Catalogs are repositories or containers for items with the following characteristics:
- Catalogs are defined by several components that are required to build a catalog (Name, Primary spec, Primary category hierarchy, (ACG)Access control group)
- Additional optional attributes can be specified for any catalog (Secondary category hierarchy, Linked catalogs, catalogs scripts (pre and post processing)
- Catalogs can be linked, allows attributes to be managed for a single item across multiple catalogs
- Catalog views can be customized to personalized how item attributes are presented to a user
The Catalog Console is where all the centralized product information is managed and manipulated before it is exported to a defined destination.
Through the Catalog Console, the following tasks can be performed:
- Browse and modify a catalog
- View items within a category
- View and modify catalog’s associated specs
- Edit the contents of a catalog using the Single or Multiple edit screens
- View catalog attributes
- View catalog differences
- Rollback a catalog version
- Search a catalog’s content
- Delete a catalog
- Customize catalog views
The Catalog Console displays all of the current catalogs that have been created. The console view can be customized to show specific catalog attributes, if desired. The default view shows the catalog name, catalog spec, primary/secondary hierarchies, access control group, and the catalog view that is curretnly applied to the catalog.
Customizing the console view
The console can be customized to sort or hide columns. The settings are saved to the user’s profile. To customize the view of the Catalog Console, do the following.
1. In the top right corner of the Catalog console, click the configure button
. The Configure table appears in a popup window.
2. To sort a column, make a selection in the Sort Column. Only one selection can be made.
3. To hide a field, make a selection in the Hide column. Multiple selections can be made.
4. In the "Other Options" table, set the sorting order to display in ascending or descending order and set the number of rows to display per page.
5. To save the customized settings, click Save. The Catalog Console appears with the new customized settings.
Catalog console columns
Name
The name of the catalog.
Spec
The name of the catalog spec used to build the catalog. When clicked, the specification can be viewed an edited.
Primary Hierarchy
The name of the hierarchy used to organize the catalog items. When clicked, the hierarchy details screen appears.
Secondary Hierarchies
The name of the secondary hierarchy used to create sub-categories. When clicked, the hierarchy details can be viewed.
Access Control Group (ACG)
The Access Control Group used to control the access levels for each role.
Views
The catalog view that is applied to the catalog. New catalogs are set to use the system default. The edit icon allows the user to edit the customized view; the system default view cannot be edited.
Catalog console toolbar
The Catalog console toolbar contains buttons that are used to manage the catalogs in the console.
Fig 3.1 - Catalog console buttons.
NEW Create a new catalog
ATTRIBS. Edit/modify the attributes of a catalog. Create different versions of a catalog, view a different version of a catalog, rename the version of a catalog, create a new hierarchy, add a second hierarchy to a catalog, review the summary statistic of a particular catalog
DIFFS. Provides the ability for the user to run a comparison between two different versions of a catalog
ROLLBACK Provides the ability for the user to rollback a catalog
RICH SEARCH Provides the ability for the user to run a more comprehensive search within a catalog and view the results in an item list table
DELETE Delete a catalog
VIEWS Create different views of a catalog
IMPORT Select a catalog and click the Import button. All imports associated to the catalog appears
EXPORT Select a catalog and click the Export button. All exports associated to the catalog appears
The Catalogs component of the Product Manager is used to design, structure, and maintain product information within catalogs. This section assumes that all components required to create a catalog have been completed. Refer to the appropriate sections in this user’s guide for information on creating the following catalog components:
- Primary/secondary specs
- Access Control Groups (optional)
- Hierarchies (optional)
New Catalog
Catalogs can be designed and structured to meet the requirements of business units. Once a data model has been built, catalogs can be created to maintain product information within catalogs.
