Adding a custom date field to a product within a certain category

[Simon Hutchinson-2]

Hi all,

One of the items that our store is going to sell are publications.

I want to know the best way to  add a new "date published" property  
for products that are created in the "publications" category.

I have looked into extending the Product entity but this solution  
makes a product too specific.
I have researched features but can see how I can add a free entry  
feature of a date type.

If anyone could point me in the right direction as to how best to  
assign specific properties to products of a certain type that would be  
great.


Kind Regards

Simon Hutchinson

t: [phone]  m: [phone]  f: [phone]
a:   Ixxus Limited, Holywell Centre, 1 Phipp Street, London, EC2A 4PS
United Kingdom.  www.ixxus.com <http://www.ixxus.com/>

This message should be regarded as confidential. If you have received
this email in error please notify the sender and destroy it immediately.
Statements of intent shall only become binding when confirmed in hard
copy by an authorised signatory.

[Jacques Le Roux]

You may use an Attribute (see Attributes tab for a specific product)

Jacques

From: "Simon Hutchinson" <[hidden email]>

> Hi all,
>
> One of the items that our store is going to sell are publications.
>
> I want to know the best way to  add a new "date published" property  
> for products that are created in the "publications" category.
>
> I have looked into extending the Product entity but this solution  
> makes a product too specific.
> I have researched features but can see how I can add a free entry  
> feature of a date type.
>
> If anyone could point me in the right direction as to how best to  
> assign specific properties to products of a certain type that would be  
> great.
>
>
> Kind Regards
>
> Simon Hutchinson
>
> t: [phone]  m: [phone]  f: [phone]
> a:   Ixxus Limited, Holywell Centre, 1 Phipp Street, London, EC2A 4PS
> United Kingdom.  www.ixxus.com <http://www.ixxus.com/>
>
> This message should be regarded as confidential. If you have received
> this email in error please notify the sender and destroy it immediately.
> Statements of intent shall only become binding when confirmed in hard
> copy by an authorised signatory.
>
>
>
>
>

[Simon Hutchinson-2]

Hi Jacques,

Thanks for the reply.

I don't know if attributes are the right solution or if I am missing  
something.

If for example I have two types of products.

1. Books
2. Cars

These will share some product properties that are currently defined  
e.g size, weight, description etc ....

If I want to add something specific to books e.g numberOfPages then  
are attributes the correct choice?
This will involve the user entering the data to know the name and type  
of the attribute to enter as free text which seems error-prone.

I can see how attributes would be useful for adding ad-hoc information  
to specific instances of product but this doesn't seem to be a good  
solution for adding "Product Type" specific information that I might  
need to search on for example.

Would you still advise that I use attributes based on this information  
or should I be looking elsewhere?

Kind regards

Simon



On 20 Sep 2009, at 17:05, Jacques Le Roux wrote:

> You may use an Attribute (see Attributes tab for a specific product)
>
> Jacques
>
> From: "Simon Hutchinson" <[hidden email]>
>> Hi all,
>> One of the items that our store is going to sell are publications.
>> I want to know the best way to  add a new "date published"  
>> property  for products that are created in the "publications"  
>> category.
>> I have looked into extending the Product entity but this solution  
>> makes a product too specific.
>> I have researched features but can see how I can add a free entry  
>> feature of a date type.
>> If anyone could point me in the right direction as to how best to  
>> assign specific properties to products of a certain type that would  
>> be  great.
>> Kind Regards
>> Simon Hutchinson
>> t: [phone]  m: [phone]  f: [phone]
>> a:   Ixxus Limited, Holywell Centre, 1 Phipp Street, London, EC2A 4PS
>> United Kingdom.  www.ixxus.com <http://www.ixxus.com/>
>> This message should be regarded as confidential. If you have received
>> this email in error please notify the sender and destroy it  
>> immediately.
>> Statements of intent shall only become binding when confirmed in hard
>> copy by an authorised signatory.
>>
>

Kind Regards

Simon Hutchinson

t: [phone]  m: [phone]  f: [phone]
a:   Ixxus Limited, Holywell Centre, 1 Phipp Street, London, EC2A 4PS
United Kingdom.  www.ixxus.com <http://www.ixxus.com/>

This message should be regarded as confidential. If you have received
this email in error please notify the sender and destroy it immediately.
Statements of intent shall only become binding when confirmed in hard
copy by an authorised signatory.

