A key decision in the design of a catalog is to choose the best table design depending on your available catalog data and table requirements. Most of the time it is a fairly simple choice, however there are a number of considerations if you have many product attributes to communicate.

EasyCatalog is designed to quickly and efficiently create table content. Typically, a table is placed with an EasyCatalog library to show product attributes for all products within a particular group or range.

Table design selection guide

There are five separate table types, with some cross over between them.

Table type	Example	Display characteristics	Product data	Learn more
Simple		5-10 common attributes Common attributes may be merged	Named product attribute columns (e.g. product code, name, height, width, length, price)	Creating simple tables with EasyCatalog
?? more complex / intermediate		5-10 attributes, possibly different for each table Columns will be hidden/resized to best fit (setting exact column widths is not possible) Common attributes may be merged	Named product attribute columns (e.g. product code, name, height, width, length, price) Columns must be in same order in each table Columns to be left blank for attributes not being displayed in specific table Products included in a catalog multiple times must display same attributes each time	Creating flexible tables with EasyCatalog by hiding unused attributes
Standardised attribute columns		5-10 attributes, possibly different for each table Complete control over display of each column (width, alignment, formatting) Common attributes may be merged	Unlimited product attributes held within source data Product attributes standardised to enable extensive control over table display: Attribute name (e.g. Att_1_Name) Attribute value (e.g. Att_1_Value) Attribute width (e.g. Att_1_Width) Attribute formatting (e.g. Att_1_Format) Attribute alignment (e.g. Att_1_Alignment) Requires product data transformation	Creating flexible and highly accurate tables with EasyCatalog using standardised attribute columns
Complex product selection		10-20 attributes, possibly with sub headings Columns/rows expressed as either products/attributes or attributes/products Merged product attributes (by column or row)	Requires additional columns for attribute sub headings	Creating complex tables with EasyCatalog for product selection selection guides
Pre-configured tables		Table is created from pre-formatted field (e.g. CSV, tab delimited, HTML or XML data)	Requires complex product information to be contained within a single field.	Creating a table using pre-formatted data with EasyCatalog