Synchronize attributes

Customers searching for an item, whether through direct contact or an integrated webshop, often look for specific characteristics such as height, color, or model year. Tinx Connector uses attributes to support these searches. You can use them to filter and search in the webshop, or to enrich product data in Business Central.

Workflow

The following workflow corresponds to the previous diagram:

You can create attributes manually, import them with the configuration package, or use the Edit in Excel feature.
If you have your attributes in Business Central, you can import them into Tinx Connector with a report.
Depending on the attribute Content Type, some attributes require you to set up predefined options.
You can import those options from Business Central.
Optionally, you can add translations to the attributes.
You should group attributes in attribute sets.
Attribute sets are the only way to assign Tinx attributes to items in Business Central.
You can assign an attribute set to multiple items based on their item category.
When you assign the attribute set to an item, you can fill in the attribute values for this item.
Some of the values depend on the options specified earlier.
Depending on your webshop, different types of attributes are used. For example, Shopify can use types called tags and metafields, while Magento uses types called custom options and attributes.

Choosing between Tinx Connector and Business Central attributes

There are two ways to extend item information with attributes:

By creating attribute sets, attributes, and options using Tinx attributes, and syncing them to the webshop.
By sending attribute values directly from existing Business Central tables via Tinx mapping.

Tinx Connector provides e-commerce-optimized attributes that extend beyond standard Business Central attribute capabilities. Use Tinx Connector attributes instead of Business Central attributes in the following scenarios.

You run a new Business Central implementation.
Your webshop requires specific field types such as Text, Date, Price, Option, Multiple Select, and so on.
You work with Magento and need attribute sets.
You need multilingual product attributes. Tinx Connector attributes can be connected to language codes for translation support.

This article focuses on managing attributes using Tinx Connector. To learn about Business Central attributes, see Work with item attributes.

When you select Search (Alt+Q) in the upper-right corner, choose Attributes for Tinx Attributes and BC Item Attributes or Item Attributes for Business Central Attributes. bc-attributes-tinx-attributes

Enable attribute synchronization

The procedures in this article require that the appropriate synchronization dashboard and message definitions are running. Activate them depending on what you are going to achieve.

The following tables show the synchronization dashboard and message definition for some of the webshops. The codes for other supported webshops follow the same pattern.

Direction	Webshop	Synchronisation Dashboard
Publish	WooCommerce	WOO-OUT-ATTRIBUTES
	Magento	M2R_OUT_ATTRIBUTES
	Shopify	GQL_OUT_PRODUCTS

To create a new attribute

Select Search (Alt+Q) in the upper-right corner, enter Attributes & Custom Options & Metafields, and then choose the related link.
On the Attributes page, choose the New action.

On the Attribute Card page, fill in the required fields. The following table describes the key fields on the Attribute Card page.

Field	Description
Code	Specifies the internal code for the attribute. The code cannot contain spaces. The code is generated automatically but can be overwritten.
Default Label	Specifies the label shown in the webshop frontend, for example, Color or Height.
Catalog Input Type for Store Owner	Specifies how you are going to enter data for an attribute. Determines the input type in the webshop admin panel. Supported input types include: - Boolean (Yes/No) - Text - Date - Price - Option (dropdown) - Text Area - Multiple Select
Webshop ID	Specifies the ID returned by the webshop when the attribute is created via the API.
Content Type	Specifies how your webshop uses the attribute. Each webshop has its own set of content types. Tinx Connector uses the attribute names that are used in the webshop. - Attribute: Magento, WooCommerce - Custom Option: Magento - Metafield: Shopify, BigCommerce - Tag: Shopify, WooCommerce - Custom Field: Shopware
Custom Option	Specifies whether the attribute is treated as a custom option in Magento. When turned on, you must define the possible values.
Scope	Specifies the Magento-specific scope setting on the Advanced Attribute Properties FastTab. You can set it to Global, Website, or Store View.
Visible on Catalog Pages on Storefront	Specifies whether the attribute is visible on catalog pages in the storefront, on the Storefront Properties FastTab. If set to No, the attribute is hidden on the product page. However, if Comparable is also set to Yes, the attribute still appears in product comparison charts.

The following image shows an example of a filled-in attribute card for a Color attribute.

Adding options to an attribute

If you set the Catalog Input Type for Store Owner to Option or Multiple Select, you need to define the available values.

