Attributes management

Introduction

When customers inquire about an item, either in correspondence or in an integrated web shop, they may ask for, or search with, specific characteristics. Think of height, color, or model year. To provide this customer service, the Tinx connector uses attributes to assign certain item values of different types, which can be used when searching for items in the webshop (or in BC).

Setup

The customer can extend the item information in BC in two different ways:

By creating attribute sets, attributes and options through the Tinx Attribute tables and syncing these to the webshop.
By sending attributes values directly from the existing BC tables via Tinx mapping.

Creating an attribute

To create a new attribute in the Tinx tables, head over to Product information Mgt. > Attributes & Custom Options & Metafields > Attributes & Custom Options & Metafields. Then, click on New in the top banner and fill in the fields, as seen below.

Attribute Card

Field
Description

Code
Choose a code for the attribute field

Default label
This is the name of the attribute. It is visible when you enter information of an item on the webshop.

Catalog Input Type for Store Owner

This describes the type of data for the attribute. What is set here determines how data entry for this attribute will take place.
Possible values:
Boolean (Yes or No)
Text
Date
Price (for price values)
Option (drop-down menu)
Text Area
Multiple Select


Visible on Catalog Pages on Storefront

If set to 'no', this attribute will not be displayed in the product info page. The 'visibility' only controls whether or not the attribute displays in the front-end. Keep in mind that if you set an attribute's visibility to 'No', but also have the 'Comparable' setting set to 'Yes', then this attribute will still show up in comparison charts.

Webshop ID

This id will be returned by the webshop when creating the attribute via API.

Code
This is the name of the attribute used by the BC system. Spaces cannot be used in this field. This field is automatically generated by the system, but you are free to overwrite the name to something else.

Content Type

This field is used if you want to create the attribute as any of the following.
- Custom options for Magento.
- Tags in Shopify and WooCommerce.
- Metafields in Shopify.
- Customer fields in Shopware.


Custom Option
Check this field if you want to create the attribute as a custom option in Magento. If checked, you also have to fill in all possible options.

Options

If you have created an attribute with the type Option / Multiple Select, you have to fill in all existing option values. You can do so in two ways: manually or via insertion.

1. Manually
A) Click on attribute > options.
B) Add a value in the value field.
C) Add a value in the identifier field.

2. Insert Options found in existing BC tables

A) In the Attribute Card, set the Source Type to 'Existing Item Value'.
B) Click on Filters > Option Filter and change the 'Field No' to '1' and the Filter Value to the 'BC attribute ID'.
C) Scroll down to the Existing Item ERP Value section. There, fill in the following fields.
Table No. Item Attribute Value = the table number where you store your attribute values.
Field No. Item Attribute Value = the attribute field value number from the table in the previous step.
Field No. Item No. Link = the primary key of the table.
Field No. Variant Code Link = the primary key of the table.
D) The actual insertion of options from BC tables can also be done in two ways, manually or via a report. Manually you can do so by selecting Attribute Card > Home > Insert Options.

The other method is via a report. Add the following Tinx report to the Job Queue Entries: Update Attribute Options Any Table (11205274).

This ensures that as soon as a new option is added in the standard BC tables, the connector will (after running the report) add the new value to the Tinx table, ensuring you can then use it with the webshop.

Adding an attribute to a set

Next, in order to link an attribute to a set, go to Product information Mgt > Attribute Sets > No. Of Attributes > New > Attribute Code.

Choosing an item's attributes

To finally select which attribute values an item needs and should show on the webshop, head to the Webshop Item card > Webshop > Attributes.

Field	Description
Code	Choose a code for the attribute field
Default label	This is the name of the attribute. It is visible when you enter information of an item on the webshop.
Catalog Input Type for Store Owner	This describes the type of data for the attribute. What is set here determines how data entry for this attribute will take place. Possible values: Boolean (Yes or No) Text Date Price (for price values) Option (drop-down menu) Text Area Multiple Select
Visible on Catalog Pages on Storefront	If set to 'no', this attribute will not be displayed in the product info page. The 'visibility' only controls whether or not the attribute displays in the front-end. Keep in mind that if you set an attribute's visibility to 'No', but also have the 'Comparable' setting set to 'Yes', then this attribute will still show up in comparison charts.
Webshop ID	This id will be returned by the webshop when creating the attribute via API.
Code	This is the name of the attribute used by the BC system. Spaces cannot be used in this field. This field is automatically generated by the system, but you are free to overwrite the name to something else.
Content Type	This field is used if you want to create the attribute as any of the following. - Custom options for Magento. - Tags in Shopify and WooCommerce. - Metafields in Shopify. - Customer fields in Shopware.
Custom Option	Check this field if you want to create the attribute as a custom option in Magento. If checked, you also have to fill in all possible options.