2.4 L 4cyl Altima engines are KA24DE.

If you don't know already, figure out if your Altima is an early or late 97. Early 97s look like 96s, late 97 manufacture date Altima's look like 98s. The date is on the driver’s door. Many parts are different. Sparkplug wires appear to be one example. Do you need a coil wire? I like Rock Auto for many parts. They have pictures for most parts which is a big help when ordering on-line. They have the repair manual, resistor, and a lot more parts that are equal to NAPA premium quality parts. I have used Fat Blue and Red wires from Ebay with great results. Someone else always paid for them. One thing fatter wires means is, they won't fit into the wire separators. Ebay pictures are often inaccurate and I wouldn't pay $27USD to ship them. Unlike most Ebay sellers you can speak to a helpful real person at Rock Auto if you need too.
http://www.rockauto.com/

Yeah I guess nissan is notorious for that. My dad's 86 nissan hardbody pickup is either an 85 model or 87. Fortunetley we found out what model it was. But I don't know why the hell they would change within the a single year.