[Jacques Le Roux]

In this case I would extend the Product entity, using (filling) this field uniquely when necessary

Jacques

From: "Simon Hutchinson" <[hidden email]>

> Hi Jacques,
>
> Thanks for the reply.
>
> I don't know if attributes are the right solution or if I am missing  
> something.
>
> If for example I have two types of products.
>
> 1. Books
> 2. Cars
>
> These will share some product properties that are currently defined  
> e.g size, weight, description etc ....
>
> If I want to add something specific to books e.g numberOfPages then  
> are attributes the correct choice?
> This will involve the user entering the data to know the name and type  
> of the attribute to enter as free text which seems error-prone.
>
> I can see how attributes would be useful for adding ad-hoc information  
> to specific instances of product but this doesn't seem to be a good  
> solution for adding "Product Type" specific information that I might  
> need to search on for example.
>
> Would you still advise that I use attributes based on this information  
> or should I be looking elsewhere?
>
> Kind regards
>
> Simon
>
>
>
> On 20 Sep 2009, at 17:05, Jacques Le Roux wrote:
>
>> You may use an Attribute (see Attributes tab for a specific product)
>>
>> Jacques
>>
>> From: "Simon Hutchinson" <[hidden email]>
>>> Hi all,
>>> One of the items that our store is going to sell are publications.
>>> I want to know the best way to  add a new "date published"  
>>> property  for products that are created in the "publications"  
>>> category.
>>> I have looked into extending the Product entity but this solution  
>>> makes a product too specific.
>>> I have researched features but can see how I can add a free entry  
>>> feature of a date type.
>>> If anyone could point me in the right direction as to how best to  
>>> assign specific properties to products of a certain type that would  
>>> be  great.
>>> Kind Regards
>>> Simon Hutchinson
>>> t: [phone]  m: [phone]  f: [phone]
>>> a:   Ixxus Limited, Holywell Centre, 1 Phipp Street, London, EC2A 4PS
>>> United Kingdom.  www.ixxus.com <http://www.ixxus.com/>
>>> This message should be regarded as confidential. If you have received
>>> this email in error please notify the sender and destroy it  
>>> immediately.
>>> Statements of intent shall only become binding when confirmed in hard
>>> copy by an authorised signatory.
>>>
>>
>
> Kind Regards
>
> Simon Hutchinson
>
> t: [phone]  m: [phone]  f: [phone]
> a:   Ixxus Limited, Holywell Centre, 1 Phipp Street, London, EC2A 4PS
> United Kingdom.  www.ixxus.com <http://www.ixxus.com/>
>
> This message should be regarded as confidential. If you have received
> this email in error please notify the sender and destroy it immediately.
> Statements of intent shall only become binding when confirmed in hard
> copy by an authorised signatory.
>
>
>
>
>

[Scott Gray-2]

Attributes could still be a decent fit, you could create new  
ProductTypes that are children of FINISHED_GOOD and tie the attributes  
to the ProductType via ProductTypeAttr.  You could then customize the  
Product UI to display the attributes depending on the ProductType  
selected.  If I'm not wrong ProductKeywords are generated from  
ProductAtrributes for they automatically be included in search results  
whereas you would have to customize the keyword generation for any new  
Product fields.

Regards
Scott

HotWax Media
http://www.hotwaxmedia.com

On 22/09/2009, at 10:41 AM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:

