Product Updates After Category Template Changes
When a category template changes, existing products may need to be checked against the new rules.
Actualog does this as a background Product Synchronization operation when product data is actually affected. The browser request that updates the template does not rewrite every product.
The simple version
- A category expert or administrator changes category rules.
- Actualog marks affected Effective Templates as needing review.
- A user updates the Effective Template for each product-level category.
- Actualog decides whether products need synchronization.
- If needed, a Product Synchronization operation is queued.
- The worker processes affected products and records a result for each target.
New products use the newest active Effective Template. Existing products remain readable while synchronization is pending.
Why products are not changed immediately
Template changes can be small or large.
Moving an attribute to another group does not change product values. Replacing one attribute with another may require careful value movement. Changing allowed values can make old values invalid. Changing identity inputs can create duplicates.
Actualog therefore uses a controlled queue instead of rewriting products inside the edit request.
What synchronization can do
Depending on the change, Product Synchronization can:
- update the product's Effective Template version;
- run Check data;
- detect missing required values;
- detect invalid values;
- move an attribute value when an approved Attribute Governance plan exists;
- recalculate generated names;
- recalculate identity;
- mark conflicts when a change is unsafe;
- update search and quality state after the result is saved.
If no product-facing data changed, the Effective Template can become current without product synchronization.
What happens to invalid or unmapped values
Actualog does not guess.
If an old product value is not valid in the new template, the product is not silently corrected.
Examples:
- a source list value has no approved target value;
- two values look similar but have different internal identifiers;
- a numeric value is outside the target range;
- a unit conversion is not explicitly supported;
- a target attribute already has a different value.
Those cases become review work. The product can be incomplete, invalid, conflict, skipped, or failed depending on the reason. A steward can then correct the value or an administrator can prepare a safer mapping plan.
Notifications
Actualog records synchronization in Action Log and sends operation notices to the actor and eligible category experts.
Product owners and users with product-data management rights receive notices when the operation affects their records or requires attention. Actualog does not notify every owner for no-op changes.
Use the synchronization result page to see the complete target list and reasons.
Important safety rule
Actualog preserves product meaning.
If a value can be safely moved or checked, synchronization does it. If it cannot be proven safe, Actualog leaves the decision visible for review instead of changing data behind the user's back.