How to identify and delete stray attributes

Question

I'm trying to figure out how to identify stray attributes that do not belong to an attribute set.

We've got so many duplicate attributes, and we're having a hard time figuring out what is actually being used.

Also I heard that having lots of attributes will slow down the site. If we can delete the attributes we are not using, that would certainly help.

Please advise.

Answer 1

Please add bellow script on magento root. Eg file (xyz.php) and run this file in browser then results are attributes that do not belong to an attribute set.

<?php
require_once('app/Mage.php');
Mage::app('default');

class AR
{
    public function index()    
    {
        //$attributeSetIds = array(4);
        $attributeSetIds = Mage::getModel('catalog/product')->getDefaultAttributeSetId(); 
        $collection = Mage::getResourceModel('catalog/product_attribute_collection')
            ->setAttributeSetFilter($attributeSetIds)
            ->load();

        $attributesIds = array('0');
        /* @var $item Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Attribute */
        foreach ($collection->getItems() as $item) {
            $attributesIds[] = $item->getAttributeId();
        }    

        $attributes = Mage::getResourceModel('catalog/product_attribute_collection')
            ->setAttributesExcludeFilter($attributesIds)
            ->addVisibleFilter()
            ->load();

       $html .= '<h2>Product(s) Unassigned Attributes List</h2>';
       $html .= '<table style="border-style: solid solid solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px; width: 100%;">
                <thead>
                    <tr>
                        <th>Attribute ID#</th>
                        <th>Attribute Label</th>
                        <th>Attribute Code</th>
                    </tr>
                </thead>
                <tbody>';
       if(count($attributes)) {
           foreach ($attributes as $attribute) {
               $html .= '<tr>';
               $html .= '<td align="center">'.$attribute->getAttributeId().'</td>';
               $html .= '<td align="center">'.$attribute->getFrontendLabel().'</td>';
               $html .= '<td align="center">'.$attribute->getAttributeCode().'</td>';
               $html .= '</tr>';
           }   
       }else {
          $html .= '<tr class="even"><td colspan="3" align="center">Attribute(s) not found.</td></tr>';
       }

       $html .= '</tbody></table>';
       echo $html;
       //$this->removeAttribute($code);
    }

    public function removeAttribute($code='')
    {
        $installer = new Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Setup('core_setup');
        $entityTypeId = (int) $installer->getEntityTypeId('catalog_product'); 
        $installer->startSetup();
        $installer->removeAttribute($entityTypeId ,$code);
        $installer->endSetup();
    }


}
$obj = new AR();
$obj->index();
?>

Also i have added remove attribute code in above script but right now it is commented

Note: Please always backup your database after use script.