> In this case I would extend the Product entity, using (filling) this  
> field uniquely when necessary
>
> Jacques
>
> From: "Simon Hutchinson" <[hidden email]>
>> Hi Jacques,
>> Thanks for the reply.
>> I don't know if attributes are the right solution or if I am  
>> missing  something.
>> If for example I have two types of products.
>> 1. Books
>> 2. Cars
>> These will share some product properties that are currently  
>> defined  e.g size, weight, description etc ....
>> If I want to add something specific to books e.g numberOfPages  
>> then  are attributes the correct choice?
>> This will involve the user entering the data to know the name and  
>> type  of the attribute to enter as free text which seems error-prone.
>> I can see how attributes would be useful for adding ad-hoc  
>> information  to specific instances of product but this doesn't seem  
>> to be a good  solution for adding "Product Type" specific  
>> information that I might  need to search on for example.
>> Would you still advise that I use attributes based on this  
>> information  or should I be looking elsewhere?
>> Kind regards
>> Simon
>> On 20 Sep 2009, at 17:05, Jacques Le Roux wrote:
>>> You may use an Attribute (see Attributes tab for a specific product)
>>>
>>> Jacques
>>>
>>> From: "Simon Hutchinson" <[hidden email]>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>> One of the items that our store is going to sell are publications.
>>>> I want to know the best way to  add a new "date published"  
>>>> property  for products that are created in the "publications"  
>>>> category.
>>>> I have looked into extending the Product entity but this  
>>>> solution   makes a product too specific.
>>>> I have researched features but can see how I can add a free  
>>>> entry   feature of a date type.
>>>> If anyone could point me in the right direction as to how best  
>>>> to   assign specific properties to products of a certain type  
>>>> that would  be  great.
>>>> Kind Regards
>>>> Simon Hutchinson
>>>> t: [phone]  m: [phone]  f: [phone]  
>>>> 2330
>>>> a:   Ixxus Limited, Holywell Centre, 1 Phipp Street, London, EC2A  
>>>> 4PS
>>>> United Kingdom.  www.ixxus.com <http://www.ixxus.com/>
>>>> This message should be regarded as confidential. If you have  
>>>> received
>>>> this email in error please notify the sender and destroy it  
>>>> immediately.
>>>> Statements of intent shall only become binding when confirmed in  
>>>> hard
>>>> copy by an authorised signatory.
>>>>
>>>
>> Kind Regards
>> Simon Hutchinson
>> t: [phone]  m: [phone]  f: [phone]
>> a:   Ixxus Limited, Holywell Centre, 1 Phipp Street, London, EC2A 4PS
>> United Kingdom.  www.ixxus.com <http://www.ixxus.com/>
>> This message should be regarded as confidential. If you have received
>> this email in error please notify the sender and destroy it  
>> immediately.
>> Statements of intent shall only become binding when confirmed in hard
>> copy by an authorised signatory.
>>
>

[Simon Hutchinson-2]

Thanks Scott,

This is looking like a possible approach.
It will certainly work from the perspective of our eCommerce  
application for search and display on the product detail page.

However I am still a little unsure from a back-office perspective.

The data model does not allow me to create ProductTypeAttr without a  
ProductAttribute due to PK constraint. I cannot create the  
ProductAttribute without a Product again due to a PK constraint.
I hoped form your post that I would be able to link ProductAttributes  
(without being associated to an existing Product) to specific  
ProductTypes with the with the link between Product and  
ProductAttributes being created at the time that the Product is added.

I can think of some ways of achieving this but it will involve more  
customisation of the catalog app then I would like to undertake  
(unless absolutely essential). Am I missing something obvious here?

To summarise, this solution is great from the ecommerce perspective  
and would do exactly what I want.
Is there a way of making this approach easier to administer from the  
back-office? Ideally, when a user is working in the catalog  
application and they create a product of type "My Product" then I  
would like the attribute fields to be presented (name, type), ready to  
be filled in with values if required. i.e Without the user needing to  
have prior knowledge of attribute name and type.

Thanks

Simon



On 21 Sep 2009, at 23:55, Scott Gray wrote:

