Lookup table and relationship attributes

Within the spec screen, you can select the lookup table and the relationship type attributes. Additional facets are available to control the display of these type of attributes.

Lookup table type attributes

This section focuses on the lookup table value display format type and the lookup table value display attribute type. These two types are optional facets available only for the lookup table type attributes.
These attribute types are available when defining any of the following:
  • File Spec
  • Primary Spec
  • Lookup Spec
  • Secondary Spec
  • Sub-Spec
  • Script Input Spec
These attribute types are not available for the Destination Spec type.
Lookup table value display format: This attribute type controls the display format of a lookup table type attribute. The following formatting options are available and you can pick one of the formatting options. By default, look up table type attribute values are displayed using the Primary Key format.
  • Primary Key
  • Display Attribute
  • Primary Key > Display Attribute
  • Lookup Table Name > Primary Key
  • Lookup Table Name > Display Attribute
  • Lookup Table Name > Primary Key > Display Attribute

Lookup table value display attribute: This attribute enables you to pick any attribute of the selected lookup table as the display attribute. A drop-down of all the attributes of the selected lookup table is displayed on the spec screen. You can select an attribute as the display attribute from this drop down. The first attribute in the drop-down is selected by default when the facet is added. The attribute can be the primary key of the lookup table as well. The lookup table attribute can be indexed or non-indexed.

Note: The lookup table entries are stored in the ITM table. If an item has an indexed lookup attribute, the value is stored in the ITA.ITA_NUMERIC_VALUE column of the ITA table. If you have an empty lookup attribute for an item, the respective entry for ITA.ITA_NUMERIC_VALUE is NULL and hence a search query that involves indexed lookup attribute does not fetch the items if the lookup attribute value is NULL.

Relationship type attributes

The relationship value display format attribute enables you to select the display format of the relationship attribute values. This optional attribute is available only for relationship type attributes. After an import, the value of the relationship attribute is displayed only for items.
The following formatting options are available and you can pick one of the formatting options. By default, relationship attribute values are displayed using the Catalog Name > Primary Key > Display Attribute format.
Note: The Display Attribute is the display attribute of the selected target catalog for the relationship attribute.
  • Primary Key
  • Display Attribute
  • Primary Key > Display Attribute
  • Catalog Name > Primary Key
  • Catalog Name > Display Attribute
  • Catalog Name > Primary Key > Display Attribute
This attribute displays when defining any of the following:
  • File Spec
  • Primary Spec
  • Lookup Spec
  • Secondary Spec
  • Sub-Spec
  • Script Input Spec
This attribute type is not available for the Destination Spec type.

Relationship type attributes allow users to save references in a given item to other items.

For example, lets say we want Item A in Catalog A to contain a reference to Item B in Catalog B. In order to contain this reference, you have to create a relationship attribute in a spec implemented by Item A and populate that attribute in item A with a reference to item B.

In the new business user interface, a related item is selected using the popup relationship editor. You can select the related item in one of the following ways:
  • Select the primary key of the related item from the key picker, or the display value of the related item from the display picker in the top section of the editor. You can choose the value from the dropdown, or type part of the value in the text field and select the desired value from the list of matches offered. If you do not select a valid value before clicking OK, you are prompted to choose a valid value. You can use click Cancel to exit out of the relationship editor without choosing a valid value. When you type in the entire matching value, verify that your value selections become visible before you click OK. This is to ensure that the values are populated correctly.
  • Browse for the related item in the hierarchy tree in the Search and Browse for items section.
  • Search for related items using the search fields in the Search and Browse for items section and choose the desired related item from the search results.