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Administration: Smart Quote Dynamic Catalog Lookups

Attributes can have their available options populated dynamically from the Items Catalog. The Dynamic Valid Values editor saves a JSON lookup definition and searches the tenant's catalog. It uses normalized item-attribute rows when available and falls back to an item's legacy AttributesJSON only while that item has not yet been migrated.

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Catalog Lookups for Dynamic Lists

Use Dynamic Valid Values on an Attribute to populate a dropdown from Item Catalog numbers or Item Catalog attribute values. Choose an optional category, then add rules that require an item attribute to be present, equal a fixed value, or equal the value of another Smart Quote attribute. All rules are combined with AND.

The lookup searches the current tenant's Item Catalog. Add a category and attribute filters that identify the intended items; it is not limited automatically to the product's item references.

Example: return MATCOND values from the item attribute COND, filtered by the selected GRD

To populate MATCOND, set Generate valid values from to Item Catalog Attribute Value, select COND, and add a rule for Item Catalog attribute GRD that matches Smart Quote attribute GRD. Use Test valid values to enter representative attribute selections and inspect the returned values and filter log.

Saving validates that every matches Smart Quote attribute selection exists on the same product and does not refer to the attribute being populated.

Moving Existing Lookups Forward

Existing XML catalog lookups continue to run during the transition. The Attribute Query page identifies them as legacy and provides Review migration for supported catalog definitions; review the converted JSON and save it to activate the new definition. XML SQL lookups cannot be converted automatically and must be recreated with the Dynamic Valid Values editor. New SQL valid-value queries are disabled.

Rule-Based Category Filter

Rules can also populate valid values from any catalog category in the current instance:

config.Attribute("RATE_A")
    .Valid()
    .FromItems()
    .Category("ZZ TEST")
    .Attribute("RATE_A")
    .HasName("GEN").HasValue("2019")
    .HasName("PROGRAM").HasValue("SVR_MODERN")
    .Values();

This returns distinct RATE_A item-attribute values for items in category ZZ TEST whose GEN and PROGRAM attributes match. The values are applied before Smart Quote validates and defaults the dropdown. When a selected value is no longer valid, Smart Quote applies the available default and keeps dependent catalog lookups in sync.

Best Practices for Attributes

  1. Consistent Naming: Use clear, uppercase names (e.g., WIDTH, MATERIAL_TYPE) to make your Rules easier to read.
  2. Use Default Values: Provide sensible defaults for optional selections to speed up the quoting process.
  3. Validate via Rules: Use Error Logging to alert users if an attribute combination is technically impossible.
    • Pro Tip: Whenever possible, use Attribute Valid Value sets to filter options before a selection is made, rather than relying on error messages after the fact.