Hello

Today's post describes about the steps to maintain product data for PIM desktop.

In PIM Desktop, a product is a data record that is used as a container for items of the same type. The Explorer (products) perspective is provided for maintaining products. The Explorer (products) perspective contains the Context selection view and also the Products #1 view. The Context selection view displays all products by selecting Show products in the master catalog pop-up menu. Refresh all variants of product view  by selecting a product. An item assignment or a product reference is created using drag & drop .

Creating products

To create products, either import them or create them manually. To create products manually in the master catalog:

• Switch to the Explorer (products) perspective.
• In the Context selection view, select Show products in the master catalog pop-up menu.
• The products are displayed in the Products #1 view.
• Click to create a new row in the table with a new, unique product number.
• Enter the product data.
• Click on to save the data record.

To create a new product by creating a product for an item:

• Select the item.
• Select Generate product in the pop-up menu.
• A new product is created based on the item data and the item is assigned to the product.

Editing products

Products are maintained using the drag & drop method:

• Creating structure assignments
• Assigning items to products
• Creating product references
• Creating a multimedia attachment
• Maintaining product attributes

Creating structure assignments

To create a structure assignment manually:

1. Open the relevant structure system in the Primary structure tree view.
2. Display the products in the Products #1 view.
3. Select a product.
4. Use drag and drop to drag the product to the structure groups to which you want to assign it.
5. Check the result of assignment by showing the Structure assignments column in the Products #1 view.

Assigning items to products

An item can be assigned to just one product, while a product can have multiple items.

1. Open the Explorer (products) perspective.
2. Display the required products in the Products #1 view.
3. Open the Items #1 view, which displays the items to assign to a product.
4. Use drag & drop to drag an item from the Items #1 view to a product in the Products #1 view .
5. Check the result of assignment in the Product variants view. It displays all assigned
6. items for a product selected in the Products #1 view.

The procedure for deleting an existing assignment of an item to a product is as follows:

1. Select the item in the Referenced items of product view.
2. Select Delete product assignment in the pop-up menu.
3. Confirm with Yes. The assignment for the item is deleted.

Creating product references

Product references are required to create or manage relationships between products.

Reference types:

1. Similar item: Two products are so similar that they could be supplied as an alternative to one another.
2. Alternative order unit: A product is identical to another item, but it is sold in different order units.
3. Component: A product is a component of another product.
4. Cross-selling: Cross-selling of complementary products.
5. Spare part: A product is a spare part for another product.
6. Successor item: A product is a successor product for another product.
7. Essential spare part: A product is an essential additional product for another product.
8. Optional spare part: A product is an optional additional product for another product.
9. Other reference: A product has a relationship with another product that is not specified in more detail.
10. Up-selling: Reference to a higher quality or value product.
11. Accessories: A product is an accessory for another product.

The procedure for creating a product reference is as follows:

1. Open the Products #1 view with the corresponding products.
2. Use drag & drop to drag the product to another product which is to be assigned as the reference.
3. A dialog box opens, where the reference type can be mentioned.
4. Click on OK. The reference is created.
5. Check the result of assignment by selecting the product in the Products #1 view. The
6. product's references are then displayed in the References view.

Creating a multimedia attachment

To create the assignment manually:

1. Open the Explorer (products) perspective.
2. Display the required products in the Products #1 view.
3. Also open the Documents view with the corresponding images.
4. Use drag and drop to drag an image to the corresponding product.
5. The dialog box for creating a new multimedia attachment is opened.
6. Then follow the same procedure as for maintaining multimedia attachments for items.

Maintaining product attributes

To maintain product attributes, use the Product attributes, Product attributes (cumulative) and Products with features (specialized ) views. The Product attributes view displays the existing attributes of a selected product in a table. This view is used to create new product attributes and edit or delete existing attributes.

The Product attributes (cumulative) view shows all shared features of the products selected in the Products #1 view. It makes easier to add new product attributes to the selected products at once or transfer structure features as product attributes.

Product details (form)

The Product details (form ) view can be used to display data for an individual product. By default, the view only shows the following fields:

• Product no.
• Manufacturer product no.
• Manufacturer
• Short description (German)

The form display of information for a product is ideally suited for using custom product displays for particular purposes. Open the Field selection dialog box as in the table display and configure the form as required. Use the Views menu to set whether the fields shown are displayed with one or two columns.