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Attribute dictionary
An attribute dictionary is a set of common attributes that can be reused by multiple products. The creation of an attribute dictionary reduces maintenance. When a common attribute in the dictionary is changed it will be reflected in the attribute for all products in the catalog. By defining attributes in the dictionary, you can simplify the process of keeping attribute names and values consistent across the site.
Easy attribute management
The attribute dictionary provides a central place to manage shared attributes, with the following features:
- The ability to standardize attributes.
- The ability to compare attributes shared by products and SKUs.
- The ability to quickly change attributes in one place to affect all catalog entries.
The Management Center Catalogs tool displays shared attributes. You cannot use the Catalogs tool to create or update attributes in the attribute dictionary. Use either the massload utility, or the data load utility to upload shared attribute data into the catalog attribute database schema.
Reduced data load complexity
Traditionally, the attribute schema is unique for a product. Every new product has to redefine the list of supported attributes, the sequencing and grouping of those attributes, and their values. In practice, attributes are rarely product-specific. Generally, the same attributes are used by many products in a master catalog.
The attribute dictionary achieves reduced data load by introducing a new, more efficient attribute dictionary database schema. Because attributes can be shared among products, the new schema greatly reduces the amount of data to load.
Related concepts
IBM Management Center for WebSphere Commerce
Related tasks
Add a defining attribute value
Changing defining attribute values
Changing descriptive attributes
Delete defining or descriptive attributes
List defining or descriptive attributes
Find attribute dictionary catalog entry attributes
Enable the attribute dictionary
Hide classic attributes in the Management Center