How to setup item attribute based Customer Entitlements

Answer

The following steps are needed to setup a Customer Entitlement rule to restrict products which have a specific attribute.

1. Enable the customer entitlements for the selected organization.
- Applications Manager > DOM > Cross Application > Customer > Customer Entitlement
- Set 'Enforce Customer Entitlements' to either Item Entitlement rules assigned to Customer or Intersection of Item Entitlement Rules and Pricelists assigned to Customer

2. Create the Item Attribute which will be used for the Customer Entitlement Rule
- Sterling Business Center > Manage Attributes > Create Attribute

3. Assign the Item Attribute to the categories which contain the items being entitled
- Sterling Business Center > Manage Catalog > Select Catalog > Select Category >Manage Attribute Assignment
When adding the Attribute, make sure to select 'For Filter'. If this is not selected the Search Index will not use the attribute for entitlement.

4. Add the attribute to the items which the Customer will be entitled to
- Find and open the item(s) > Manage Attribute Values > Add the attribute

5. Create the Customer Entitlement Rule based on the created attribute
- Sterling Business Center > New Entitlement
- Enter the Entitlement Id, Description, Effective Dates and Save
- On the Item tab of the newly created Entitlement Rule select the following:
Create Entitlement item list by:
Including all items (Choose this option if you want all items with the exception of those with the attribute)
Excluding all items (Choose this option if you want only the items with the assigned attribute)
Then apply the following Criteria:
Include / Exclude all items that 'have the attribute'
Select the newly created attribute
Note: You can additionally choose a Customer Assignment

6. Initiate a search index build. (see Sterling Infocenter for details)

7. Activate the new search index. (see Sterling Infocenter for details)

8. Test your newly created Customer Entitlement Rule using the searchCatalogIndex API.
Sample Input:
<CatalogSearch CallingOrganizationCode="<Your Organization">
<Item><CustomerInformation CustomerId="<Customer Name>"/></Item>
</CatalogSearch>

Result: The Customer Entitlement Rule will be used to limit the items returned.