Step 1: Create Product Properties

The first step in building a catalog is to define product properties, which are used to define products in your catalog.

In this step you will define a new product (ResidentialSiding), which has several properties, such as name, description, year, make, and model. To define the ResidentialSiding product, you create all of its properties such as, siding types, their prices, SKU numbers.

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, and then click Microsoft Visual Studio .NET.
2. In the Microsoft Development Environment [design] – Start Page screen, click Open Project.
3. In the Open Project dialog box, select the NorthwindTraders project, and then click Open.
4. In the NorthwindTraders – Microsoft Visual C# .NET [design] – Default.aspx window, click Project on the toolbar, point to Commerce Server Project, and then select Catalog Definition Designer.
5. In the Catalog Definition Designer: Category Definitions screen, click on the toolbar, and then select Property Definitions from the drop-down list.
6. In the Catalog Definition Designer: PropertyDefinitions screen, click on the toolbar, and then select Multilingual Multiple Choice from the list.
7. In the Property Definition: New (Multilingual Multiple Choice) screen, in the Properties section, do the following:

   Use this	To do this
   Name	Type SidingType.
   Display on Site	Select this check box to display the specified property to users on your Web site.
   Store data for analysis	Select this check box to export the property to the Data Warehouse.

8. In the Property Definition: New (Multilingual Multiple Choice) screen, in the Display Names section, click New, and then do the following:

   Use this	To do this
   Language	Select English - United States from the drop-down list.
   Display Name	Type Siding Type.

9. Click Accept.
10. In the Property Definition: New (Multilingual Multiple Choice) screen, in the Values section, click New, and then do the following:

    Use this	To do this
    Language	Select English - United States from the drop-down list.
    Value	Type Aluminum.

11. Click Accept.
12. Repeat steps 10 and 11 to add Values for: Vinyl, Wood-Laminate, and Cedar.
13. To save the property definition and return to the Catalog Definition Designer: Property Definitions screen, click on the toolbar.
14. In the Catalog Definition Designer: PropertyDefinitions screen, click on the toolbar, and then select Multilingual Multiple Choice from the list.
15. In the Property Definition: New (Multilingual Multiple Choice) screen, in the Properties section, do the following:

    Use this	To do this
    Name	Type SidingColor.
    Display on Site	Select this check box to display the specified property to users on your Web site.
    Store data for analysis	Select this check box to export the property to the Data Warehouse.

16. In the Property Definition: New (Multilingual Multiple Choice) screen, in the Display Names section, click New, and then do the following:

    Use this	To do this
    Language	Select English - United States from the drop-down list.
    Display Name	Type Siding Color.

17. Click Accept.
18. In the Property Definition: New (Multilingual Multiple Choice) screen, in the Values section, click New, and then do the following:

    Use this	To do this
    Language	Select English - United States from the drop-down list.
    Value	Type White.

19. Click Accept.
20. Repeat steps 18 and 19 to add values for: Brown, Red, and Blue.
21. To save the property definition and return to the Catalog Definition Designer: Property Definitions screen, click on the toolbar.
22. In the Catalog Definition Designer: PropertyDefinitions screen, click on the toolbar, and then select Multilingual Multiple Choice from the list.
23. In the Property Definition: New (Multilingual Multiple Choice) screen, in the Properties section, do the following:

    Use this	To do this
    Name	Type SidingMaintenanceFree.
    Display on Site	Select this check box to display the specified property to users on your Web site.

24. In the Property Definition: New (Multilingual Multiple Choice) screen, in the Display Names section, click New, and then do the following:

    Use this	To do this
    Language	Select English - United States from the drop-down list.
    Display Name	Type Is Siding Maintenance Free?.

25. Click Accept.
26. In the Property Definition: New (Multilingual Multiple Choice) screen, in the Values section, click New, and then do the following:

    Use this	To do this
    Language	Select English - United States from the drop-down list.
    Value	Type Yes.

27. Click Accept.
28. Repeat steps 26 and 27 to add a value for No.
29. To save the property definition and return to the Catalog Definition Designer: Property Definitions screen, click on the toolbar.
30. In the Catalog Definition Designer: PropertyDefinitions screen, click on the toolbar, and then select Number from the list.
31. In the Property Definition: New (Number) screen, in the Properties section, do the following:

    Use this	To do this
    Name	Type SidingWarrantyLengthYears.
    Display on Site	Select this check box to display the specified property to users on your Web site.
    Store data for analysis	Select this check box to export the property to the Data Warehouse.
    Minimum Value	Type 0.
    Maximum Value	Type 100.

32. In the Property Definition: New (Number) screen, in the Display Names section, click New, and then do the following:

    Use this	To do this
    Language	Select English - United States from the drop-down list.
    Display Name	Type Siding warranty length in years.

33. Click Accept.
34. To save the property definition and return to the Catalog Definition Designer: Property Definitions screen, click on the toolbar.
35. In the Catalog Definition Designer: PropertyDefinitions screen, click on the toolbar, and then select Text from the list.
36. In the Property Definition: New (Text) screen, in the Properties section, do the following:

    Use this	To do this
    Name	Type ProductBaseName.
    Free text searchable	Clear the check box so that free text searching on your catalog does not apply to values stored in this property.
    Specification searchable	Clear the check box for this property. It is not used in specification searches.
    Minimum length	Type 0.
    Maximum length	Type 100.
    Assign to all product types	Select this check box to assign the property to all product types.
    Is required	Select this check box to indicate that this property must contain a value.

37. To save the property definition and return to the Catalog Definition Designer: Property Definitions screen, click on the toolbar.
38. In the Catalog Definition Designer: PropertyDefinitions screen, click on the toolbar, and then select File Name from the list.
39. In the Property Definition: New (File Name) screen, in the Properties section, do the following:

    Use this	To do this
    Name	Type Image.
    Display on Site	Select this check box to display the specified property to users on your Web site.
    Assign to all product types	Select this check box to assign the property to all product types.

40. To save the property definition and return to the Catalog Definition Designer: Property Definitions screen, click on the toolbar.

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