A feature represents a characteristic of a product. It will have a number of options that allow users to determine a configuration for the product. Features may describe material or finish options, sizes, and orientations, etc. Note that features are only referenced by products; they exist independently of them. As a result, the same feature may be referenced by many products.

Features have the following attributes:

• Code / Key – Every feature must have a unique code to distinguish it from other features. These codes are rarely (if ever) presented to the users of the catalogue.
• Description – Features may have a brief description. This is what is displayed to the user when a product is viewed in detail. Note that if the feature the product belongs to has multiple languages enabled, a description may be set for every language enabled.
• Functional Selection – If a feature is marked as functional, then the code of a chosen option will appear as part of the product’s code.
• SKU Selection – If a feature is marked as an SKU selection, then the code of a chosen option will alter which product is actually used.
• Multiple Selection – If a feature is marked as multiple selection, then several of its options may be chosen, simultaneously. Without this set, only one option may be chosen at any given time.
• Optional Selection – If a feature is marked as an optional selection, then one of the product will not require an option to be chosen for the product to be valid.
• Default Option – If the feature is not marked as either multiple or optional selection, it may have a default option set. This determines which of the feature’s options are chosen by default.
• Omit on Order – A feature may be marked to have it ignored when a bill of materials is generated for the product. These features typically are used to represent minor cosmetic details that do not affect the actual configuration of the product.
• Material Applications – A feature may have any number of material applications assigned to it. Note that, where applicable, material applications on a feature’s options or subfeatures will override the feature’s, if a conflict occurs. For more information on material applications, see the section covering them.