Deleting attributes and predefined values from the attribute dictionary

We can delete attributes and attribute predefined values from the attribute dictionary if conditions change. For example, if the manufacturer no longer makes a product in various sizes and the product is now available only in one size fits all.


Before beginning

Ensure that the attribute or attribute value we want to delete is not assigned to any catalog entries. If the attribute is assigned to a catalog entry, we must delete the attribute or its value from the catalog entry before we can delete the attribute from the attribute dictionary. To delete a predefined value for an attribute, we must delete the value from the attribute dictionary. If the attribute is assigned to a catalog entry, we cannot delete the value.

When you delete an attribute, any attribute folder that contains a reference to that attribute will have its reference deleted from the folder. We cannot delete inherited attributes.


Procedure

Use one of the following methods to delete attributes from the attribute dictionary:

Option Description
Delete predefined values

  1. Remove any association between the value and SKUs. If the value is associated with a SKU, we must remove the association before you delete the value. To remove the association, we must delete the SKU. For more information about deleting the SKU, see deleting SKUs.

  2. From the explorer view in the Catalogs tool, click Attribute Dictionary.

  3. From the list of available attributes, right-click the attribute containing the predefined value to be deleted; click Open.

  4. In the Attribute Values Information section, right-click the predefined value to delete; click Delete. The number of listed values is determined by your page size preference setting.

  5. Click Save; then click Close.

Delete attributes Ensure that the attribute dictionary attribute that we want to delete is not assigned to any catalog entries. If the attribute is assigned to a catalog entry, we must delete the attribute from the catalog entry before you delete the attribute from the attribute dictionary. We cannot delete inherited attributes.

  1. Open the Catalogs tool..

  2. From the explorer view filter, select Attribute Dictionary.

  3. From the explorer view, click the attribute dictionary to display all of the attributes that are contained within the attribute dictionary. These attributes display in the Attribute Dictionary-Attributes list view.

  4. In the list view, right-click the attribute to delete; then click Delete.

Note: We cannot delete an attribute used in a marketing activity. Before we can delete the attribute, we must first remove the relationship in the activity.

Delete attributes by using catalog upload We can delete attributes by using catalog upload even if these attributes are assigned to a catalog entry. Attributes must be local to the store that you load the file to.

Since multiple value descriptive attributes are supported, when we are deleting descriptive values for an attribute, we must explicitly delete the value. We can no longer replace the values by loading the attribute with new values. If you load a new value for an attribute, the value is included with the existing value. For example, if you have an attribute called platform with a value Windows and we want to replace that value with the value Linux, we must first delete the existing Windows value. If you upload the attribute with the Linux value without first deleting the existing value, your attribute now has two available values, Windows and Linux.

Note: If you delete a defining attribute from a catalog entry, any SKUs that were defined by that attribute continue to exist and use the deleted attribute. If we want a SKU to stop using an attribute, we must either delete the SKU, or assign a new attribute as the defining attribute of the SKU.

  1. Create a CSV file with the following content:

    Where DefAttr1 is the identifier of the attribute to delete.We can also create an XML file containing the following content to upload for deleting attributes: 

      <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<LoadItems loadItemName="AttributeDictionaryAttributeAndAllowedValues">
	  <LoadItem Sequence="1.0" Delete="1">
		  <Identifier>DefAttr1</Identifier>
	  </LoadItem>
</LoadItems>

  2. Open the Catalogs tool.

  3. From the list beside the

    Create new toolbar button, select Catalog Upload to open the properties view.

  4. In the Manage Catalog Upload tab, browse for the CSV file you created in step 1. For more information about uploading catalog data from your file into the database, see Uploading catalog data.

  5. Click Save; then click Close.


Related concepts
Attributes


Related tasks
Adding attributes to the attribute dictionary
Adding attributes with catalog upload
Changing SKUs
Deleting SKUs