Association type attribute editor

More specifically the Editor of the Association role instance.

An association is a relationship between instances of a Class that has two roles, one for each instance of the Class. When editing a Class instance, the appropriate Association role is set.

The Association Instance Editor page is displayed by clicking the edit icon in the Class Instance Editor, and this Class is set as one Association page, one role. This role is fixed in the Association Editor and is represented by a link to the corresponding Class instance [1].  

The other side of the relationship, the relationship to some other Class, i.e. the second role of the Association, is set in the Association Editor. Depending on the definition of the association to the Class(es), a list of instances of this Class(es) is displayed in the table [2]. The control method is described in the chapter on table control.

The table contains a column with a selection element [3] for selecting a Class instance, a column with the name of the Class instance (base name*), and an "Open in new window" icon [4] that can be used to open a new browser window displaying the contents of the Class instance. Clicking on this link will display the Class Instance Editor in the newly opened browser window.

Clicking on the selection [3] assigns the Association role and effectively sets up the Association instance. Clicking the selection element again removes the Association instance.

In this way, multiple associations can be set/removed for the default Class, creating multiple Association instances if the Association role has the "Multiple" option set. In this case, a check box is displayed as a selection element and multiple instances of Classes can be selected.

If the "Multiple" option is not selected, only one selection from the Class Instances menu is allowed and a radio button is displayed as the selection element. To remove an instance of an association, the selection element (of type radio) is right-clicked.

editing by the Associations:

1. Link to an instance of the edited Class
2. List of instances of Classes that can be linked by a relationship (association)
3. Selection element for assigning an association
4. Link to view the contents of the Class instance in a new window
5. Full-text search settings
6. Class option to filter the list of linked Class instances
7. Select the type of use for filtering the list of linked Class instances
8. Icon to create a new instance of the respective Class

The list can be searched by full-text search [5]. The settings are described in the chapter on full-text search settings. The list of instances [2] can be further restricted (filtered) by the Mask (described in the chapter on table control), by the Class option [6] or by the criteria of their use or non-use in an association [7]. You can display all of them, or only those already used for an association, or only free, unused ones.

Clicking on the plus icon [8] displays the page for creating a new instance of the corresponding Class, which can be used to create a new instance of the Class and to display the Class Instance Editor page for editing the instance.

Use the browser's back button (left arrow) to return to editing the Association, along with refreshing the page (e.g., using the F5 key). The Association role is automatically set to the newly created Class instance.

If any Attributes (properties of the Association) are defined for the Association, additional columns are displayed in the Class Instance List [2].

 

editing of Associations with Attributes.

9. Selected Association Attributes (by Class view setting)
10. Link to the Association Attributes Editor page
11. Create a new association between the same Classes
12. Create a copy of the association, including the Attribute values

Depending on the view settings, the selected Attributes (properties) of the association [9] can also be displayed here, and the last column displays controls for viewing the Attributes of the selected association [10], or copying it.

Clicking on the "Detail" link [10] displays the Association Attributes Editor page, where individual values of the Association Attributes (properties) can be edited in a similar way to editing Class instance Attributes. When the pointer is placed on the "Detail" link, a panel with a group of selected Association Attributes is displayed when the "Tooltip" function is activated.

Clicking on the "plus" icon [11] will create a new Association instance between the two Class instances used and with empty Association Attribute values.

Clicking on the "two leaves" icon [12] creates a "clone", i.e. a copy of the Association instance between the two used Classes including the Association Attributes values.

The option to copy Association instances is only available for those associations that have the "Multiple" option set. If the "Multiple" option is not selected for the Association role setting (e.g. hierarchical binding), the copy icons are not displayed.