Complex product configurator

[Soren Pedersen]

I've got some really complex products and I'm wondering how handle a
situation like this:

1. Customer enters width / height (price changes)
2. Customer pick color (price changes)
3. Customer pick x, y, z (price changes in some circumstances
depending on earlier choices).

So this is impossible with variants (I've seen some posts trying to
tackle the dimension / price issue with unit pricing but that's not
going to work here).

What about creating a product configuration in a separate system and
then creating a new product in Shopify upon completion (sending the
user directly to the newly created product).

Would this work?

I guess I would also put these products in a hidden Collection and
delete them occasionally.

[Dave]

You are wrong. Everything you specify here is possible with
Javascript. Been there, done that. You can too, maybe.

I have clients selling product materials using (width x height), and
additionally, they sell supporting materials that shadow those
settings. A few clicks and the cart is loaded, correct and it all
works like a charm.

It is NOT IMPOSSIBLE... it just takes a complete understanding of
Products, Variants, Options, and Javascript. Not to mention cart
attributes.

This is the exclusive domain of the front-end, and not an API issue at
all... so you're better off trolling the forums for help if you need
it.

[Soren Pedersen]

Yes I might be wrong, but I can't see how this can be accomplished without some fictitious unit pricing hack.

Isn't it true that it would be necessary to use quantity to achieve the dynamic price?

If not, please enlighten me.

Regards,

Soeren

[Dave]

Hey,

Every product and it's variants carrie a unit price. Hence, if the
customer can demand X units of a product, you're succeeding.

What is the problem with that? Please enlighten me as to how recording
X units at Y cost per unit won't work for you.

[Soren Pedersen]

I think the unit price works great if this was solely a question of dimensions, but there are other optionals involved as well.

So my customers would pick width, height, but they would also pick things like colors, material, and so on. All choices yield different price. What I worry about here is that I would need to calculate the price of a color in terms of the dimension units, and this is what strikes me as a bit of a ugly hack.

Still I might not grasp the full potential here.

[Dave]

Hi,

As a programmer it is your job to build a machine. I had the exact
same requirements as you do, and I succeeded with no trouble.

On Product Page:

Per Product...

Customer wants to buy X picture frames, and each has a dimension and
material choice. No problem. Pick material, unit price, and
calculate.
For same product, customer wants Mat background, differs in size
options, colours, etc. No problem, collect details and add to the
machine Mat details
For same product customer wants a background foam, differs in quality
and hence price... No problem.. collect details and add to the machine
backing details
For same product customer wants a glass front, differs in glare/non
glare and hence price... No probem, collect details and add to the
machine glass details

Add to cart... with one click.

Rinse repeat recycle.

Again... you keep denying this is possible.. but it is indeed
possible. You just have to know your chops in Javascript and how
Shopify works.

This conversation belongs somewhere else, as none of this is API
related, other than the fact it involves the Shopify Javascript API,
not relevant to the API under discussion in this new group.

Good Luck to you!!

[Soren Pedersen]

I'm not denying anything.

I'm asking a legitimate question and I fail to see why you show this extreme hostility towards me? I haven't been anything but friendly in my requests.

The reason I posted here is that a Shopify employee hinted at the possibilty of creating such complex proxy using the new application proxy possibilities.

[Aaron McLeod]

I kind of see what you're getting at. I think what you need to do is build out your own product model structure. 

Something like:

Product

  has many colours

  has many sizes

A shirt has many colors, how much does each add?

For sizes, how does that effect the price. If the size effects colours available and their cost, then you need to make colours underneath the sizes.

I think really if you want to go that route of controlling the data, then you need to decide how the hierarchy should work, and like you said make one product in the end that's added to the cart. It is quite doable, the complexity in the end is pretty much the same. Because either:

a) you store all the data and relationships, to figure out the business logic

b) Or generate all the possibilities in variants to the product

If there's a lot of variants, i think option a sounds nicer as I think it would be easier to represent that to the consumer. 

There's not a really straight answer here because we don't know the business logic. Dave though is absolutely right, it's far from impossible to do with variants. However with a lot of information, i think it would be a bit tricky.

-- 
Aaron McLeod
http://agmprojects.com

[Dave]

I am not hostile to you. I resent your implications. I gave you free
advice. You are free to ignore it.

Your question was never clear, and as such, difficult to answer.

If you choose to use an App Proxy as a substitute for Javascript...
Good luck!

If it works... please do share with the world how you got it working.
I know I have used the App Proxy, but not for anything terribly
interactive like this.

My guess it will be an enormous mountain to climb compared to the
route I showed you, but hey, Everest can be climbed in more than one
way too.

Again.. good luck... and try to lighten up a bit... I see nothing in
my words to you that are hostile.