This section assumes that all components required to create a catalog have been completed. Refer to the appropriate sections in this user’s guide for information on creating the following catalog components:
- Primary/secondary specs
- Access Control Groups (optional)
- Hierarchies (optional)
Creating a new catalog
Use the menu path Product Manager > Catalogs > New Catalog or click the New icon from the Catalog Console. The Create Catalog wizard appears. Complete each step of the wizard.
1. Select Specification: Choose the specification to use for the catalog and click Select. To edit the selected spec, click the Edit button or click New to create a new spec for the catalog.
2. Select Display Attribute: Select the spec attribute that is to be displayed for the catalog.
3. Select Access Control Group: Select the ACG used for the catalog and click Select. If desired, edit or create the ACG.
4. Catalog Name: Enter a name for the catalog and click the Create Catalog button.
5. Select Hierarchy: Select a hierarchy to use for the catalog and click the Select button. Click the Edit button to edit the current selected hierarchy or click New to create a new hierarchy.
A message box appears notifying of a successful catalog creation. Click the "Catalog Console" hyperlink or the back arrow icon to return to the Catalog Console page.
Delete catalogs
The Delete function allows a user to "clean things up" by deleting old or useless catalogs. It is important to note that once a catalog is deleted, there is no way to recover it. The catalog cannot be used or otherwise be viewed again.
When deleting a catalog, there are two confirmation dialog boxes that occur which makes it hard to delete a catalog by accident. When a catalog is confirmed for deletion, it is placed in the scheduler for completion.
Deleting a catalog
1. From the Catalog Console, select a catalog to delete by clicking the radio button next to the name of the catalog.
2. From the toolbar, click Delete. A dialog box appears confirming the operation. Click OK to delete the catalog or Cancel to quit the operation.
3. If OK was clicked, the "Choose a Catalog to Delete" wizard appears with a warning message notifying the user that the operation is not reversible. Click the Delete button to complete the deletion of the catalog.
4. Another dialog box appears to confirm the deletion of the catalog, Click OK to complete the catalog deletion.
5. A message appears notifying the user that the catalog deletion has been scheduled. Click the timer icon to view the schedule status.
Catalog Versioning
A version is automatically created when changes have been made to a catalog, whether it is an update import, change of catalog attributes, manual changes to items, etc. All catalog versions appear in the Version Summary table of the Catalog Attributes screen.
Figure 3. 2 - Version summary table
Creating a catalog version
To manually create a tagged version of a catalog, which timestamps the catalog version, go to the Catalog Details screen:
- Left Pane - Right-click in the Left Pane and select Attributes from the short menu
- Catalog Console - select a catalog and click Attib.
Enter a name in the "Add a version with a name" field and click +ADD. The new catalog version is saved to the "Version Summary" table.
From the left p
Rename a catalog version
To rename a catalog version, select a catalog version from the Version Summary table, edit the version name, and click the Rename Version button from the toolbar.
View specific catalog version
Add a catalog in the Left Pane, click "Show On- Demand Filter". Select a catalog version to view and the catalog is populated with the catalog version data.
Note: The selection from the Version drop-down field matches that of the Version Summary table.
Figure 3. 3 - Change catalog version
Catalog differences
The Catalog Differences function allows the analysis between two catalog versions. Choose to view details on various difference types (added, modified, deleted, unchanged, or all).
From the Catalog Console, select a catalog and click the Diffs. button. The "Catalog Differences" wizard appears. Complete each step of the wizrd.
1. Select Catalog: Automatically filled with the name of the catalog selection from the Catalog Console.
2. Select Version one: Select the first catalog version.
3. Select Version two: Select a second catalog version
4. Select difference type: Click the Question Mark icon and select a difference type, then click Save to close the window, then click Select to apply the difference type to perform.
5. A Difference Summary table appears. Click on the View button to display the Item List details.
Figure 3. 4 - Differences Summary
Catalog rollback
A catalog "Rollback" enables a user to change the version of a catalog that is currently being used to a different catalog version, which may contain modified items. This is especially useful if changes that were made to a catalog were later determined to be unnecessary or otherwise done by accident.
