What is a multi-value element?

Knowledgebase / FAQ Elements
1

What is a multi-value element?

  • The shortest definition of a multi-value element is:

An element for which there is a value with position > 1.

  • The long definition of a multi-value element is:

An element that has more than one value for a single product and at least 2 of those values share the same wrapper value if it is an immersed element.

However, this is quite hard to imagine, so let’s explain it with examples. :arrow_down:

:woman_teacher: Example 1

<IMAGE1>url1</IMAGE1>
<IMAGE2>url2</IMAGE2>

It is not a multi-value element. Both elements have exactly one value, both with position 1. The path to the value url1 is IMAGE1 { @@POSITION = 1 }, and to the value url2 is IMAGE2 { @@POSITION = 1 }.

:woman_technologist: Example 2

<IMAGES>
    <IMAGE>url1</IMAGE>
    <IMAGE>url2</IMAGE>
</IMAGES>

In this case, IMAGES is not a multiple element, but IMAGE is a multi-value element. Because the IMAGE element has a value with position > 1 (IMAGES | IMAGE { @@POSITION = 2}), or the IMAGE element has more than one value for a product (url1, url2) and the two values share the same value of the wrapper element (IMAGES).

:woman_office_worker: Example 3

<g:product_detail>
   <g:attribute_name>Materiál</g:attribute_name>
   <g:attribute_value>Porcelán</g:attribute_value>
</g:product_detail>
<g:product_detail>
   <g:attribute_name>Objem</g:attribute_name>
   <g:attribute_value>460 ml</g:attribute_value>
</g:product_detail>
<g:product_detail>
   <g:attribute_name>Barva</g:attribute_name>
   <g:attribute_value>Černá</g:attribute_value>
</g:product_detail>

In this example from Google format, g:product_detail is a multiple element, but neither g:attribute_name nor g:attribute_value are multi-value elements. Why?

For g:product_detail, there is a value with position 1, 2, and 3 (e.g., g:product_detail { @@POSITION = 2 }). The values are immersed elements, but that’s okay.

For g:attribute_name and g:attribute_value, the conditions from the definition do not apply.

For the Material value, the path is g:product_detail { @@POSITION = 1 } | g:attribute_name { @@POSITION = 1 }.

For the Volume value, the path is g:product_detail { @@POSITION = 2 } | g:attribute_name { @@POSITION =1}.

:woman_mechanic: Example 4

<RELATED_FILE>
<TEXT>...</TEXT>
</RELATED_FILE>

<RELATED_FILE>
<TEXT>...</TEXT>
</RELATED_FILE>

It is a similar example to the previous one. The RELATED_FILE element is a multiple element, but the TEXT element is not a multi-value element.