A key is a unique database entity composed of (transformed) product data, and represents a specific product in the STEP system. Because no two products can have the same key, they provide an alternative method for identifying products. If STEP ID isn't available (such as with imported data), a key can be used in its place.
Unique Keys are especially useful when STEPXML is delivered to websites or ERP systems that do not know the STEP ID of the exported products and need a specific, unique ID. For more on exporting STEPXML, see the STEPXML Format section of the Data Exchange documentation here.
Each key has a formula that defines what product data is used and how it is combined and transformed. See below for examples of key formulas and their resulting values.
In this example, two products have the following attributes:
Product A:
Product B:
concatenate(prodval('Universal Product Code (UPC)'), lower(left(prodval('Brand'), 4)), substitute(prodval('Manufacturer Part Number (MPN)'),'-',''))
In this example, the values for the Manufacturer Part Number, Universal Product Code, and Brand of the product are concatenated to form a key. The generated keys would be as follows:
155488876964acme10044007503434A (Product A)
887554522477ajaxTSR1002 (Product B)
concatenate(upper(left(prodval('Brand'),3)),'-', prodval('Universal Product Code (UPC)'), '-', upper(substitute(prodval('Manufacturer Part Number (MPN)'), '-','')))
Again, the values for the Manufacturer Part Number, Universal Product Code, and Brand of the product are concatenate to form a key. This time, however, the brand names are abbreviated and appear at the start of the formula, and the other two values are separated by a hyphen. The generated keys would be as follows:
ACM-155488876964-10044007503434A (Product A)
AJA-887554522477-TSR1002 (Product B)
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