> Attributes could still be a decent fit, you could create new  
> ProductTypes that are children of FINISHED_GOOD and tie the  
> attributes to the ProductType via ProductTypeAttr.  You could then  
> customize the Product UI to display the attributes depending on the  
> ProductType selected.  If I'm not wrong ProductKeywords are  
> generated from ProductAtrributes for they automatically be included  
> in search results whereas you would have to customize the keyword  
> generation for any new Product fields.
>
> Regards
> Scott
>
> HotWax Media
> http://www.hotwaxmedia.com
>
> On 22/09/2009, at 10:41 AM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:
>
>> In this case I would extend the Product entity, using (filling)  
>> this field uniquely when necessary
>>
>> Jacques
>>
>> From: "Simon Hutchinson" <[hidden email]>
>>> Hi Jacques,
>>> Thanks for the reply.
>>> I don't know if attributes are the right solution or if I am  
>>> missing  something.
>>> If for example I have two types of products.
>>> 1. Books
>>> 2. Cars
>>> These will share some product properties that are currently  
>>> defined  e.g size, weight, description etc ....
>>> If I want to add something specific to books e.g numberOfPages  
>>> then  are attributes the correct choice?
>>> This will involve the user entering the data to know the name and  
>>> type  of the attribute to enter as free text which seems error-
>>> prone.
>>> I can see how attributes would be useful for adding ad-hoc  
>>> information  to specific instances of product but this doesn't  
>>> seem to be a good  solution for adding "Product Type" specific  
>>> information that I might  need to search on for example.
>>> Would you still advise that I use attributes based on this  
>>> information  or should I be looking elsewhere?
>>> Kind regards
>>> Simon
>>> On 20 Sep 2009, at 17:05, Jacques Le Roux wrote:
>>>> You may use an Attribute (see Attributes tab for a specific  
>>>> product)
>>>>
>>>> Jacques
>>>>
>>>> From: "Simon Hutchinson" <[hidden email]>
>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>> One of the items that our store is going to sell are publications.
>>>>> I want to know the best way to  add a new "date published"  
>>>>> property  for products that are created in the "publications"  
>>>>> category.
>>>>> I have looked into extending the Product entity but this  
>>>>> solution   makes a product too specific.
>>>>> I have researched features but can see how I can add a free  
>>>>> entry   feature of a date type.
>>>>> If anyone could point me in the right direction as to how best  
>>>>> to   assign specific properties to products of a certain type  
>>>>> that would  be  great.
>>>>> Kind Regards
>>>>> Simon Hutchinson
>>>>> t: [phone]  m: [phone]  f: [phone]  
>>>>> 2330
>>>>> a:   Ixxus Limited, Holywell Centre, 1 Phipp Street, London,  
>>>>> EC2A 4PS
>>>>> United Kingdom.  www.ixxus.com <http://www.ixxus.com/>
>>>>> This message should be regarded as confidential. If you have  
>>>>> received
>>>>> this email in error please notify the sender and destroy it  
>>>>> immediately.
>>>>> Statements of intent shall only become binding when confirmed in  
>>>>> hard
>>>>> copy by an authorised signatory.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>> Kind Regards
>>> Simon Hutchinson
>>> t: [phone]  m: [phone]  f: [phone]  
>>> 2330
>>> a:   Ixxus Limited, Holywell Centre, 1 Phipp Street, London, EC2A  
>>> 4PS
>>> United Kingdom.  www.ixxus.com <http://www.ixxus.com/>
>>> This message should be regarded as confidential. If you have  
>>> received
>>> this email in error please notify the sender and destroy it  
>>> immediately.
>>> Statements of intent shall only become binding when confirmed in  
>>> hard
>>> copy by an authorised signatory.
>>>
>>
>

Kind Regards

Simon Hutchinson

t: [phone]  m: [phone]  f: [phone]
a:   Ixxus Limited, Holywell Centre, 1 Phipp Street, London, EC2A 4PS
United Kingdom.  www.ixxus.com <http://www.ixxus.com/>

This message should be regarded as confidential. If you have received
this email in error please notify the sender and destroy it immediately.
Statements of intent shall only become binding when confirmed in hard
copy by an authorised signatory.

[Scott Gray-2]

Hi Simon,

On 22/09/2009, at 8:05 PM, Simon Hutchinson wrote:

> Thanks Scott,
>
> This is looking like a possible approach.
> It will certainly work from the perspective of our eCommerce  
> application for search and display on the product detail page.
>
> However I am still a little unsure from a back-office perspective.
>
> The data model does not allow me to create ProductTypeAttr without a  
> ProductAttribute due to PK constraint.

Do you mean without a ProductType?  There's no PK constraint related  
to ProductAttribute.  But yes you would need to create a ProductType  
first but tying the attributes to a ProductType is sort of the point.

> I cannot create the ProductAttribute without a Product again due to  
> a PK constraint.

That's correct but ProductTypeAttr should fill this need.

> I hoped form your post that I would be able to link  
> ProductAttributes (without being associated to an existing Product)  
> to specific ProductTypes with the with the link between Product and  
> ProductAttributes being created at the time that the Product is added.

That's correct, you'd need to add the logic yourself though.

> I can think of some ways of achieving this but it will involve more  
> customisation of the catalog app then I would like to undertake  
> (unless absolutely essential). Am I missing something obvious here?

It's not uncommon to need to customize the various apps, the best way  
to do so is to extend applications using a separate hot-deploy app.  
You shouldn't need to change too much to support this though.

> To summarise, this solution is great from the ecommerce perspective  
> and would do exactly what I want.
> Is there a way of making this approach easier to administer from the  
> back-office? Ideally, when a user is working in the catalog  
> application and they create a product of type "My Product" then I  
> would like the attribute fields to be presented (name, type), ready  
> to be filled in with values if required. i.e Without the user  
> needing to have prior knowledge of attribute name and type.

The approach I described should work fine.  To summarize:
Add a UI for defining ProductTypes and adding attributes to them (I  
don't think this is present OOTB)
Add some logic to automatically create the ProductAttributes when a  
Product is created
That's really about all there is to it.

