The differences between categories, reference data and reference entities
This page is for administrators: you need access to the administration area to perform the operations described.
Categories, reference data and reference entities provide values that products use through their attributes. They differ in their structure, language support and how they link to products.
Categories
Categories form a tree: each category can have subcategories, and each tree belongs to a category family, such as the family for your e-commerce site or a marketplace. You enter a category's name, description, metadata and links separately for each language. openlane calculates the breadcrumb for each category: its path from the root.
You link a product to categories using a CategoryLinkValue attribute, which can contain multiple categories, even from different families, or a SingleCategoryLinkValue attribute, which contains a single category from one family. A channel can specify its category family: in that case, only categories from that family apply to the channel.
Category families are the values in the CategoryFamily reference data list.
Reference data
A reference data list is a list of values, each with a key and a description. The same description is used for all languages. The values have an order, but no hierarchy.
Lists serve two purposes:
- as values you can select in an attribute, for example a SelectableOptionsGlobalValue attribute linked to a list, or BooleanRefDataValue and NumericRefDataValue attributes;
- as lists used by openlane itself: languages, countries, brands, attribute sets, user groups, channel types and category families are reference data lists.
Reference entities
A reference entity is a separate record with its own SKU and attributes, such as a material with a name, description and images, or a designer with a biography. Reference entities are grouped by type: each reference entity type defines its own attributes, just like a product entity type.
You link a product to reference entities using a ReferenceEntityLinkValue attribute. On a reference entity's record, the Used By tab shows the products that use it.
Comparison
| Categories | Reference data | Reference entities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Structure | Tree, organised by family | List of keys and descriptions | Records with SKUs, grouped by type |
| Text per language | Yes | No | Depends on the type's attributes |
| Link to products | CategoryLinkValue, SingleCategoryLinkValue | Attributes linked to the list | ReferenceEntityLinkValue |
| Management access | Administration area: Categories | Administration area: ReferenceData | Types: the Can manage reference entity types user permission. Records: user permissions for each type |
How to choose:
- use categories for a set of values organised into levels, with translated text and metadata for channels;
- use a reference data list for a list of simple values that are the same in every language;
- use a reference entity type for values with their own information, such as text, numbers or media.
For instructions, see How to create and edit categories, How to manage a reference data list and How to create a reference entity type.