Features and Configurations
Features
The Features menu in the web client corresponds to the same option in the windows client. This is where you manage the data models you use in Perfion.
Features overview
Features are the basic building blocks of your Perfion data model. The tree structure on the left gives you access to all existing features grouped by data type:
To locate a specific feature, you have the following options:
Expand a group by clicking the arrow to the left of a group
Expand the entire tree by clicking the Expand All icon in the toolbar
Filter by feature name or Perfion ID by typing in the Filter features box
Show only features with configuration by changing selection in the drop-down box in the toolbar
In this example, we expanded the Date data type to see all existing Date features:
Feature types
This table briefly explains the values each feature type (data type) can hold. Please see Feature Definitions, for more details about feature definitions.
Feature (Data) Type | Values |
Boolean | True/False (True/False/Neutral for tri-state booleans) |
Date | Dates |
File | Physical files of any type (extension) |
Image | Physical images of these types (extensions): BMP, GIF, JPG/JPEG, PNG, TIFF/TIF, EPS, PSD, PDF (first page), SVG, WEBP, AVIF |
Link | URLs and network file references |
Number | Numbers (standard format or fractions) |
Related Value | Auto populated with data from another configuration (e.g. “BrandImage” will show the Image configured on the selected Brand) |
Search | API queries that retrieve/filter items (used for special purposes in Perfion, never as a normal attribute) |
String | One-line texts, maximum 256 characters (plain text or formulas) |
Table | Table “designs” build with the Perfion Table Designer (used to generate dynamic tables for reports and other channels) |
Text | Long texts (plain text format, HTML-tagged text, or Rich Text (RTC) format) |
Manage features
From the feature tree, you can manage features like this:
Add feature
Edit feature
Delete feature
Add feature
To create a new feature, right-click on a data type or an existing feature and select Add Feature:
NOTE: You have three options when choosing which “parent” node to start from:
Start from a data type root
The new feature inherits the data type
Start from an existing non-selectable feature
The new feature inherits the data type
The new feature inherits some basic settings as suggestions (all settings can be changed before saving)
This structure is very useful if you have a large feature library as it creates order and overview
Start from an existing selectable feature
The new feature inherits the data type
The new feature inherits some basic settings (some settings can be changed before saving)
The new feature inherits all items from the parent feature
Example: If you create InteriorColor as a child of Color, the new feature will not have its own item list in Feature Data. Instead, Interior Color will re-use the item list from Color. This means you only have to manage one list of colors.
Clicking Add Feature opens the Feature Definition window. Please refer to Feature Definition for information about feature setting.
Edit or delete feature
To edit an existing feature, double-click the feature name or right-click on the feature and select Edit Feature.
To delete a feature, select Delete Feature from the right-click menu.
Edit Feature will open the Feature Definition window. Please refer to Feature Definitions below for information about feature setting.
Delete Feature will delete the feature from the system and all data related to the feature. This operation cannot be undone, so use with caution!
Feature Definitions
The Feature Definition window is where you manage all settings for a feature. The window has three tabs:
Basic Settings (default)
Captions
Advanced Settings
Basic Settings
General
In the General section, you will find the two most fundamental setting of any feature.
Name (unique)
This is a unique name identifying the feature. Name must consist of alphanumeric characters only and must not start with a number. Spaces and special characters are not allowed.
TECH NOTE: Use “camel case” names like ItemNumber, LongDescription, etc
Feature type
The feature type will be preselected from the node you clicked in the feature tree. You can change to another type if needed.
Information Groups
Settings in this section determine where a feature is located on the item card and who can access the feature.
Top View Group
Top View Groups are the primary grouping feature in the item editor. A feature will show up in the selected Top View Group in the item editor:
TECH NOTE: The order of features inside the Top View Group in the item editor is determined by the order of features in the configuration. See Groups for details.
View Group
View Groups are the secondary grouping feature in the item editor. A feature will show up in the selected View Group under the Top View Group. Dimensions and Approval are view groups in this example:
Security Group
In the Perfion security model, users and groups are assigned rights to each Security Group. By placing a feature in a Security Group, users automatically get permissions to the feature determined by the Security Group.
Please refer to Security Groups for information about managing permissions.
Remote
Remote features can retrieve data “live” from an external system or from other features in Perfion (also known as “self remotes”). Typical use cases are price information from ERP (remote) or unit conversion in Perfion (self remote).