To add options manually

Select Search (Alt+Q) in the upper-right corner, enter Attributes & Custom Options & Metafields, and then choose the related link.
On the Attributes page, select the attribute, and then choose the Edit action.
On the Attribute Card page, on the action bar, in the Attribute group, choose the Options action.
On the Attribute Option List V2 page, add a value in the Value and Identifier fields.

To add options from an existing Business Central table

You can import options to the attribute by selecting a table and field available in Business Central.

Select Search (Alt+Q) in the upper-right corner, enter Attributes & Custom Options & Metafields, and then choose the related link.
On the Attributes page, select the attribute, and then choose the Edit action.
On the Attribute Card page, set the Source Type field to Existing Item Value.
On the action bar, in the Filter group, choose the Option Filter action.
On the Attribute Option Filter V2 page, fill in the following fields:
- In the Field No. field, enter 10.
- In the Filter Value field, enter the Business Central attribute name. You can find the exact attribute names on the Item Attributes page.
Close the Attribute Option Filter V2 page to return to the Attribute Card page, and then fill in the following fields on the Option Values FastTab:
- Option Value Field No..
- Option Identifier Field No..
Fill in the following fields on the Existing Value FastTab:
- Table No. Value: the table where attribute values are stored.
- Field No. Value: the field number holding the value.
- Field No. Item No. Link: the primary key for the item link.
- Field No. Variant Code Link: the variant key, if applicable.
The following screenshot illustrates the example setup.

You can also use the Copy BC Attributes to Tinx report to copy attributes and their values from Business Central to Tinx Connector. After running the report, the fields listed in step 4 are automatically populated. For more details, see Importing Business Central attributes to Tinx Connector.
To insert Business Central values, use one of the following methods:
- Manual (for an initial or one-time load): On the Attribute Card page, on the action bar, in the Home group, choose the Insert Options action.
- Automated (for ongoing sync): Create a job queue entry for report 11205274, Update Attribute Options Any Table. This ensures that any new value added to Business Central tables is also added to the Tinx table, ready for webshop syncing.

To add translations to an attribute

Select Search (Alt+Q) in the upper-right corner, enter Attributes & Custom Options & Metafields, and then choose the related link.
On the Attributes page, select the relevant attribute, and then on the action bar, in the Attribute group, choose the Translations action.
On the Attribute Label Translations page, select Store View in the new line, and then enter the translated attribute label and value. Repeat this step for each language.

Attribute sets

Attribute sets allow you to group related attributes, which is useful when your product catalog differs across product categories. Attribute sets are required for Magento. You cannot publish an item to Magento if it is not assigned to an attribute set. In other supported webshops, such as Shopify and WooCommerce, attribute sets are optional. You can configure attribute sets and then assign them to products. When you assign an attribute set to a product, all the attributes defined in that set become available for that product.

To link an attribute to an attribute set

Select Search (Alt+Q) in the upper-right corner, enter Attribute Sets, and then choose the related link.
On the Attribute Set page, select the relevant attribute set, and then choose the value in the No. of Attributes field.
On the Attribute Set Fields page, choose New and then select the Attribute Code from the list.

Assigning attributes to items

You can assign individual Business Central attributes to an item. For more information, see Assign item attributes to items. The Tinx attributes can be assigned to items only through attribute sets. When you assign an attribute set to an item, all attributes included in that set are automatically assigned to the item. You cannot assign attributes individually. Moreover, you can assign only one attribute set per item. This makes assigning attributes fast, but you need to ensure that the attribute sets are well-structured.

To assign an attribute set to a webshop item

Select Search (Alt+Q) in the upper-right corner, enter Webshop Item List, and then choose the related link.
On the Webshop Item List page, select the item, and then on the action bar, in the Webshop group, choose the TINX Attributes action.
On the Item Attributes page, on the General FastTab, in the Attribute Set field, select the relevant attribute set.

Tinx Connector automatically applies all attributes included in the set to the item, except those with the Source Type field set to Existing Item Value. You need to change the field to New Item Value to make these attributes available for the item. However, by default, the New Item Value is used by the Tinx attributes. If you are assigning an attribute that was originally imported from Business Central, you should use the standard process of assigning Business Central attributes instead. For more information, see Assign item attributes to items.
On the Attributes FastTab, fill in the attribute values for the item in the Value field on the Attributes FastTab. The FastTab shows the list of attributes included in the assigned attribute set.