After clicking on the Rollback button, the user must select the version of the catalog that he or she would like to roll back to. A catalog is versioned just before and just after data is moved into (during an import) and out of (during an export) WebSphere Product Center.
By default, each version is given a name in terms of two properties: A. the operation that was performed on it and B. the date and time that the operation was performed.
USE WITH CAUTION!!! This operation is not reversible.
Note: Specs are not reverted during a catalog rollback so items will be displayed according to the latest specs. Attributes for spec nodes that have been deleted will not be shown although they existed in the rollback version.
Performing a catalog rollback
To rollback to a different catalog version, do the following:
1. From the Catalog Console, click on the radio button next to the catalog name and click the Rollback button.
2. Select a catalog version from the drop down selection and click the SELECT button. A message appears to remind you that the action is not reversible, proceed by clicking on the Rollback catalog button and then OK in the popup dialog box to confirm the action.
Fig 3.5 - Select catalog to rollback
3. The rollback is scheduled; click the status icon to view the status.
Note: When a rollback is completed, all catalog versions that occurred after the selected version is cleared from the Versions Table.
Catalog rich search
The item table of the database will only save runtime searchable attributes, which are marked at the spec level when defining a spec attribute.
WebSphere Product Center provides search capabilities that can be saved for future use and also allow the search for category names. The search results are displayed as an item list.
When performing searches, use the asterisk (*) as the wildcard.
For example:
*aste*et* (the first and last * are important!)
matches : Waste Basket
The rich search screen allows the search of Global and location attributes. Users can create a search template that is used to define a set of global and/or location attributes.
Note: If the resulting item set is larger than what has been defined for the system, the search will be performed in the background. The user will be notified by a dialog box that the completed search result notification is to be sent via email.
The new Rich Search screen can be used to build quick rich search templates. Users also have the ability to construct the custom search queries by using AND, OR, <>, <=, and >= like conditional statements.
The order in which searches are performed are global attributes first, then location attributes. Therefore the Runtime search method is first used to minimize and restrict a result set, then if additional search is required on a larger result set, the non-runtime search is performed.
Fig 3.6 - Performing a rich search
Creating a saved Search Template
A search template can be created and saved for future use.
1. From the Rich Search Screen ( Saved Search Template), click New.
2. A dialog box appears. Enter a name for the search template, a description (optional), and select Specs or individual nodes for the search criterion and click SAVE.
Fig 3.7 - Save search template
Running search based on saved search template
1. At the Rich Search screen, select the saved template and click Load. The search attributes appear.
2. Select category restrictions if desired. This can be done by selecting an associated hierarchy under (2. Select Category Restrictions:). A window displays and allows the ability to select any number of hierarchies or sub-tree thereof to restrict from the search. Click Done to return to the Rich Search screen.
Fig 3.8 - Search options
3. Check the box next to the attribute to search and enter the desired search criteria. When all search data is complete, click Search. The results are displayed in the Multiple Edit screen.
4. To create another search with a different criterion, click the Rich Search tab. On the Rich Search screen, click Clear and begin to define the desired search criterion.
Note: It is required to click Clear before creating a new search criteria. If Clear is not clicked, the search results will be inaccurate.
The attributes of a catalog can be viewed/modified through the Catalog Detail screen. There two methods to view a catalog’s attributes.
- From the Catalog Console, select a catalog and click the Attrib button
- From the Left Pane, display a catalog and right-click next to the catalog name. Select "Catalog Attributes" from the short menu.
