Attribute node modeling and naming guidelines for specs

The attribute node guidelines for specs include modelling guidelines and guidelines for naming conventions for nodes and conventions for abbreviating attribute and object names.

Attribute node modeling guidelines for specs

When modelling attribute nodes, use the following guidelines:
  • Implement sub specs if you name a large data model and require the creation of a data dictionary with reusable attribute definitions.
  • Model string enumerations as a lookup table if you need translation or security.
  • Implement lookup tables instead of string enumerations. Lookup tables do not store the value chosen but they store a reference to it. Lookup tables allow you to change the values without having to do mass updates for objects that have that value.
  • Define an attribute with a unique value only if it is absolutely necessary because it impacts performance.
  • Do not mark all attributes as indexed in the specification, especially when large data volumes are stored in the PIM solution.

Attribute node naming guidelines for specs

Use the following guidelines when naming the spec attribute nodes:
  • Use only alphabetic characters in the attribute names even though certain special characters are permitted.
  • Do not include the spec name in the attribute names.

Abbreviations guidelines for objects and attributes

Use the following guidelines to create abbreviations for objects and attributes:
  • Do not abbreviate attribute or object names. Create a shorter standardized abbreviation if an attribute or object name becomes difficult to read because it is too long.
  • Shorten the name by abbreviating each word of the data item name from right to left, abbreviate only what is required to facilitate readability.
  • Maintain and refer to a list of standard corporate abbreviations when the need for an abbreviation is identified.
  • If the abbreviation for the word does not exist in the list of standard corporate abbreviations, then use the following guidelines to create an abbreviation:
    • Do not abbreviate words less than six characters long.
    • Do not abbreviate acronyms and abbreviations further.
    • Include the first character of each word in the abbreviated name.
    • Delete vowels instead of consonants. However, do not delete the first letter of each word even if it is a vowel.
    • Delete one letter if an abbreviation results in double letters (for example, tt). This practice eliminates typos.
    • Drop the special characters and derive the abbreviation for the resulting word if a word has special characters. For example, the word in-transit is abbreviated to intransit. Abbreviations of a single word will not contain hyphens or other special characters.
  • When you create a new abbreviation add the new abbreviation to the corporate list of standard abbreviations for future reference.