Please refer to separate documentation for how to create Remote Queries and Data Fields.
Remote Values
When Remote is checked, it is not possible to manage values for this feature in Perfion. The feature becomes read only for all users and will automatically display values determined by the Query and the Data Field.
Query
Select the remote query that retrieves data from the external system or from other features in Perfion.
Data Field
Select the required data field exposed by the selected remote query.
Remote (Related Value features)
The Remote section looks different when you manage a Related Value feature. It is designed to show values from another configuration. As an example, you can create a Related Value feature, that’s shows the Brand Logo from the Brand you select on a Product.
Base Feature
Select the base feature with the configuration from where you want to expose a value.
Value Feature
Select the feature you want from the configuration of the base feature.
Please refer to separate documentation for how to build and use Related Value features.
Values
In this section you define settings for the values managed in the feature.
Localizable
If you check Localizable, values can be managed in multiple languages. A typical example is Item Name, which should be managed in all languages.
Inheritable
If you check Inheritable, values can be inherited from a parent item to a child item. A typical example is Brand, which will be set at parent level and inherited to all child items.
Allow Multiple
If you check Allow Multiple, users can manage multiple values for the same item in the same feature. A typical example is Related Products, where you want to create references to multiple other products.
Sortable
When Allow Multiple is checked, Sortable becomes available as an option. If you check Sortable, users can sort the multiple values, they select in the feature. Building on the Related Products example, you want users to sort related products, so they are shown in order of importance.
Formula
When Formula is checked, users can construct formulas that build values (strings of text) based on values in other features. It works like Concatenation in Excel.
Please refer to separate documentation for how to use formulas.
Unique Values
When Unique Values is checked, Perfion makes sure that all values in this feature are unique. A typical example is EAN code.
Read Only
When Read Only is checked, Perfion prevents all users from managing values in this feature. Read Only is typically used to expose values owned by ERP system and synchronized into Perfion.
Selectable
When Selectable is checked, users must pick values from a list rather than enter explicit values in the feature. Typical examples are colors, materials, etc.
Allow Hierarchy
When Selectable is checked, Allow Hierarchy becomes available as an option. If you check Allow Hierarchy, you can use virtual items in Feature Data to build hierarchies. Typical example are category values.
Custom Ordering
When Selectable is checked, Custom Ordering becomes available as an option. If you check Custom Ordering, you can sort selectable items in Feature Data manually and make them appear in the order you choose. Typical examples are external category structures where categories are shown in logical order rather than alphabetically.
Sort Related Items
When Selectable is checked, Sort Related Items becomes available as an option. This is typically used for categorization/channel features, and the meaning is best explained through an example.
Take the Catalog feature above. This feature is created with the intention of adding products to each node. If you check Sort Related Items on the Catalog feature, it becomes possible to sort products with the same Catalog value relative to each other. In real life this means, that users can decide the order or products shown in the catalog in each section:
Other Values
Tri-state Boolean
When you create a Boolean feature, you can select Tri-state Boolean as an option. This means that users can select between values False – Neutral – True rather than just False – True. Typical example is Hazardous Goods, where it is important that users make an active choice. Neutral will indicate, that a choice has not been made yet.
Captions
In Captions you manage all user oriented feature captions in all active languages.
Caption
This is the feature name users will see when they manage data in the indicated language. All characters are allowed.
Caption Alt
This is an alternative caption that can be used in reports and other channels. The alternative caption is not shown in the Perfion client. All characters are allowed.
Abbreviation
This is another alternative (short) caption that can be used in reports and other channels. The abbreviation is not shown in Perfion client. Typical use will be Ø as an abbreviation for Diameter.
Unit
This is the unit users will see when they manage data in the indicated language. Units are typically used for number features (i.e. “cm” for Length). All characters are allowed.
Help Text
This is the help text users will see when they manage data in the item editor.
Advanced Settings
Good job! You have now come to Advanced Settings.
Control
Control Type
The Control Type determines which editor is used users manage data in a feature. This is mostly legacy from the Windows client, but a few options are relevant also in the web client. Here is a list of control types you can meet.