CATALOG ATTRIBUTES
Name
Name of the catalog
Spec Name of associated catalog spec Primary Hierarchy
The primary hierarchy being used
Add Secondary hierarchy
Click the +ADD button to include a secondary hierarchy
Use Ordering Check to apply ordering to the catalog. Add a version with the name
Customize the name of a catalog version
Catalog display attribute Select an attribute to display in the Left Pane User Defined Core Attribute Collection Select the associated user defined core attribute collection for the catalog Entry Build Script
Build a script that runs after data retrieval for items/categories
Pre-processing Script
Build a script that manipulates the data before it is imported into a catalog
Post-processing Script
Build a script that manipulates the data after it is imported into a catalog
Post-save Script
Build a script that runs after an item is saved
Link Attributes
Displays nodes that have been linked to other catalogs
Version Summary
Displays all of the versions for the catalog
Scripts are created to validate and cleanse data before it is imported or exported. The catalog attributes allow for the selection of various script types to be processed at different stages (before import, after being saved, before export). The specs that are used for a catalog allow further manipulation to data such as applying validation or value rules. The combination of defining catalog attribute scripts and spec attributes allows for flexibility when manipulating data.
Although there are various types of scripts and rules that can be used to process data not every type needs to be defined and each type is performed in the specified order listed below:
- Entry Build script
- Pre-processing script
- Validation and Value rules
- Post-processing script
- Post-save script
Multiple hierarchies can be associated to a single catalog through the Catalog Details screen. The Primary Hierarchy cannot be removed.
Adding a secondary hierarchy
1. From the Catalog Console, select a catalog and click Attribs.
2. Select a hierarchy from the Add a Secondary hierarchy drop-down selection and click +ADD.
3. A message appears confirming the action.
4. If desired, add another secondary hierarchy.
5. To remove the associated Hierarchy, click the Delete button. A confirmation dialog box appears.
The function of the user-defined logs can be used to track deltas for catalogs or hierarchies. All changes are captured and viewed using the Log link in the Catalog or Hierarchy detail screen. Logs can be created for any of the available scripts that are built through the Catalog/Hierarchy Details screen.
Creating a user defined log for a catalog
1. From the Catalog Console, select a catalog and click Attribs. The details of the Catalog are displayed.
2. Click Logs and a table of user-defined logs appear. Click New to create a new user-defined log.
3. Enter a name and description for the log and check the Running Log checkbox, if desired, and click +ADD.
Note: If the Running Log box is not checked, the system captures the most recent change, whereas if the box were checked the system would capture all changes that have been made.
4. At the Catalog Details screen, select a script (i.e. Post-save script) to create and write it to a log. For more information on creating scripts, refer to WebSphere Product Center’s Scripting Documentation.
Figure 3. 19 - - Create a script that writes to a log file
Editing user-defined log for a catalog
1. From the Catalog Console, select a catalog and click Attrib. The details of the Catalog are displayed.
2. Click Logs and a table of user-defined logs appear. Click the Edit button next to the log name that is to be edited.
3. Make any changes and click Save.
Deleting user-defined log for a catalog
1. From the Catalog Console, select a catalog and click Attrib. The details of the Catalog are displayed.
2. Click Logs and a table of user-defined logs appear.
3. Click the Delete icon next to the log name that is to be deleted.
Creating user defined log for a hierarchy
1. From the Hierarchy Console, select a hierarchy and click Attrib. The details of the tree are displayed.
2. Click Logs and a table of user-defined logs appear. Click New to create a new user-defined log.
3. Enter a name and description for the log and check the Running Log checkbox, if desired, and click +ADD.
4. At the Category Details screen, select a script (i.e. Post-save script) to create and write it to a log. For more information on creating scripts, refer to WebSphere Product Center’s Scripting Documentation.
Editing user defined log for a hierarchy
1. From the Hierarchy Console, select a hierarchy and click Attrib. The details of the tree are displayed.
2. Click Logs and a table of user-defined logs appear. Click the Delete icon next to the log name that is to be edited.
3. Make any changes and click Save.
Deleting user-defined log for a catalog
1. From the Hierarchy Console, select a hierarchy and click Attrib. The details of the tree are displayed.
2. Click Logs and a table of user-defined logs appear.
3. Click the Delete icon next to the log name that is to be deleted.