About Attribute Filter

Main Algorithm

There are three possible results when checking an object against criteria:

• OK : the criteria matches
• KO : the criteria does not match
• NA : the criteria cannot be applied on the object (different types for example)

Criteria Combination

You can combine different criteria with AND or OR keywords. This is very useful to express multi-criteria on the same object. Please refer to these truth tables:

Table 1. AND

	NA	KO	OK
NA	na	na	na
KO	na	ko	ko
OK	na	ko	ok

Table 2. OR

	NA	KO	OK
NA	na	ko	ok
KO	ko	ko	ok
OK	ok	ok	ok

Combinative Criteria

In the below case, the filter is looking for a reference (T0) named ‘toto’ which has a blue instance (T1).

The result will depend on the selected mode:

• Expand Entire Branch: the entire branch will be returned.
• Stop at Last Node: only the objects circled in red are returned.

Expand Entire Branch Mode

All the branches starting from the root and containing an object matching the criteria are returned, even if the intermediate objects and/or leaves do not match the criteria.

Examples: Let’s suppose a path made of R0, inst1, R1, inst2, R2, inst3, R3

Case 1 - If only R3 matches the criteria, the returned path will be [R0, inst1, R1, inst2, R2, inst3, R3]

Case 2 - If only R1 matches the criteria, the returned path will be [R0, inst1, R1, inst2, R2, inst3, R3]

Stop at Last Node Mode

All the paths starting from the root and leading to the last object matching the criteria are returned. If there are any, they are flagged. Only NA objects behind the matching objects are returned. That means that the branch can be truncated.

Example: Let’s suppose a path made of R0, inst1, R1, inst2, R2, inst3, R3.

Case 1 - If only R3 matches the criteria, the returned path will be [R0, inst1, R1, inst2, R2, inst3, R3]

Case 2 - If only R1 matches the criteria, and R2 and R3 are flagged NA, the returned path will be [R0, inst1, R1, inst2, R2, inst3, R3

Case 3 - If only R1 matches the criteria, and R2 and R3 are flagged KO, the returned path will be [R0, inst1, R1]

Expand Entire Branch Mode

First, the criteria are applied on root elements (see part A in the figure below). If the result is OK for at least one element in the root, then all the branches starting from the root will be returned. If the result is KO, then the root is flag NA and the process starts from the leaves (see part B in the figure below).

Stop at Last Node Mode

The process starts from the leaves (see part A in the figure below), as described previously. Attribute filter is not applied on the root elements except if the filter contains combinative criteria like T0.T1.T2.name=’toto’ (see part B in the figure below).

With the attribute filter enhancement, the path return cannot end by an instance/repinstance; if it is the case, the instantiated object must be returned (it could be a reference or a representation).

Example: Take the previous structure and think about the following criteria: I3.color=’blue’ OR I3.R3.name = ‘toto’.

If I3’s color is actually blue but R3’s name is not toto, then the entire branch should be returned. First because OK OR KO result is OK. (Please refer to previous truth table). The result cannot end by I3, an instance.

With the AND operator, the result will be different: OK AND KO result is KO.