Creating elements of the catalogue structure

Creating series information

Series are defined in the following element:

All child elements are used to describe the properties of the series.Options are assigned to series via assessment procedures (RESTRICTION_REF).

Creating options

Example: creating options

1. Definition of the feature properties/feature classes

The feature properties are defined in the following element:

FEATURE_DEFINITION/OPTION_DEFINITION

<OPTION_DEFINITION>

</OPTION_DEFINITION>

This element is used to define the properties of colours, materials, shape versions and dimensions.

2. Creating the options

The options are created in the following element:

FEATURE_DEFINITION/FEATURES/FEATURE

<OPTION OPTION_KEY="L"

</OPTION>

<OPTION OPTION_KEY="S"

</OPTION>

</OPTIONS>

</FEATURE>

Features are defined via feature type numbers, e.g. 1. The option is unequivocally identified by the combination of FEATURE_NO in FEATURE_DEFINITION/FEATURES/FEATURE and OPTION_KEY in FEATURE_DEFINITION/FEATURES/FEATURE/OPTIONS/OPTION identified unequivocally.

Creating item information

Item information is specified in the following element:

T_NEW_CATALOG/SERIES/SERIE/PRODUCT_GROUPS/PRODUCT_GROUP/ITEMS/ITEM

The element ITEM has a multitude of elements used to describe the properties of items. An item is identified via the attribute TYPE_NO.

Please note that depending on the series, an item may have different properties. Consequently, an item and its properties can only be unequivocally identified in combination with the series.

Series-specific item information

Depending on the series, items may have different properties. Items are automatically assigned to a series because the element ITEM is a child element of the SERIE element.

Creating feature information

Feature information is created in the IDM schema as described in the following:

- Creation of variations for the options

- Assignment of variation and feature

Creating variations

The variations for the options are defined as a data pool in the element T_NEW_CATALOG/FEATURE_DEFINITION/OPTION_DEFINITION.

Figure 2 - The element OPTION_DEFINITION

The OPTION_DEFINITION element contains elements in which the respective variations are specified:

MATERIAL	This element is used to define the properties of materials using colours and textures. These elements are referenced from features.
FORM	This element is used to define the numbers for form variations (FORM_NO). In the current version of the IDM schema, no further characteristic features are specified in this element other than FORM_NO.
OPTION_MEASURE	This element is used to specify the values of options that are expressed in a dimension (e.g. sitting height (feature 35)).

Example: variations for colours

<OPTION_DEFINITION>

<RGB_RED>255</RGB_RED>

<RGB_GREEN>0</RGB_GREEN>

<RGB_BLUE>0</RGB_BLUE>

</COLOR>

<RGB_RED>133</RGB_RED>

<RGB_GREEN>273</RGB_GREEN>

<RGB_BLUE>0</RGB_BLUE>

</COLOR>

<RGB_RED>0</RGB_RED>

<RGB_GREEN>89</RGB_GREEN>

<RGB_BLUE>89</RGB_BLUE>

</COLOR>

</MATERIAL>

</OPTION_DEFINITION>

The above elements define three colours that are identified by numbers (COLOR_NO) 1-3.

Assignment of variation and feature

To use the colours defined in the example above, features must be assigned, which results in options.

The assignment of features (FEATURE) and variations (OPTION) to options is done in the element T_NEW_CATALOG/FEATURE_DEFINITION/FEATURES/FEATURE. An option is formed and identified by the combination of FEATURE and OPTION. The following XML elements define 2 feed heights (feature 15).

Example: assembly of options from feature and variations

<OPTION_TEXT>

</OPTION_TEXT>

</OPTION>

<OPTION_TEXT>

</OPTION_TEXT>

</OPTION>

</OPTIONS>

<FEATURE_TEXT>

</FEATURE_TEXT>

<HEADER_POS_VARIATION_TYPE>K</HEADER_POS_VARIATION_TYPE>

</FEATURE>

The child elements of FEATURE describe the properties of the feature, the child elements of OPTION describe the properties of the option. Analogous to this principle, which applies for essentially all elements in the IDM schema, the OPTION_TEXT defines a text that designates the option. The element FEATURE_TEXT defines a text that designates the feature.

If the data is supposed to reference an option, the combination of FEATURE_NO and OPTION_KEY must always be specified as a reference key.