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Due to a large number of different requirements from system users selling a variety of products through DEAR Inventory and dealing with a variety of suppliers and customers, it is quite often that there will be a need to collect and store additional information that is not in the default fields on an inventory item, supplier and customer record. 


For you to best describe your items, we have included the ability to create custom fields or Additional Attributes that can be used to describe your products, suppliers and customers. You can also define attribute sets to be added as default to the purchase, sale, or production process.


You can also use attributes when creating conditions for your workflows. See Managing Workflow Automation in DEAR for more information.


Table of Contents


Creating a new attribute set

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Creating a new attribute set:

  1. Go to Settings → Reference Books → Other Items → Additional Attributes
  2. Click + to add a new attribute set. A pop-up window will open.
  3. You can add up to 10 additional attributes per attribute set. Choose the Attribute Type for each attribute from the dropdown list. Available types are:
    • List: Only values from the list can be selected for this attribute. Enter values separated by commas or semi-colons into the Values field. 
    • Text: Free-form text attribute with a max length of 256 symbols. 
    • Checkbox: True or false value displayed in the form of a checkbox. 
    • Numeric: Input numerical data up to a maximum of 4 decimal places. Text or special characters are not allowed. 
    • Date: Date can be selected using a calendar interface. Date format will be the same as the format selected for the organization. 
    • Not Used: This attribute will not have a value or be displayed as part of the attribute set.
  4. Save when you are finished. You will now be able to select this attribute set for products, suppliers and customers. 



Assigning additional attributes to a product

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Once you have created an Attribute Set, it can be assigned at the product level. 


Assigning additional attributes to a product:

  1. Navigate to Inventory → Products. Create a new product or select a product to assign the attribute set to. 
  2. Select the attribute set you want to apply from the Additional Attribute Set dropdown menu. Only one attribute set can be assigned to a product at a time.
  3. An Additional Attributes tab will appear in the product information area. You can now fill in the additional attribute custom fields. 
  4. Save your changes when you are done. 


Assigning additional attributes to a customer/supplier

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Once you have created an Attribute Set, it can also be assigned to a customer or supplier. 


Assigning additional attributes to a customer:

  1. Navigate to Sales → Customers. Create a new customer or select a customer to assign the attribute set to. 
  2. Select the attribute set you want to apply from the Attribute Set dropdown menu. Only one attribute set can be assigned to a customer at a time.
  3. An Additional Attributes tab will appear in the customer information area. You can now fill in the additional attribute custom fields. 
  4. Save your changes when you are done. 


Assigning additional attributes to a supplier:

  1. Navigate to Purchase → Suppliers. Create a new supplier or select a supplier to assign the attribute set to. 
  2. Select the attribute set you want to apply from the Attribute Set dropdown menu. Only one attribute set can be assigned to a supplier at a time. 
  3. An Additional Attributes tab will appear in the supplier information area. You can now fill in the additional attribute custom fields. 
  4. Save your changes when you are done. 


Assigning additional attributes to a production order/run, operation, or output

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Cin7 Core allows additional attribute sets to be assigned at the production order/run level, operation level, and output level. Attribute sets can be assigned to each level via the production process customisation settings (General Settings). 


Production order/run additional attribute fields can be found in the Logs and attributes tab of your production order, and the Attributes tab of a production run. 


Production operation additional attribute fields can be found in the Production run tab of your production order, selecting a production operation and at the bottom of each operation page. Users will need the Production orders – Edit completed operations permission to input data to additional attributes after an operation is completed. 


Production output additional attributes can be found in the output window of a production run. Users will need the Production orders – Edit completed operations permission to input data to additional attributes after the last operation of a production run is completed. 


Selecting default attribute sets for the purchase/sale/production process

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DEAR allows you to select attribute sets to be added as default to the purchase, sale, or production process. 


Selecting default sale/purchase attribute sets:

  1. Navigate to Settings → General Settings → Sale process customisation/Purchase process customisation. 
  2. Choose the required attribute set from the Default Attribute Set dropdown list.
  3. Your custom fields from the additional attribute set will now appear in the Logs & Attributes tab of the purchase order/sale order screen. 
  4. Fill in the field and continue the purchase/sale process as usual. 


