Building or Editing an Effectivity Expression

Effectivity defines the criteria by which an object is valid within its parent group. For example, a requirement may be valid only for certain model version revisions. You can create an effectivity definition for any object whose Type has been configured with effectivity.

On premises only: A Business Administrator must configure effectivity for the object Type or Relationship.

You use the Edit Effectivity Definition dialog box to define either object or relational effectivity, depending on the context from which it is invoked.

If the expression uses the Global context, then no other context can be defined. If the expression contains a relational effectivity type, then the expression can only reference a single context.

This task shows you how to:

See Also
Edit Effectivity Definition Dialog Box
Defining Object Effectivity

Build an Effectivity Expression

To build the effectivity expression, you select items in the effectivity selector then add them to the Effectivity Expression section. You can insert items one-by-one to build the expression linearly or you can insert a group of items, add operators as needed, then move the items into the positions that you want them in the effectivity expression.

  1. Navigate to a page that contains an editable effectivity expression. For example:

    • Logical View page (in the Logical Structures tab) for a logical feature or model version
    • Requirement page

    Note: Many other pages also allow you to configure effectivity.

  2. To open the effectivity dialog box, do one of the following depending on your app's available commands:
    • On the toolbar, click to enable editing, click in the Effectivity cell for an item, then click .
    • Click in the Effectivity cell for an item, then click .
    The effectivity dialog box opens.
  3. In the Context section, select a context object. The context associated with the parent node of the relationship is automatically loaded.

    For a logical feature or model version that does not have Configuration Contexts defined, you only see the Global context.

    You can only use a single context object to define Variants and Options effectivity.

    The selected objects are added to Context list. Depending on the context of the rule (configuring a logical feature, for example), the search limits you to only those types of objects valid for the situation.
  4. If necessary, click Refinements to narrow the available criteria.
  5. If necessary, click Search Context to search for and select additional source objects needed for the expression.
  6. In the effectivity types section, expand the effectivity type you want to define. Only one type can be expanded at a time. A message displays if you try to expand an effectivity type that is not supported for the current context selection.

    Effectivity Type Description
    Variants and Options If you use , you can set Feature Option effectivity. If you use Traceable Requirements Management, you can set effectivities on requirement structures based on features and options.

    Elements used to build the effectivity expression must be children of the model version. You must first set the criteria context for the parent model version.

    If the context logical feature has design variants, you can select options to include in the effectivity expression.

    Model Version You can create an effectivity expression based on model version revisions. A model with one or more model version revisions must exist.

    For model version effectivity, only the variant values and options allocated to the selected model version can be added to the effectivity expression. All variants and option groups associated with the model version can be added to the effectivity expression. You cannot use frozen model versions.

  7. For Variants and Options criteria, click Move Rightin the Actions column of an item to add it to the effectivity expression without having to select it.
  8. For any type of criteria, do one of the following:

    • Select an item then use the buttons in the Effectivity Expression section to manage the items included in the effectivity expression and their order.
      • Click to add a selected items to the Effectivity Expression section.
      • Click to move the selected items up in the effectivity expression.
      • Click to move the selected items down in the effectivity expression.
      • Click to remove a selected item from the Effectivity Expression section.
        Tips: You can also clear items in bulk.
        • You can press Ctrl then click to select multiple items in the expression, then click to remove all selected items at once.
        • You can press Ctrl then click all selected items in the expression (deselecting them all), then click to clear the entire expression at once.
    • Right-click the message that says "Right-click to add Variant value/Option," begin entering the name of the variant value or option in the field, then select the variant value or option from the list that match your entered characters.

  9. Use the operators in the Effectivity Expression section to format the effectivity expression:
    • Click and to group items within the expression.
    • Click or to build a Boolean expression. The active operator is highlighted in green. The default operator is unless you select a different one. The default operator will not be used when inserting the first item in the effectivity expression, when there is an open parentheses in the effectivity expression, or when the has been added to the effectivity expression.

    Note: Not all operators can be used in all types of effectivity expressions. The operator is the only operator available for Milestone criteria.
    The Effectivity Expression section shows the effectivity for the current context only. The Completed Expression section shows all defined effectivities for all contexts.

  10. Click Validate to verify that your effectivity expression is valid.
  11. Click Done when you have a complete, valid effectivity expression to save it.

Edit Variants and Options or Model Version Effectivity

You can edit an existing effectivity expression.

  1. In the Edit Effectivity Definition window, select the Feature Option or Model Version Revision effectivity type.
  2. Select one or more items in the effectivity type section, then click to add them to the Effectivity Expression section.

    Note:
    • In the effectivity selector, the root node (model) check boxes are always disabled when editing Feature Option effectivity and cannot be selected.
    • Model version row check boxes are disabled by default and cannot be selected.
    • When defining effectivity for a logical feature that has design variants, the columns in the effectivity selector show the available configuration options. Click to select an option value, then click to add it to the expression.

  3. Edit the rest of the effectivity expression.
  4. Click Validate to verify that your effectivity expression is valid.
  5. Click Done when you have a complete, valid effectivity expression to save it.