Configurable Products Setup Guide

Setting up two-dimensional configurable products (like shoes with Color AND Size) in KatanaPIM Connect. This guide explains how to structure products in KatanaPIM with Parent and GrandParent relationships, and how to configure Magento to properly import them as configurable products with multiple variation attributes.

Understanding the Product Hierarchy

KatanaPIM uses a three-level hierarchy for products with multiple variation dimensions:

Important: Parent products appear in the KatanaPIM grid but no Magento product is created for them. Parents serve as data containers that hold the first variation attribute value (e.g., Color). This value is inherited by their Child products.

Visual example - Running shoes with Color and Size:

KatanaPIM Structure:
────────────────────
GrandParent: Running shoes (SKU: 000-RS)
├── Parent: Running shoes - Blue (SKU: 000-RS-B)      [Color: Blue]  
│   ├── Child: Running shoes - Blue - 42 (SKU: 000-RS-B-42)  [Size: 42]  
│   ├── Child: Running shoes - Blue - 43 (SKU: 000-RS-B-43)  [Size: 43]  
│   └── Child: Running shoes - Blue - 44 (SKU: 000-RS-B-44)  [Size: 44]  
├── Parent: Running shoes - Red (SKU: 000-RS-R)       [Color: Red]  
│   ├── Child: Running shoes - Red - 42 (SKU: 000-RS-R-42)   [Size: 42]  
│   ├── Child: Running shoes - Red - 43 (SKU: 000-RS-R-43)   [Size: 43]  
│   └── Child: Running shoes - Red - 44 (SKU: 000-RS-R-44)   [Size: 44]  
└── Parent: Running shoes - Yellow (SKU: 000-RS-Y)    [Color: Yellow]
    ├── Child: Running shoes - Yellow - 42 (SKU: 000-RS-Y-42) [Size: 42]
    ├── Child: Running shoes - Yellow - 43 (SKU: 000-RS-Y-43) [Size: 43]
    └── Child: Running shoes - Yellow - 44 (SKU: 000-RS-Y-44) [Size: 44]

In Magento, this becomes:

Magento Structure:
──────────────────
Configurable: Running shoes (SKU: 000-RS)
├── Simple: Running shoes - Blue - 42 (Color: Blue, Size: 42)  
├── Simple: Running shoes - Blue - 43 (Color: Blue, Size: 43)  
├── Simple: Running shoes - Blue - 44 (Color: Blue, Size: 44)  
├── Simple: Running shoes - Red - 42 (Color: Red, Size: 42)  
├── Simple: Running shoes - Red - 43 (Color: Red, Size: 43)  
├── Simple: Running shoes - Red - 44 (Color: Red, Size: 44)  
├── Simple: Running shoes - Yellow - 42 (Color: Yellow, Size: 42)  
├── Simple: Running shoes - Yellow - 43 (Color: Yellow, Size: 43)  
└── Simple: Running shoes - Yellow - 44 (Color: Yellow, Size: 44)

The GrandParent becomes the configurable product, and all Children become its simple product variants. Parent products are skipped - they only exist to organize the hierarchy and pass Color values to Children.

Prerequisites in KatanaPIM

Before importing, ensure your KatanaPIM products are structured correctly:

1. Product Structure

2. Variation Attributes

3. Verify in KatanaPIM

Step 1: Import Attributes from KatanaPIM

First, import all attributes including your variation attributes.

1. Navigate to Katana PIM → Attributes
2. Click Import Attributes
3. Wait for import to complete
4. Locate your variation attributes (e.g., "Color", "Size")

Step 2: Mark Attributes as Configurable

This is the crucial step. Attributes used for product variations MUST be marked as configurable.

1. In Katana PIM → Attributes grid
2. Find your first variation attribute (e.g., "Color")
3. Click the Magento Attribute Code cell
   • Select existing Magento attribute OR
   • Select "Create New" to auto-create
4. Click the Is Configurable cell
5. Set to Yes
6. Repeat for all variation attributes (e.g., "Size")

Example configuration:

Important: If "Is Configurable" is not set to Yes, the module cannot create configurable product relationships.

Step 3: Create Magento Attributes

After mapping and setting "Is Configurable = Yes", create the attributes in Magento:

1. Select the mapped variation attributes (checkboxes)
2. Use mass action Update/Create Magento Attribute

The module automatically:

• Creates attributes with katanapim_ prefix if they're new
• Sets "Use in Configurable Products" to Yes for attributes marked as configurable
• Sets the correct input type (Dropdown)

Step 4: Import Products

Now import the products from KatanaPIM.

1. Navigate to Katana PIM → Products
2. Click Sync Full to import all products
3. Wait for import to complete

After import, you'll see products with different "Katana Type" values:

• GrandParent - Your master configurable products
• Parent - Intermediate level (color variants in our example) - appears in grid but no Magento product is created
• Child - The actual simple products with all variations

What you'll see in the grid:

Notice that Parent rows have an empty "Type" column - this is expected. The module uses Parents only for data inheritance (the Color attribute), not for creating products.

Step 5: Create Magento Products

Create products in the correct order:

Automatic Creation

Manual Creation

Verifying the Setup

After creation, verify in Magento:

Check Configurable Product

Check on Frontend

Common Configurations

Two Variations: Color + Size (Apparel/Footwear)

Two Variations: Material + Length (Hardware)

Two Variations: Flavor + Package Size (Food)

Troubleshooting

Configurable product not linking children

Products created as Simple instead of Configurable

Missing variation attribute in dropdown

Children showing wrong GrandParent relationship

Products Grid Columns

Enable these hidden columns for debugging configurable products:

To enable: Click Columns button in grid toolbar → check the columns you need.

Need More Help?

Documentation:

• All Help Articles - Complete documentation overview

Support:

• Contact Support - Get help from our team