PCM Hierarchies API

Use the Hierarchies API to create a tree of nodes in which to organize products.

For example, a department store might have a hierarchy for Major Appliances:

• Major Appliances
  • Ranges
    • Electric Ranges
      • Electric Ranges 24ˮ
      • Electric Ranges 30ˮ
      • Double Oven
    • Gas Ranges
      • Gas Ranges 24ˮ
      • Gas Ranges 30ˮ
      • Gas Ranges 32ˮ
      • Double Oven
  • Refrigerators
  • Dishwashers
    • Built-in
    • Standalone

The root node of the tree is the hierarchy ID. A node within a hierarchy can have one parent and zero or more children. When you create a node in a hierarchy, by default, the node is a child of the root node. Optionally, you can specify the parent node during creation.

Sibling nodes are nodes with the same parent. In the example, the nodes Electric Ranges and Gas Ranges are siblings. Sibling nodes must have unique names and unique slugs. However, the names and slugs do not need to be unique in other relationships in the same hierarchy or across multiple hierarchies. In the example, the Double Oven nodes are two separate nodes. They can have the same name because they have different parents.

You can move an existing node to a different location within the same hierarchy by changing its parent node. If the node has descendant nodes, they retain their relationship with the moved node. In other words, the node and all its descendants move to the new location in the hierarchy.

After you define hierarchies, you can associate products with nodes. A product can belong to multiple nodes within a hierarchy and across hierarchies. You cannot associate a product with the root node.

The Hierarchy Object

Name	Type	Description
type	string	Always: hierarchy
id	string	The generated unique identifier for the hierarchy.
attributes.name	string	The name of the hierarchy, such as Major Appliances.
attributes.description	string	A description of the hierarchy.
attributes.slug	string	A unique slug for the hierarchy.

The Node Object

Name	Type	Description
type	string	Always: node
id	string	The generated unique identifier for the node.
attributes.name	string	The name of the node, such as Ranges or Refrigerators. Names must be unique among sibling nodes in the hierarchy. Otherwise, a name can be non-unique within the hierarchy and across multiple hierarchies.
attributes.description	string	A description of the node.
attributes.slug	string	A slug for the node. Slugs must be unique among sibling nodes in the hierarchy. Otherwise, a slug can be non-unique within the hierarchy and across multiple hierarchies.