Control Type | Data Type(s) | Comment |
Default Editor | All data types | The default editor for the data type is used. |
Toggle Switch | Boolean | Users will see a “slider” rather than a checkbox. |
Fraction Editor | Number | Users will be able to input numbers in fraction format (e.g. 10 1/2) |
Graphic:Progress | Number | Values between 0 and 100 will be converted to a graphical progress symbol. Numbers below 0 will be treated as 0. Numbers above 100 will be treated as 100. Typically used in combination with the Remote setting to create progress bars. |
Single Selection Tree Editor | Search, String, Text (Selectable features only) | Legacy from Windows client. Web client will use Default Editor. |
Single Selection Tree Editor with Late-Load | Search, String, Text (Selectable features only) | Legacy from Windows client. Web client will use Default Editor. |
Single Selection Tree Editor with Paged Late-Load | Search, String, Text (Selectable features only) | Legacy from Windows client. Web client will use Default Editor. |
Graphic:Symbol | String | HTML color codes (#ff00ff) will be converted to color symbols. Typically used in combination with the Remote setting to create “traffic lights”. |
Inline Text Editor | Text | Legacy from Windows client. Web client will use Default Editor. |
Rich Editor | Text | Users will be able to manage HTML-tagged values. Typically used for web texts where bullet lists, bold, italic, etc, is used to format texts. |
Rich Text Format Editor | Text | Users will be able to manage values in RTF format. This format can include images, tables, etc. NOTE: RTF format is not accepted by most external systems/channels. Use with caution. |
Security
Feature Item Security
Feature Item Security is the most advanced part of the Perfion security model. It allows you to change user permissions on items based on the value in a selectable feature. This is best explained via an example:
Say you are creating a Status feature with the purpose of tagging products as either Under Enrichment or Published. You want products to be editable when status is Under Enrichment, but products should be non-editable when status is Published. This can be achieved with Feature Item Security if you change the value to either:
Give Access
Restrain Access
Please refer to separate documentation for further information about how to use Feature Item Security.
Views and Filters
In this section you can enable custom views and filters on a feature. This will allow users to create and save views and filters in grids where the feature is base value.
Views Feature
In the Views Feature drop-down you can select a Search-feature from your feature library. When done, Customized Views will be added to the View-selector in grids where the feature is base value. In the example below, a Views Feature has been added to the Product feature:
Filter Feature
In the Filter Feature drop-down you can select a Search-feature from your feature library. When done, users will be able to save and reuse filters in the Filter-selector in grids where the feature is base value. In the example below, a Filter Feature has been added to the Product feature:
Export Key
In this section you can change the key feature used when users export items and data from grid.
Export Key Feature
In the Export Key Feature drop-down you can select an explicit string-feature from your features library. When done, the selected feature will be shown in column A of the Excel-file when users export data from grid.
Configurations
When you have created the features you need, its time to put them to work in Configurations. A configuration in Perfion is basically a data model for a selectable feature. This may sound complicated, but it’s quite simple.
Take the basic Product feature as the most prominent example. The Product feature itself can hold a value like all other features. This could typically be the key feature of the product like the article number. But you would always want to manage more data on a product than just the article number. This is where you need a configuration on the Product feature as seen here in the right panel:
Understanding a configuration
Basic structure
Reading and understanding a configuration is simple. The top node (Product) is called the Base Value. This feature is the root of the configuration, and it is always shown in the first column in the grid:
Features at the next level of the configuration (Item Name, EAN, etc) are valid for all products. These are shown in the grid in the order then appear in the configuration.
Item Dependency
Selectable features in a configuration can serve as root for Item Dependency. This concept allows you to select features valid only for specific products. Look at this example where Category has been expanded:
At the first level under Category, you see Category items (in bold). Under each Category Item, you see a set of Features. These features are only valid when the product is in the specific category. This is what Perfion calls Item Dependency.
Adding, organizing, and removing features from a configuration
The starting point for a configuration is a selectable feature. Use the right-click menu to Create or Edit Configuration.
This will load the configuration (expanded to first level) in the right panel:
Adding a feature
Adding a feature to a configuration is simple. Drag it from the library on the left into the position you want it in the configuration:
Organizing features
As described above, the order of features in the configuration controls the order in which features are shown in grid. To some extend the configuration order also controls the order in which features are shown in the item editor, but this is more complex. See Groups for details.
Organizing features in a configuration is done with drag-drop. Simply drag the feature to its new position. You can also select multiple features at the same time and drag them to a new position, provided that the selected features are at the same level of the configuration.
Removing a feature
You can remove a feature from a configuration via the right-click menu on the feature inside the configuration:
It is also possible to remove multiple features from a configuration in one go. To do so, select the features to be removed, then right-click. This time, the right-click menu has a single option only: