Product Attributes

List of Parameters

Standard EAV Parameters

backend The backend model to use for saving values. These should extend Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Attribute_Backend_Abstract
type default: varchar
frontend The frontend model to use for rendering values
input default: text
label The label to display in the admin
frontend_class
source The source model
required
user_defined
default The default value
unique
note Will be displayed under the input in the admin area

Catalog Product Specific
These are stored in the catalog_eav_attribute table, and the saving of them is catered for by the Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Setup class.

global The scope of the attributes. Default: Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_GLOBAL
visible default: 1
searchable default: 0
filterable default 0
comparable default 0
visible_on_front default 0
wysiwyg_enabled default 0
is_html_allowed_on_front default 0
visible_in_advanced_search default 0
filterable_in_search default 0
used_in_product_listing default 0
used_for_sort_by default 0
apply_to default 0
is_configurable default 1
used_for_promo_rules default 0

Attribute Sets and Groups

Attribute groups live in the eav_attribute_group table. They are assigned to attribute sets via their ID and have a default_id column to denote a default attribute group. Attribute sets can have multiple groups, and to change the order of the groups, use the sort_order column.

Getting All Attributes For An Entity (Raw SQL)

SELECT attribute_code, frontend_label
	FROM eav_attribute ea
	JOIN eav_entity_type eet 
		USING(entity_type_id)
	WHERE eet.entity_type_code = 'customer_address'

Running Setup Scripts

Adding product attributes need to be run through the Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Setup script. This extends Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Setup and includes the code to deal with the extra options available in the catalog_eav_attribute table. If your setup scripts aren’t running as this and you can’t change it, if for example other setup scripts rely on a different class, you can directly instantiate it. This instantiates it with the core_setup resource which uses the default_setup connection.

$setup = new Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Setup('core_setup');

Adding A Product Attribute with Options

The following will add a dropdown field with the name ‘Product Overlay Logo’. It will have two options – Playline and Horse. Options added in this manner will have a blank option so that saving a product with one of these options is not required.

<?php
$installer = $this;

$installer->startSetup();

$setup = new Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Setup('core_setup');
$setup->addAttribute('catalog_product', 'product_overlay_logo', array(
    'attribute_set' => 'Default',
    'group'         => 'Hand Made Places',
    'input'         => 'select',
    'type'          => 'int',
    'label'         => 'Product Overlay Logo',
    'visible'       => true,
    'required'      => false,
    'visible_on_front' => true,
    'global'        => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_GLOBAL,
    'sort_order' => 10,
    'option' => array(
        'values' => array(
            0 => 'Playline',
            1 => 'Horse'
        )
    )
));
$installer->endSetup();

Adding Options with Translations

Use the Store IDs as the array keys for each language translation.

<?php
$installer = $this;

$installer->startSetup();

$setup = new Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Setup('core_setup');
$setup->addAttribute('catalog_product', 'product_overlay_logo', array(
    'attribute_set' => 'Default',
    'group'         => 'Hand Made Places',
    'input'         => 'select',
    'type'          => 'int',
    'label'         => 'Product Overlay Logo',
    'visible'       => true,
    'required'      => false,
    'visible_on_front' => true,
    'global'        => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_GLOBAL,
    'sort_order' => 10,
    'option' => array(
        'values' => array(
            0 => array(
                0 => 'Playline',
                1 => 'Playline French',
                2 => 'Playline German'
            ),
            1 => array(
                0 => 'Horse',
                1 => 'Horse French',
                2 => 'Horse German'
            )
        )
    )
));
$installer->endSetup();

Updating Attributes

It’s important to note that when using the EAV’s update attribute method that the attribute code is not converted to another code — the column should be referenced as it is in the database. E.g. visible_on_front should be is_visible_on_front:

<?php
$entityTypeId = $this->getEntityTypeId('catalog_product');
$this->updateAttribute($entityTypeId, 'is_visible_on_front', 'is_visible_on_front', 0);

Updating a Set of Product Attributes

$attrData = array(
    'attribute_code_here'=> 'Value Here',
);

$storeId = 0;

$productIds = Mage::getModel('catalog/product')->getCollection()->getAllIds();
Mage::getModel("catalog/product_action")->updateAttributes(
    $productIds, 
    $attrData, 
    $storeId
);

Mage_Eav_Model_Setup – Useful Methods

getEntityTypeId($entity_code); Gets the Database ID of the entity type with the given code (Eg. Customer)
getDefaultAttributeSetId($entityTypeId); Gets the default attribute set ID for the entity
getDefaultAttributeGroupId($entityTypeId, $attributeSetId = null); * Gets the default group for the entity’s attribute set. If no attribute set Id is passed in then the default set is used.
addAttribute($entity_code, $attribute_code, array)

Adding options to an existing attribute

Sometimes, options need to be added to existing attributes:

$eav = new Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Setup('core_setup');
$attr = Mage::getSingleton('eav/config')->getAttribute($entityTypeId, $attributeCode);
 

$eav->addAttributeOption(array(
	'value' => array( 
		'small' => array(
			0 => 'Small'
		),
		'large' => array(
			0 => 'Large'
		)
	),
	'attribute_id' => $attr->getId(),
	'order' => array(
		'small' => 100,
		'large' => 200
	)
));