Types and attributes

Food & Beverage master data can include controlled classifications and additional source-system metadata.

Use types to define controlled classifications that Pulse can use in analysis.

Use attributes for additional source-system metadata that should be stored but not analysed.

Types

Types define controlled classifications that can be referenced by supported master-data fields.

A type is declared before its values are referenced.

For example:

{
  "code": "storage",
  "name": "Storage class",
  "appliesTo": "material",
  "values": [
    {
      "code": "CHILLED",
      "name": "Chilled"
    },
    {
      "code": "AMBIENT",
      "name": "Ambient"
    }
  ]
}

Master-data records do not use a generic types object. Classification values are referenced through explicit fields supported by the resource.

For example:

{
  "code": "MILK-RAW",
  "name": "Raw milk",
  "allergen": "ALG-MILK",
  "storage": "CHILLED",
  "origin": "SI"
}

Supported classification fields

The current Food & Beverage master-data resources support these classification fields:

The value supplied in each field is the code of a value declared through the Types resource.

For example:

{
  "code": "PRD001",
  "name": "Yogurt Strawberry 125g",
  "packFormat": "CUP"
}

and:

{
  "code": "MAT0001",
  "name": "Raw milk 3.8% fat",
  "allergen": "ALG-MILK",
  "storage": "CHILLED",
  "origin": "SI"
}

Pulse can use these classifications when comparing and analysing records.

Controlled classifications are declared through the Types resource. A type defines the classification itself and the allowed value codes that supported master-data fields can reference.

For example, the allergen type can define values such as ALG-MILK, which can then be referenced by the allergen field on a Material.

Attributes

Attributes are additional source-system properties that do not need to participate in analysis.

They are supplied as a free-form JSON object:

{
  "code": "PLT001",
  "name": "Munich",
  "attributes": {
    "erpCode": "1000",
    "country": "DE"
  }
}

Attribute names and values do not need to be declared in advance.

Pulse stores these values with the record but does not use them for analysis.

Choosing between types and attributes

Use a classification field when the property should participate in analysis and the resource exposes a field for it.

Use an attribute when the property is additional source-system metadata that should be stored but not analysed.

For example:

Measured values that vary over time, such as temperature, protein, or moisture, are neither classifications nor attributes. They should be submitted through the appropriate measurement APIs.

API resource

Types are declared through:

/manufacturing/food-beverage/v1/types