Source characteristics in the Unified Catalog

The "Source characteristics" mode is for feeds where product properties are not fixed columns. Instead, every property is a repeated block: one child field contains the property name, another contains the value, and an optional field may contain a value type hint.

When to use it

Use this mode when a supplier sends XML or JSON with "parameter - value" rows: color, material, weight, size, country of origin and similar attributes are stored in the same repeated structure. Without this mode, every property would have to be created manually before import.

What to enable

1. Enable "Create new characteristics from source" in the profile settings.
2. Open the XML or JSON editor and select the node role: product, trade offer or section.
3. Enable the "Source characteristics" block.
4. Select the repeated node that represents one characteristic.
5. Select the path to the property name and the path to the property value.
6. If the source provides a type, select the type path. If not, Eofferix infers the type from the values.

XML example

<Product>
  <Feature>
    <Name>Color</Name>
    <Value>White</Value>
  </Feature>
  <Feature>
    <Name>Weight</Name>
    <Type>number</Type>
    <Value>12.5</Value>
  </Feature>
</Product>

For this source, the repeated node is Product/Feature, the property name is Product/Feature/Name, the value is Product/Feature/Value, and the type hint is Product/Feature/Type.

What the import creates

During import, Eofferix reads name/value pairs, normalizes the property name into a technical code and checks whether the Unified Catalog already has that custom property. If it does not exist and the limit allows it, the property is created automatically. If it already exists, the import reuses it and does not create a duplicate.

Values are written to the custom values of the product, trade offer or section. When duplicate removal is enabled, repeated equal values inside one item are merged.

Tariff limits

New property creation follows the tariff limit for custom fields. When the limit is reached, new properties are not created, but the import continues processing the rest of the data. Existing properties can still be filled.

Value dictionaries are limited separately: if a characteristic works as a dictionary, the number of dictionaries and values must also fit the tariff. These limits are removed only for users on an individual Unified Catalog database.

How to check

1. Run the import on a small source fragment.
2. Open a product or trade offer in the Unified Catalog.
3. Check that new properties appear in custom characteristics.
4. Check values and types on several products.
5. If properties are not created, check the profile option, the selected node role and tariff limits.