Creating, Editing, and Deleting Attributes

You can create, edit, and delete attributes for types, attributes groups, and extensions.

Important: You can only create, edit, and delete attributes for types, attributes groups, or extensions that have never been imported, exported, nor used to create objects.

This task shows you how to:

See Also
Creating, Editing, and Deleting Types
Creating and Deleting Attributes Groups
Creating, Editing, and Deleting Extensions
Tiles Locks
Exporting and Importing Specializations
Copying a Specialization Element's Full Name

Create Attributes

You can create attributes for types, attributes groups, and extensions.

Important: You can only create attributes for types, attributes groups, or extensions that have never been imported, exported, nor used to create objects.

Before you begin: You must have created the type, the attributes group, or the extension to which you want to add attributes.
  1. Open the type, attributes group, or extension to which you want to add attributes.
  2. Click Attributes to open its Attributes tab.
  3. From the top-right hand corner of the widget, click Create a new attribute and select the type of the attribute you want to create.
    A Create a new [attribute type] attribute dialog box opens. This dialog box allows you to create up to three attributes at the same time. There is one row per attribute. Attribute properties are organized into the following categories: Basics, Values, Behaviors, and Translations. To go to a specific category, you can click its name or use the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the dialog box.
  4. For each attribute, fill in its properties as follows:

    Property Category Property Steps
    Basics Name Enter a name for your attribute.

    The name you enter must comply with the following rules:

    • Only [a-z][A-Z][0-9] characters are supported.
    • The name must start with a letter.
    • The name cannot start with XP_.
    • You cannot use a name that has already been used for any DS OOTB element or any existing specialization element.

    Important: You cannot edit this property once the attribute is created.
    Predicate To support 6W-based searches, click the field and select a predicate from the list that most closely matches the purpose of the new attribute.
    Note: The list only displays predicates that are compatible with the attribute type.
    Length
    Note: This property is only available for string attributes.

    Enter a number to specify the maximum length of the value that the end user can enter. Leaving this field blank or entering 0 means no limit.

    Note: You can edit this property at any time after creation of the attribute, but only to increase the number you have defined.
    Recommendation: To optimize the storage resources, define a length that is less than 1000.
    Dimension
    Note: This property is only available for attributes with dimension.

    Click the field and select a dimension from the list.
    Preferred Unit
    Note: This property is only available for attributes with dimension.

    Click the field and select a unit of measurement from the list.

    Available units depend on the dimension you have selected.

    The unit appears in end-user apps.
    Values Authorized values
    Note: This property is only available for string and integer attributes.
    1. To restrict the values for this attribute to specific values, enter a semicolon-separated list of authorized values. Do not insert spaces between values. Only [a-z][A-Z][0-9] characters are supported.

      For example: value1;value2;value3. Users can only select one of the defined values and cannot enter any different value.

      Note: The authorized values you have entered may appear in a different order on your Enterprise IP Schema Specialization widget and on the end-user apps. They may also appear in a different order when you export/import the specializations that contain them. You cannot control this order.
    2. Click and enter translations for the authorized values you have defined.
    Default value If appropriate, enter a default value for the attribute:
    • For string attributes, enter the text.
    • For Booleans attributes, select True or False.
    • For date attributes, select a date from the calendar
    • For integer and real attributes, enter a number.

    If you have defined an authorized values list, the default value must be one of the authorized values.

    If you enable the Multivalue property, you cannot enter a default value and must leave the field blank.
    Editability by users Click the field and select a user access.

    Read-only means that the value can only be entered using an external app (based on CAA/Automation programming) and not by a native app or web app user.
    Behaviors Multivalue Toggle to blue to enable. When enabled, the user can enter more than one value for the attribute.
    Multiline
    Note: This property is only available for string attributes.
    		 Toggle to blue to enable. When enabled, the data entry field can spread over several lines in the client apps' user interfaces.
    Searchable Toggle to blue to enable. When enabled, you can use 3DSearch for filtering in the Advanced Search. If you also selected a predicate, the attribute can be used in 6WTags filtering.
    Reset when duplicated Toggle to blue to enable. When enabled, the value for this attribute is reset to the default value, if any, when the object is duplicated. When disabled, the current value is copied to the duplicated object.
    Reset when versioned Toggle to blue to enable. When enabled, the value for this attribute is reset to the default value, if any, when the object is versioned. When disabled, the current value is copied to the new version.
    Export in 3DXML Toggle to blue to enable. When enabled, the attributes can be exported to 3D XML, a proprietary XML-based format used to export and import 3D data. This option applies only to native apps.

    If you export 3D XML data and import the file to another server, the exported attribute is only imported on the destination server if it is also available on the destination server. That is, if this option is true for the attribute on the export server but false on the import server, the attribute is not imported.

    Translation Language fields For each language, enter a translation for your attribute name.

  5. Click Save.

Edit an Attribute

You can edit the attributes of any type, attributes group, or extension that has not been imported, exported, or used to create objects.

  1. Open the type, attributes group, or extension whose attribute you want to edit.
  2. Click Attributes to open its Attributes tab.
  3. Click the attribute you want to edit.

    Note: You can only edit owned attributes, that is attributes that appear on a white background.
    Tip: If you want to edit an attribute that appears in red, that is an attribute that belongs to a type's or extension's super type or super extension, open this super type or super extension.
    Important: You cannot edit attributes of OOTB DS types.

    A panel opens on the right side of the widget and displays the attribute's properties.
  4. Click Edit.
  5. Edit the properties you want to modify.

    You cannot edit the Name nor the Type properties. You can only edit the Length property to increase its value. Properties that you cannot edit appear grayed out.

  6. Click Save.

Delete an Attribute

You can delete the attributes of any type, attributes group, or extension that has not been imported, exported, or used to create objects.

  1. Open the type, attributes group, or extension whose attribute you want to delete.
  2. Click Attributes to open its Attributes tab.
  3. Click the attribute you want to delete.

    Note: You can only delete owned attributes, that is attributes that appear on a white background.
    Tip: If you want to delete an attribute that appears in red, that is an attribute that belongs to a type's or extension's super type or super extension, open this super type or super extension.
    Important: You cannot delete attributes of OOTB DS types.

    A panel opens on the right side of the widget and displays the attribute's properties.
  4. Click Delete attribute.

    Warning: There is no confirmation message and this action is irreversible.