how to Update 15k products on plugin activation with meta_option

Question

We need to update about 15.000 products with a meta_option after a plugin gets activated or after a plugin gets installed.

However, our code does not execute on all products, though the plugin activates fine.

function on_activate_function()
{
    // set all products to csa_stock true
    // getting all products
    $products_ids = get_posts(array(
        'post_type'        => 'product', // or ['product','product_variation'],        
        'post_status'      => 'publish',
        'fields'           => 'ids',
        'meta_query'       => array(array(
            'key'     => '_stock_from_csa',
            'compare' => 'NOT EXISTS',
        ))
    ));

    // Loop through product Ids
    foreach ($products_ids as $product_id) {

        // Get the WC_Product object
        $product = wc_get_product($product_id);

        // Mark product as updated
        $product->update_meta_data('_stock_from_csa', true);

        $product->save();
    }
}

register_activation_hook(__FILE__, 'on_activate_function');

We are using the hook register_activation_hook to execute code on the activation of the plugin.

The idea was to get all post ids based on a meta_query and then loop over the product ids, get each product associated with the id and then update the meta_data.

Considering the large amount of products this might not be the best approach, as in: doing this operation without batches and in a single run.

Is there a better way to update all products? Can it be done directly via SQL instead of doing this in PHP?

Answer 1

Based on Paul's original comment, we moved the code execution to a custom wp-cli command.

Which also allowed us add arguments and change code behaviour based on arguments.

Example code for anyone, including WPML language specification via

global $sitepress;
$sitepress->switch_lang("en");
...
'suppress_filters' => false,

<?php

/**
 * Registers CLI command csa
 * 
 * Allows to update all products with csa related meta options
 */
defined('ABSPATH') || exit;
defined('WP_CLI') || exit;

function update_all_products_with_csa_meta($limit = 100, $meta_option_select = 'stock')
{
    global $sitepress;
    $sitepress->switch_lang("en");

    $meta_option = '_stock_from_csa';
    switch ($meta_option_select) {
        case 'stock':
            $meta_option = '_stock_from_csa';
            break;

        case 'price':
            $meta_option = '_price_from_csa';
            break;

        default:
            $meta_option = '_stock_from_csa';
            break;
    }

    // set all products to csa_stock true
    // getting all products
    while ($products_ids = get_posts(array(
        'numberposts'      => $limit,
        'post_type'        => 'product', 
        'post_status'      => 'publish',
        'fields'           => 'ids',
        'suppress_filters' => false,
        'meta_query'       => array(array(
            'key'     => $meta_option,
            'compare' => 'NOT EXISTS',
        ))
    ))) {
        // Loop through product Ids
        foreach ($products_ids as $product_id) {

            // Get the WC_Product object
            $product = wc_get_product($product_id);

            // Mark product as updated
            $product->update_meta_data($meta_option, 'yes');

            $product->save();
        }
    }
}

function csa_command($args)
{
    $success = false;
    $message = "";
    $type = 'inventory';
    if (!empty($args)) {
        if (isset($args[0])) {
            $type = $args[0];
        }
    }

    switch ($type) {
        case "inventory":
            $success = true;
            $message = "Inventory Flag set";
            update_all_products_with_csa_meta(meta_option_select: 'stock');
            break;
        case "price":
            $success = true;
            $message = "Price Flag set";
            update_all_products_with_csa_meta(meta_option_select: 'price');
            break;
        default:
            $message = "Unknown parameter given.";
            break;
    }
    if ($success) {
        WP_CLI::success($message);
    } else {
        WP_CLI::error($message);
    }
}

WP_CLI::add_command('csa', 'csa_command');

Which can be called like this:

php wp-cli.phar csa foo