How to Create a Virtual Catalog

This topic describes how to create a virtual catalog.

Click Start, point to Microsoft Commerce Server 2009 , and then click Catalog Manager.
In Catalog Manager, in the Views pane, click Catalogs.
In the Catalogs pane, select the base catalog on which you want to build your virtual catalog, and then in the Task pane, click Create a New Virtual Catalog.
On the Welcome to the Create New Virtual Catalog Wizard page, click Next.

On the VirtualCatalog Properties page, do the following:

Use this	To do this
Catalog Name	Type a name for the virtual catalog. This name must be unique. The name cannot match the name of any existing catalog in the Catalog System.
Start Date	Type the start date for the catalog. This date does not have any effect on the Web site. However, if you exchange catalogs with a trading partner, this date lets the trading partner know the first date the catalog is valid.
End Date	Type the end date for the catalog. Your trading partners use this date to determine the last date the catalog is valid. By default, the end date will be the current date plus three months.
Currency	Select a currency for the virtual catalog from the drop-down list. The default is the U.S. dollar.
Weight Measure	Type the unit of weight measure for the products in the virtual catalog. For example, kilograms (kg).
Materialize	Select to materialize the virtual catalog. A materialized virtual catalog has the performance of a base catalog for all search and browse operations, but you edit it as a virtual catalog. We recommend that you materialize all aggregated virtual catalogs for improved performance.

On the Catalog Custom Properties page, do the following.

Use this	To do this
Property Name	View the property name of a custom property. You cannot edit this box.
Display Name	View the display name of a custom property. You cannot edit this box.
Value	Type a value for the custom property.

Property Name

View the property name of a custom property.

You cannot edit this box.

Display Name

View the display name of a custom property.

You cannot edit this box.

Value

Type a value for the custom property.

On the Catalog Languages page, click Add to open the Language Chooser dialog box.
In the Language Chooser dialog box, select the language(s) for the catalog, and then click OK.

On the Catalog Languages page, do the following:

Use this	To do this
Default Language	Select the language that will appear when you open the catalog to view or edit the catalog from the drop-down list. Note: You cannot remove the default language from the catalog.
Reporting Language	Select the language that will appear on reports from the drop-down list. You specify the language from the catalog that you use to populate the Data Warehouse.

Default Language

Select the language that will appear when you open the catalog to view or edit the catalog from the drop-down list.

Note:

You cannot remove the default language from the catalog.

Reporting Language

Select the language that will appear on reports from the drop-down list.

You specify the language from the catalog that you use to populate the Data Warehouse.

On the VirtualCatalog Summary page, review the virtual catalog properties. To change any of the virtual catalog property values, click Back. To create the new virtual catalog, click Create.
On the Completing the New Virtual Catalog Wizard page, to add items (products, product variants, categories, or a base catalog) to the virtual catalog, click Add products to the virtual catalog on close.

OR

On the Completing the New Virtual Catalog Wizard page, click Finish to close the Create New Virtual Catalog Wizard without adding any items.

Note

You can add products, product variants, categories, or base catalogs later by using the Add Existing Items to the Virtual Catalog Wizard.

See Also