Unique Identifiers in a Catalog

When you create a base catalog, you specify which properties are the unique identifiers for products and product variants. Both products and product variants have unique identifiers. The unique identifiers are either a text or a number type of property.

Note

• In a virtual catalog the product ID will always be "ProductId" and the variant ID will always be "VariantId." When creating a virtual catalog, you do not have to specify the product ID and variant ID.

If you have a catalog of books, for example, the title of the book might be the unique identifier for the product, and the ISBN number might be the unique identifier for the product variant. For the book The Quest Ahead, the hardback version would be one variant, the paperback version another, and the audio version a third. All three product variants are part of the product family The Quest Ahead.

The following example shows the components of the product family The Quest Ahead:

Product Family = The Quest Ahead
Unique ID = Title: The Quest Ahead

Product Variant = The Quest Ahead hardback Unique ID = ISBN: 1102334 Price = 20.00

Product Variant = The Quest Ahead paperback Unique ID = ISBN: 1102335 Price = 10.00

Product Variant = The Quest Ahead audio Unique ID = ISBN: 1102336 Price = 15.00

For a list of best practices for assigning unique identifiers, see Best Practices for Catalogs.

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