Definition of an attribute
An attribute is a product’s characteristic. Each product is composed of different attributes.
Depending on your Akeneo Edition version, you can have up to 15 attribute types:
- identifier: a unique code that identifies your product
- text and text area: used for text data. A text attribute is limited to 255 characters, if you need more text data, use the text area attribute type.
- simple or multi select
- reference data (simple and multi select)
- boolean (yes/no)
- date
- number
- price
- metric (with automatic conversions): this attribute type allows you to automatically convert metric values into others to fit your export needs. See the Manage your Channels article.
- media file: a simple file (pdf file for instance) or an image
- asset collection: digital resources like a video, picture, pdf file... (Enterprise Edition only)
Attributes are gathered into attribute groups in Akeneo.
The only mandatory attribute is the Identifier attribute type. You first need to create an identifier attribute type before creating products.
You can only have one identifier attribute type in your PIM.
To store GTIN, EAN13, UPC… in your PIM, use the text attribute type and use a regular Expression to make sure that your codes will contain the exact number of digits required.
For instance, to store an EAN13 in Akeneo, which contains 13 digits, add a validation rule based on the following regular expression: /^[0-9]{13}$/
About scopable, localisable and locale specific attributes
An attribute can have several specific properties: it can be localizable, locale specific and/or scopable.
You can mix and match attribute properties to achieve a powerful result.
Scopable attribute
Finally, an attribute can be scopable. An attribute is scopable if its values differ for each channel.
For instance, you might want:
- a short description for your e-commerce website
- a even shorter for your mobile app
- a long one for your print catalog
Localisable attribute
A localisable attribute can have different values per locale.
This allows you to manage a product translations according to the activated PIM locales.
For instance, a localisable attribute will enable you to have one product name for each locale activated in your PIM. It is mostly used for text or (simple or multi) select attributes.
Locale specific attribute
Some attributes can be shown only for specific locales. We will call them locale specific.
For instance, a cold resistance attribute for Russia, a Canadian tax only for Canada.