[FX.php List] Shopping Carts - Keep in SessionVars or Add Records right away?

[Leo R. Lundgren]

Yeah there's really a question of what features you want.

The basic approach is to keep the cart in the session as session  
variables. There's really no need to put it all in the database, use  
the session for what it's worth instead :)

BUT, keeping the cart inside the DB will allow for certain things,  
such as the client can put some stuff in the cart, mail his collegue,  
and tell him "hey, look at the stuff I put in our cart", and the  
collegue can do so from a totally different computer. They can  
collaborate.

If that latter example isn't needed, I'd store it in the session.


29 jul 2009 kl. 01.14 skrev Tim 'Webko' Booth:

>
> On 29/07/2009, at 9:11 AM, Joel Shapiro wrote:
>
>> Hi all
>>
>> Anybody have any thoughts on *when* in shopping cart functionality  
>> it's best to add items as records to the database?
>>
>> My initial thinking is that it would make more sense to just keep  
>> items in Session Variable arrays and only add anything to the  
>> database at the time of Checkout -- to keep the DB from bulking up  
>> with unpurchased items left in the cart.  But searching online, it  
>> seems that carts often add records to the database as soon as they  
>> go into the cart.  (Might that be different when using MySQL as  
>> opposed to FMP?)
>>
>> FWIW - Users on this site will average 1-4 items per order.
>
> I tend to add them immediately - allows me to also re-show previous  
> not actually purchased items on request further down the track...
>
> Cheers
>
> Webko
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