Adding a Catalog Property Definition

Article
11/12/2009

A property definition specifies a single characteristic of a category definition or a product definition in your catalog.

One property definition can be used by multiple category definitions and product definitions, and it can be shared across catalogs. For example, the property definition Description can be used in every product definition and category definition for adding descriptions to categories and products.

After you add the property definition to the catalog definition, you can add it to a category definition or a product definition.

Notes

A property definition name can be up to 100 characters long.
A property definition name cannot include the following characters: [, ], or “. It also cannot contain periods or commas.
A property definition name cannot start with a number.
If you are importing catalog data into the Data Warehouse, see Catalog Name and Size Restrictions for the naming restrictions of the Product catalog data import DTS task.
Do not use “ProductID” or “VariantID” in the property definition name.
Verify that a property definition name does not have mismatched parentheses in its name. For example, if you enter a property named “shoe size mens),” instead of “shoe size (mens),” Commerce Server will store the property, but you cannot retrieve it from the Commerce Server database.
If you select the Assign to all product definitions option, any product definitions you create will automatically inherit this property. If you import an XML catalog in which this property has been set, it will affect all future product definitions you create.
Use the Is required box to specify that a value for the property is required. When a property is required, a appears next to it.
Multiple selection properties are not supported. That is, you cannot add multiple choice property where a user can select more than one value.

To add a property definition to the catalog definition

In Catalogs, click Catalog Definition Designer.
In the Catalog Definition Designer: Category Definitions screen, click on the toolbar, and then select Property Definitions from the drop-down list.
In the Catalog Definition Designer: PropertyDefinitions screen, click on the toolbar, and then select the property type that you want to use to create a new property definition.

You can add your own custom property attributes if the attributes included with Commerce Server do not meet your needs. For more information, see Adding Custom Catalog Attributes and Property Attributes.

The boxes that appear in the PropertyDefinition: New screen depend on the type of property definition you have selected. Do the following:

Use this	For property type	To do this
Name	All	Type an internal name for the property. Note After you save the property, you cannot change the property name.
Display name	All	Type the name that is to be displayed on your Web site as a label for this property. For example, for a property named "ShirtColor," you might want the display name to be "Color."
Display on site	All	Select this check box to display the specified property to users on your Web site. If you want to keep some properties private for internal use, do not select this check box. By default, this option is selected for long text properties.
Free text searchable	Text, multiple choice	Select this check box so that free text searching on your catalog will apply to values stored in this property. When you select the Free text searchable option, the property definition is added to the full-text index for the catalog. You must update the full-text index after changing items in your catalogs that are marked as searchable. For information about updating the full-text index, see Refreshing and Publishing a Catalog.
Specification searchable	Text, number, decimal, money/currency, date/time, multiple choice, multilingual	Select this check box for this property to be used in specification searches. By default, this option is not selected for long text properties because long description text is not suitable in a specification search.
Minimum length	Text, multilingual	Type the number that defines the minimum length of the value for this property type. If you specify a length other than zero, this property becomes a required property for a product or category definition, and a will appear next to it.
Maximum length	Text, multilingual	Type the number that defines the maximum length of the value for this property type.
Minimum value	Number, decimal, money/currency	Type the number that defines the minimum value for this property type.
Maximum value	Number, decimal, money/currency	Type the number that defines the maximum value for this property type. For example, to add a property for money, enter a number that includes the decimal point and any fractional amount that could accommodate the greatest monetary value to be applied to a product.
Earliest date	Date/time	Type the date to indicate the earliest date that you want this property to be valid. For example, the earliest date users can order a new book.
Earliest time	Date/time	Type the time in 00:00 format for the earliest time that is to be associated with the property. For example, a start time.
Latest date	Date/time	Type the date to indicate the latest date that you want this property to be valid.
Latest time	Date/time	Type the time in 00:00 format (for example, 22:00 is 10 P.M.) to indicate the latest time that you want this property to be valid.
Default value	Text, number, decimal, money/currency, date/time, multiple choice, multilingual	Type the default value for the property type. The format varies depending on the property type you add.
Assign to all product types	All	Select this check box to assign the property to all product types. For example, you might want to select this for generic product properties, such as name, description, or weight. If you select the Assign to all product definitions option, any definitions you create automatically inherit this property.
Store data for analysis	All, except long text and long multilingual text	Select this check box to export the property to the Data Warehouse. Exporting data to the Data Warehouse makes data available for reporting purposes.
Display in products list	All	Select this check box to display this property in the list of products on your site.
Is required	All except multilingual multiple choice	Select this check box if this property must contain a value. When a property is required, a appears next to it.

To save the property definition, click on the toolbar.
To secure the property so other Business Desk users cannot edit or delete it, in the Security section, click Permissions.
Specify the Windows accounts for users who have been granted security permissions to update this catalog, and then click Close.
To save the permissions for the property definition and return to the Catalog Definition Designer: Property Definitions screen, click on the toolbar.

You can now add the property definition to a category definition and/or a product definition.

Adding a Catalog Property Definition

See Also

Additional resources