How to Switch Magento v1 to use a Flat Catalog

Knowledgebase Article

How to Switch Magento v1 to use a Flat Catalog

Magento uses the Entity-Attribute-Value (EAV) model for storing customer, product, and category data in its database.

Although the EAV model enables you to have completely extensible attributes for those objects, object attributes are stored in multiple tables rather than one very large table.

Because attributes are stored in many tables, and that includes copies of some of the same attributes, SQL queries can be long and complex.

The Flat Catalog feature creates new tables on the fly, where each row contains all necessary data about a product or category.

You can enable Flat Catalog by navigating to System >> Configuration >> Catalog >> Frontend >> Switch Use Flat Catalog Category and Use Flat Catalog Product both to Yes:

When prompted to refresh the indexes, click the Index Management link in the message at the top of the workspace and follow the instructions to reindex the data:

Click on Select All, then Reindex Data >> Submit:

Verify the Results!

Method 1: Verify the Results for a Single Product:

1. On the Admin menu, select Catalog > Manage Products, then, do the following:

a. Choose a product to modify. Then, open the product in edit mode.

b. In the Name field, add the text “_DEMO” to the product name.

2. Click the Save button.

3. On a new browser tab, navigate to the home page of your store.

4. Search for the product you edited, and browse to its assigned category.

If necessary, refresh the page to verify the results. The change will appear within the minute or according to your cron job schedule.

Method 2: Verify the Results for Multiple Products

1. On the Admin menu, select Catalog >> Categories >> Manage Categories.

2. In the upper-left corner, set Current Configuration Scope to one of the following:

- All Store Views
- A specific store view

3.    In the panel on the left, select an existing category. Click the Add Subcategory button, and do the following:
a.    In the Name field, enter “Test Category.”
b.    Set Is Active to “Yes.”
c.    Click the Save Category button:

d. Click the Category Products tab. Then, click the Reset Filter button to display all products.
e. Select the checkbox of several products to add them to the new category. Then, click the Save Category button.

4. On a new browser tab, navigate to the home page of your store. then, Find the category you created.

If necessary, refresh the page to verify the results. The change will appear within the minute or according to your cron job schedule.

That's how you switch to use a Flat Catalog in Magento v1. Should you need any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.