Define structure
Defining a structure is the process of organizing categories, product groups, chapters, and items into a clear hierarchy. A well-defined structure ensures that product data is easy to navigate, consistent, and ready for further processing such as reporting, searching, and inheritance of properties.
You can define a structure in two main ways:
- Using the Group Structure Worksheet – a tool for building and editing hierarchical structures quickly.
- Using Linking – a method for connecting objects directly on their detail cards.
The following sections explain both approaches step by step.
Create a structure by using Group structure worksheet
After you choose Search icon and enter Group Structure Worksheet (or use Worksheets/Group Structure Worksheet), you will see you space for creating new structure. Ribbon Tab contains all possible functions, which can be used for creating, as:
- New for creating new line
- Delete for deleting existing line
- Edit List to open worksheet in the editable form
- Structure for all possibilities how to define a structure
- Add for adding existing objects into the structure.
Creating a whole structure is devided to few steps
- Create a new line
It is possible to create a new line just by description, which should be used for the category or item. This should be the exact descriptions, which you want to use for new lines. - Define a level of lines in structure
To organize your lines into a structured hierarchy, follow these steps:
Indentation defines hierarchy levels:
- The more you Increase Indent, the deeper the line is placed in the structure.
- For example:
- A top-level line might be a Catalogue group.
- Indenting once places the line under that chapter (e.g., Chapter).
- Indenting twice can make it a Product Group, nested further under a section.
Indent Controls:
- Use Increase Indent to move a line deeper into the structure.
- Use Decrease Indent to move it higher in the hierarchy.
Positioning Lines:
- Use Move Up and Move Down to rearrange lines.
- Use Insert Line Above to add a line above the one you currently have selected.
Level
- Structure can be defined by asigning concreate level to a line. This will automaticaly indent the line within the structure. Level 1 is placed highest, and every consequent level places line deeper inside the structure.
- Generation of types and number series
- At the moment when you have alredy created a structure as you wish, first of all you should use Calculate Group Types. Based on the indent, which you have defined in the previous step, the specific type of category or item will be assigned to all lines in the structure. You should also define the lowest level, when you are not creating the whole structure, for example when you want to create by this way only the highest three levels. You will see the result in the Type field. It is possible to change the Type field manually.
- When you have already assigned types of categories and items, the next step should be creating cards for all lines. These particular cards will be available in the Product Information. For this step you should use function Write. By this step, a number (code) will be assigned to all lines from number serie, but there is also possibility to define the number manually in the Code field.
- Add (existing object)
If you want to use in the structure also existing objects, there is also available function Add. You can choose if you want to add some category or item. The line will be added under the line you have currently marked. You can also add existing objects before step 3. - Clean
When you want to throw away the structure that you have already created or the structure was already written, you can easily remove all structure by Clean function and start to define a new one.
State of the lines
All lines have assigned state, in which they are. There are three possible states:
- Temp, the line is new and doesn’t have yet assigned type or code.
- Exists, the line is existing object. The line was either added by funtion Add or this line has already assigned type and the Write function was used.
- Fixed, when you manually set the type for the line.
Define the structure using linking
Another way to define the structure is Linking group on the Detail cards of categories. On the Detail card of an item group for instance, in the Linking group you can define all items which should be part of this item group. If any item doesn’t have a defined Standard Item Group, the current item group will automatically be set as the Standard Item Group (see more in Inheritance). You can define the same also for item groups on the product group card, for product groups on the chapter card, and for chapters on the catalog group card.
- Create at least one item (see more in Items)
- Using Alt+Q, search for item groups and open the relevant link
- Open an existing item group card or click on the New button on the ribbon to create a new one
- In the Linking group choose all the items which should be assigned to this item group, or create a new item to assign here
Group structure worksheet was created to provide users with an easy way to quickly create a structure. The user can also see a structure of other users. This document can help you use all the possible functions provided by Group Structure Worksheet.
Best Practie
Due to inheritance paths, we recommend using distinct number series for different levels in your company hierarchy.
If the number series are identical across multiple levels, you may encounter issues with incorrect or missing inheritance and possible data duplication.
Additional Tools and Features
Bulk Editing for Categories and Digital Assets
You can perform bulk editing for Item Groups, Product Groups, Chapters, Catalog Groups, Digital Assets, and Classes. This enables efficient mass updates across these entity types.
How to use Bulk Edit:
- Select multiple entities in the relevant list page (e.g., Item Groups, Digital Assets).
- Use the Bulk Edit action to update fields or properties for all selected records at once.
- Supported fields include descriptions, features, keywords, and more, depending on the entity type.
Bulk editing streamlines large-scale changes and ensures consistency across your product data.
PIM History for Categories
You can view the complete change history and traceability for all category types (Item Groups, Product Groups, Chapters, Catalog Groups).
How to access history:
- Open the relevant category card.
- Navigate to the History or Change Log section.
- Review changes, including who made them and when.
This helps with auditing and understanding how your category data has evolved.
History Card for Categories – Allocations Subpage
The history card for categories includes an Allocations Subpage. This displays version-specific item relationships, so you can quickly see which items were linked to a category at any point in time.
Use this to trace historical assignments and understand the impact of changes on linked items.