Regards
Scott

>
> Thanks
>
> Simon
>
>
>
> On 21 Sep 2009, at 23:55, Scott Gray wrote:
>
>> Attributes could still be a decent fit, you could create new  
>> ProductTypes that are children of FINISHED_GOOD and tie the  
>> attributes to the ProductType via ProductTypeAttr.  You could then  
>> customize the Product UI to display the attributes depending on the  
>> ProductType selected.  If I'm not wrong ProductKeywords are  
>> generated from ProductAtrributes for they automatically be included  
>> in search results whereas you would have to customize the keyword  
>> generation for any new Product fields.
>>
>> Regards
>> Scott
>>
>> HotWax Media
>> http://www.hotwaxmedia.com
>>
>> On 22/09/2009, at 10:41 AM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:
>>
>>> In this case I would extend the Product entity, using (filling)  
>>> this field uniquely when necessary
>>>
>>> Jacques
>>>
>>> From: "Simon Hutchinson" <[hidden email]>
>>>> Hi Jacques,
>>>> Thanks for the reply.
>>>> I don't know if attributes are the right solution or if I am  
>>>> missing  something.
>>>> If for example I have two types of products.
>>>> 1. Books
>>>> 2. Cars
>>>> These will share some product properties that are currently  
>>>> defined  e.g size, weight, description etc ....
>>>> If I want to add something specific to books e.g numberOfPages  
>>>> then  are attributes the correct choice?
>>>> This will involve the user entering the data to know the name and  
>>>> type  of the attribute to enter as free text which seems error-
>>>> prone.
>>>> I can see how attributes would be useful for adding ad-hoc  
>>>> information  to specific instances of product but this doesn't  
>>>> seem to be a good  solution for adding "Product Type" specific  
>>>> information that I might  need to search on for example.
>>>> Would you still advise that I use attributes based on this  
>>>> information  or should I be looking elsewhere?
>>>> Kind regards
>>>> Simon
>>>> On 20 Sep 2009, at 17:05, Jacques Le Roux wrote:
>>>>> You may use an Attribute (see Attributes tab for a specific  
>>>>> product)
>>>>>
>>>>> Jacques
>>>>>
>>>>> From: "Simon Hutchinson" <[hidden email]>
>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>> One of the items that our store is going to sell are  
>>>>>> publications.
>>>>>> I want to know the best way to  add a new "date published"  
>>>>>> property  for products that are created in the "publications"  
>>>>>> category.
>>>>>> I have looked into extending the Product entity but this  
>>>>>> solution   makes a product too specific.
>>>>>> I have researched features but can see how I can add a free  
>>>>>> entry   feature of a date type.
>>>>>> If anyone could point me in the right direction as to how best  
>>>>>> to   assign specific properties to products of a certain type  
>>>>>> that would  be  great.
>>>>>> Kind Regards
>>>>>> Simon Hutchinson
>>>>>> t: [phone]  m: [phone]  f: +44 (0)20  
>>>>>> 7033 2330
>>>>>> a:   Ixxus Limited, Holywell Centre, 1 Phipp Street, London,  
>>>>>> EC2A 4PS
>>>>>> United Kingdom.  www.ixxus.com <http://www.ixxus.com/>
>>>>>> This message should be regarded as confidential. If you have  
>>>>>> received
>>>>>> this email in error please notify the sender and destroy it  
>>>>>> immediately.
>>>>>> Statements of intent shall only become binding when confirmed  
>>>>>> in hard
>>>>>> copy by an authorised signatory.
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> Kind Regards
>>>> Simon Hutchinson
>>>> t: [phone]  m: [phone]  f: [phone]  
>>>> 2330
>>>> a:   Ixxus Limited, Holywell Centre, 1 Phipp Street, London, EC2A  
>>>> 4PS
>>>> United Kingdom.  www.ixxus.com <http://www.ixxus.com/>
>>>> This message should be regarded as confidential. If you have  
>>>> received
>>>> this email in error please notify the sender and destroy it  
>>>> immediately.
>>>> Statements of intent shall only become binding when confirmed in  
>>>> hard
>>>> copy by an authorised signatory.
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
> Kind Regards
>
> Simon Hutchinson
>
> t: [phone]  m: [phone]  f: [phone]
> a:   Ixxus Limited, Holywell Centre, 1 Phipp Street, London, EC2A 4PS
> United Kingdom.  www.ixxus.com <http://www.ixxus.com/>
>
> This message should be regarded as confidential. If you have received
> this email in error please notify the sender and destroy it  
> immediately.
> Statements of intent shall only become binding when confirmed in hard
> copy by an authorised signatory.
>
>
>
>
>