Create dynamic attributes

Use one of the following methods to create dynamic attributes:

• User interface
• Product attributes Excel spreadsheet
• Knowledge base Excel spreadsheet
• SAP ERP synchronization

For details on adding dynamic attributes to products, read Add dynamic attributes to products.

Create a dynamic attribute from the UI

1. From the application left navigation area, select Model.

2. From the top navigation bar, select Attributes Management.

3. Select .

4. On the Create Dynamic Attribute dialog, enter information or make selections:

   • Name—Enter a name for the dynamic attribute.
   • Type—Select the attribute type. Supported values are Dynamic Data Attribute and Symbolic Data Attribute. For details on the dynamic attributes, read About dynamic attributes.
   • Position—Enter the attribute position.
   • Data Type—Select the attribute data type. For details, read Dynamic attribute data types in About dynamic attributes.

5. Select Create. The attribute appears in the list. Select the attribute to further configure it.

Create a dynamic attribute from a product attributes Excel spreadsheet

1. Download a product attributes Excel spreadsheet.
2. In the downloaded template, add dynamic attributes. For details, read the Define dynamic attributes in a product attributes Excel spreadsheet section.
3. In Zilliant CPQ, from the application left navigation area, select Model.
4. From the top navigation bar, select Attributes Management.
5. Select and then select a file to upload.

Define dynamic attributes in a product attributes Excel spreadsheet

In the downloaded global attribute Excel template, add the following data:

• AttributeName—(Required.) Unique dynamic attribute name. Can only contain uppercase letters (A–Z), numbers (0–9), and underscores.
• Attribute Type—(Required.) Classifies the attribute as either a Dynamic Data Attribute (DDA) or a Dynamic Symbolic Attribute (DSA). Select Data for DDA and Symbolic for DSA.
• Data Type—If the attribute type is set to Data, you must define the data type of the attribute. For details, read Dynamic attribute data types in About product attributes.
• Set dynamic attribute properties. For details, read Dynamic attribute properties in About product attributes.
• Define range values for enumerable attributes. Range values may only contain uppercase letters (A–Z), numbers (0–9), underscores, and dashes.

You can customize the template to include more columns. For details, read the Customize a product attributes Excel spreadsheet section.

The following images show how the global attribute Excel template looks like:

Customize a product attributes Excel spreadsheet

A product modeler can customize the template to include additional columns for localization by adding columns to the Attributes and Attributes_Range spreadsheets. For example, to add labels and comments in German, ask Zilliant CPQ support team for a predefined template. Then, add columns Label_DE and Comment_DE and use the Jxls syntax in the Label and Comment columns to download existing labels or comments for other languages (for example, ${da.label_de}, ${da.comment_de}).

After that upload the template to CPQ by following these steps:

1. From the application left navigation area, select Administration.
2. From the top navigation bar, select Content Management.
3. Select excels > DynamicAttribute > DynamicAttribute.xlsx.

Create a dynamic attribute from a knowledge base Excel spreadsheet

1. Download a product knowledge base.
   If you want to add only product attributes, don't select any trigger groups or quote attributes on the Download Options dialog.

2. In the downloaded spreadsheet, on the ATTRIBUTES sheet, define new or add existing dynamic attributes.

   • To add an existing DA, in column C, under Attribute Name, select the DA from the dropdown list. All existing attribute names can be found in the _ExistingAttributes sheet if the option to include this sheet was selected in the Download Options dialog in Step 5.
   • To define a new DA, remove the data validation in column C, under Attribute Name. Then follow the instructions defined in the Define dynamic attributes in a product attributes Excel spreadsheet section to add a new dynamic attribute.

3. In Zilliant CPQ, select and then select the filled out spreadsheet to upload. When uploaded, the system checks the file for errors. If it finds errors, you will see an error message. Check and correct errors, and then upload the file again.

4. Confirm the upload.

For details on product knowledge bases, read Create a knowledge base.

Synchronize dynamic attributes from SAP ERP

Zilliant CPQ allows you to synchronize products together with their dynamic attributes (characteristics) from SAP ERP. For details, read Enable product data synchronization and Sync class characteristic data.