Selecting default production attribute sets:

  1. Navigate to Settings → General Settings → Production process customisation
  2. Choose the required attribute sets for production order/run, production operation, and production output.
  3. See Assigning additional attributes to a production order/run, operation, or output for where to enter values during the production process. 


Copying customer attribute values to sale order attribute fields

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Some users may wish to copy customer additional attribute values to sale order attribute fields, to have easy access to customer information during the sale process. 


An optional setting is included in the sale process settings which allows users to enable or disable the copying of customer attribute values to sale attribute fields. This setting is disabled by default for all users, and applies to all sales when enabled, including simple, advanced, and service sales. 


This setting is enabled from the General Settings. To enable copying customer attributes to sale attributes:

  • Go to Settings → General Settings → Sale process customization
  • Just below the dropdown field where you can select the default sale attribute set, a new setting is now visible: Copy customer’s attribute values to sale
  • When enabled, a new dropdown field will appear, where you can select the attribute field that will be copied from by default. The values from this attribute set will now appear in the sale Logs and attributestab. 
    • The attribute field names, types and values of both attribute sets must match or you will receive an error message. Adjust either the sale or customer attributes until the sets are equivalent. The same attribute set can be used in both fields. 
  • This setting is disabled by default, and when enabled will apply to all sales. 


If the sale order attribute set already has values, the copied customer values will override them.

Customer attribute sets can be copied to a set that accommodates their values.

  • The attribute field names, types and values of both attribute sets must match or you will receive an error message. A compatible attribute set must be applied at the customer record for values to be copied. 

If the customer is changed after the sale order is created, the new customer’s attributes will override any existing values in the field.



Copying supplier attribute values to purchase order attribute fields

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Some users may wish to copy supplier additional attribute values to sale order attribute fields, to have easy access to supplier information during the purchase process. 


An optional setting is included in the purchase process settings which allows users to enable or disable the copying of supplier attribute values to purchase attribute fields. This setting is disabled by default for all users, and applies to all purchases when enabled, including simple, advanced, and service purchases. 


This setting is enabled from the General Settings. To enable copying supplier attributes to purchase attributes:

  • Go to Settings → General Settings → Purchase process customization
  • Just below the dropdown field where you can select the default purchase attribute set, a new setting is now visible: Copy supplier's attribute values to purchase
  • When enabled, a new dropdown field will appear, where you can select the attribute field that will be copied from by default. The values from this attribute set will now appear in the purchase Logs and attributes tab. 
    • The attribute field names, types and values of both attribute sets must match or you will receive an error message. Adjust either the purchase or supplier attributes until the sets are equivalent. The same attribute set can be used in both fields. 
  • This setting is disabled by default, and when enabled will apply to all purchases. 


If the purchase order attribute set already has values, the copied supplier values will override them.

Supplier attribute sets can be copied to a set that accommodates their values.

  • The attribute field names, types and values of both attribute sets must match or you will receive an error message. A compatible attribute set must be applied at the supplier record for values to be copied. 


If the supplier is changed after the purchase order is created, the new supplier's attributes will override any existing values in the field.


Assign additional attributes via CSV file

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Assign an additional attribute set, or add/edit additional attribute values, for one or more products, suppliers, ,  or customers via a CSV file import. It is not possible to assign an additional attribute set to your purchase, sale or production process via CSV import. 


NOTE: The additional attribute set must already have been created in DEAR before it can be assigned via CSV. If the additional attribute set field is left blank during import, any additional attribute values entered will be ignored.


If the assigned additional attribute contains values of type:

  • List, the additional attribute values entered must match a list value.
  • Checkbox, the additional attribute value must be True or False.
  • Text, the additional attribute value can be any text up to 256 characters. 


Assign additional attributes to products: Go to Inventory → Products → Export → Inventory List to download your inventory list CSV file. Fill in the ProductAttributeSet and Additional Attributes 1-10 fields, or edit the existing values. Import the inventory list file to apply the changes. 


Assign additional attributes to suppliers: Go to Purchase → Suppliers → Export → Suppliers to download your suppliers list CSV file. Fill in the AttributeSet and Additional Attributes 1-10 fields, or edit the existing values. Import the suppliers file to apply the changes. 


Assign additional attributes to customers: Go to Sale → Customers → Export → Customers to download your customers list CSV file. Fill in the AttributeSet and Additional Attributes 1-10 fields, or edit the existing values. Import the customers file to apply the changes. 

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