento-How-to-Export-Customer-ID-with-ImportExport-Profile

Answer 1

Why do you need the entity_id? This seems like a really bad approach since that id is used to connect the address_ book table and other things to the customer records. On a system that already has data in it this could cause a lot of problems. You would need to do it using direct mysql queries by first turning off foreign key checks SET foreign_key_checks = 0; That will allow you to save the entity_id.

If you need to do this for some other reason then I suggest adding a new customer attribute called old_id or something similar and import that information there. You could use the customer e-mail address to look up the record then reference that old_id field.

Answer 2

With a few code changes, you can use the Dataflow Import Customers profile to import customer data including the entity_id. There are two places in the Magento Core (version 1.9) code that prevent the entity_id from being stored during an Dataflow import:

1. 'entity_id' is one of the fields that have been set to be ignored during import.
2. 'entity_id' is skipped during the import because it does not have an attribute model associated with it.

The first problem is easily solved: In app\code\core\Mage\Customer\etc\config.xml change the value from 1 to 0 on line 45. That is:

    <config>
        <admin>
            <fieldsets>
                <customer_dataflow>
                    <entity_id>
                        <system>1</system>
                        <ignore>0</ignore>
                    </entity_id>

To solve the second problem, you should extend the saveRow($importData) function in app\code\core\Mage\Customer\Model\Convert\Adapter\Customer. (line numbers conform to the original Core file.) Lines 496 to 529 should be put within the following conditional statement:

    if ($field != 'entity_id') {
        {{lines 496-529}}
    } else { 
        $setValue = $value; 
    }

Then you need to save the customer model before adding the addresses. So on line 537 insert:

    if (isset($importData['entity_id']) {
        $customer->save();
    }

I haven't tested what happens if you try to save the customer model with an entity_id that already exists. My guess is that a MySQL error will be thrown.

I hope this is helpful!