Initializing the attribute dictionary

If your store does not have an attribute dictionary, set the initAttributeDictionary property to initialize the attribute dictionary and then use the data load utility to create the attribute dictionary in Management Center.

About this task

Use one of the following configuration files to initialize the attribute dictionary:

Catalog loader configuration file - to initialize an attribute dictionary when loading a catalog
Catalog entry loader configuration file - to initialize an attribute dictionary when loading a catalog entry

By default, the initAttributeDictionary property in the configuration file is set to false; this specifies that the attribute dictionary will not be initialized. Set the initAttributeDictionary property to true to specify that you want to initialize the attribute dictionary.

Tip: When loading attributes contained within the attribute dictionary, the initAttributeDictionary property does not need to be set since the attribute dictionary is automatically created if it does not already exist. If the store is an extended site store, initializing the attribute dictionary creates the attribute dictionary in the asset store.

If the attribute dictionary was previously initialized, the initAttributeDictionary property setting has no effect since the attribute dictionary already exists.

Procedure

On the command line, navigate to the following directory:
- workspace_dir\WC\xml\config\com.ibm.commerce.catalog\dataload
- utilities_root/ts.ear/xml/config/com.ibm.commerce.catalog/dataload
For information about entering and leaving containers, see Running utilities from the Utility server Docker container.

Open one of the following configuration files in edit mode:

Option	Description
wc-loader-catalog.xml	Edit the catalog loader configuration file to initialize an attribute dictionary when loading a catalog.
wc-loader-catalog-entry.xml	Edit the catalog entry loader configuration file to initialize an attribute dictionary when loading a catalog entry.

Scroll to the <_config:BusinessObjectMediator> element.

Add the following child element:

<_config:property name="initAttributeDictionary" value="true" />

The element should resemble the following code snippet:

<_config::BusinessObjectMediator className="com.ibm.commerce.catalog.dataload.mediator.CatalogMediator" componentId="com.ibm.commerce.catalog">
  <_Config:property name="initAttributeDictionary" value="true" />
  <_config:property name="validateCatalog" value="true" />
</_config:BusinessObjectMediator>

Save and close the file.

What to do next

After setting the initAttributeDictionary property to initialize the attribute dictionary, use the data load utility to load attribute dictionary data to create the attribute dictionary in Management Center.