If you later add or remove attributes in an attribute set, the changes are automatically applied to all items that have that set assigned.

To assign an attribute set to items based on the Item Category

Select Search (Alt+Q) in the upper-right corner, enter E-Commerce Integration Setup, and then choose the related link.

If you don’t find E-Commerce Integration Setup in Search, change your role in Business Central to TINX E-Com Admin. Then on the Role Center, select Setup, and then choose E-Commerce Integration Setup.
On the E-commerce Setup page, on the General FastTab, turn on the Multiple Sales Channels Active toggle.
You can add an Item Category (field 10) on the Attribute Set page (TINX Attribute Set table 11205754). After you select this, a pop-up appears, asking whether the set should be applied to all items with the selected item category code.

To assign specific attribute values to a webshop item

Select Search (Alt+Q) in the upper-right corner, enter Webshop Item List, and then choose the related link.
On the Webshop Item List page, select the relevant item, and then on the action bar, in the Webshop group, choose the TINX Attributes action.
Select the relevant values for the item.

The available values depend on the Field Type, such as Option or Text. You specify this parameter on the Attribute Card page in the Catalog Input Type for Store Owner field. For example, if the attribute field type is Option, you can only select from the list of options defined for this attribute. If the field type is Boolean, you can select either 1 (true) or 0 (false) for the attribute.

Importing Business Central attributes to Tinx Connector

If you prefer to use Business Central attributes, you can transfer them to Tinx Connector with a report. The report copies from the following Business Central tables to Tinx Connector. If you use Business Central attributes, you can send them directly to your webshop with Tinx Connector. You don’t need to transfer them to Tinx attributes. However, you might want to transfer the attributes to Tinx Connector to enrich them with additional information; this isn’t possible in Business Central.

Item Attributes page (Item Attribute table 7500).
Item Attribute Values page (Item Attribute Value table 7501).

The destination Tinx Connector tables:

TINX Attribute List page (TINX Attribute table 11205755).
TINX Attribute Options table 11205761.

To import Business Central attributes to Tinx Connector

Select Search (Alt+Q) in the upper-right corner, enter Sales Channels, and then choose the related link.
On the Sales Channel List page, select the relevant sales channel, and then choose the Edit action.
On the Sales Channel Card page, on the Multi Sales Channel FastTab, turn the Transfer BC Attributes toggle on.

If you have multiple sales channels, and you want to copy attributes to only one of them, turn off the Transfer BC Attributes toggle for other sales channels.
Select Search (Alt+Q) in the upper-right corner, enter Item Attributes, and then choose the related link.
On the Item Attributes page, select the Publish to Webshop checkbox for the Business Central attributes you want to copy.
On the action bar, in the Conversion group, choose the Convert Attributes BC -> Tinx action.
On the Copy BC Attributes to Tinx page, turn the Copy Attribute Options toggle on, and then choose OK to copy the selected Business Central attributes to Tinx Connector.

You can find imported attributes on the Attributes page. If the imported attribute has options, find them by opening the Attribute Card and, on the action bar, in the Attribute group, choosing the Options action.

To review filters used for copying Business Central attributes to Tinx Connector

When you run the Convert Attributes BC -> Tinx report, Tinx connector creates filters used to dynamically retrieve attributes in future. Follow these steps to review the filters.

Select Search (Alt+Q) in the upper-right corner, enter Attributes & Custom Options & Metafields, and then choose the related link.
On the Attributes page, select the relevant attribute, and then choose Edit.
On the Attribute Card page, on the action bar, in the Filter group, find the Attribute Filter and Option Filter actions.

Both actions open the pages where the filter criteria for copying attribute values from Business Central to Tinx Connector are set.
- The TINX Attribute Filter V2 page (TINX Attribute Filter V2 table 11205915).
- The TINX Attribute Option Filter V2 page (TINX Attribute Option Filter V2 table 11205916).

Interactive walkthrough

The following interactive walkthrough demonstrates how to send an existing Business Central field value to Magento using a custom attribute. It covers creating the attribute in Business Central, syncing it to Magento, adding it to an attribute set in Magento, updating the message definition mapping to include the new field, and verifying the result in the synchronisation ledger and in Magento.

Related information

Synchronize products
Synchronize images
Synchronize web text and SEO
Synchronize web categories
E-commerce Setup and Sales Channel: Where to set up the webshop
Synchronization dashboards
Key concepts in Tinx Connector
Troubleshooting checklist