ID and Reference # Issue

[Ciscowrig]

Our store's inventory changes by the minute. We do not use Prestashop as the main database, but an in house program. 4 times a day, I export the products to a csv file and upload them. This works fine, we do not want to change that. The problem or question lies with this.

Does Prestashop keep track of the products in your cart by ID or Reference #?

If reference #, just let me know that as it is the solution to my question.

If not, is there a way to make it do so? Or can the ID field have letters, numbers & symbols?

The reason for this is that our products run off of a part number or sku that contains letters, numbers & symbols. When I upload we could go from 900 parts, to 1500 parts, down to 1200 parts, then back up to 1800 parts. I won't get into details, but I will say that it is not possible to have a set number of parts each time and just update the stock.

So the problem then lies with the cart and wishlist. If I upload the new parts list, and the ID number changes, the part now in the cart/wishlist will become the new product with that ID correct?

That is the issue. I need the cart and wishlist to pull by Reference # not ID number, or the ID number needs to be able to use a 3-15 digit letter/number/symbol for the ID. There are not duplicate part numbers.

Thanks for any help, let me know if you need more info.

[Ciscowrig]

Any idea's on whether this is possible?