The Nature of Characteristics
Definition
Characteristics are non-functional properties of repository objects, which are treated as separate objects. A characteristic provides the criteria according to which objects are classified.
Structure
Types of Characteristics
In the case of single-valued characteristics, objects can be classified by no more than one value. Multi-valued characteristics allow classification with multiple values.
Examples of characteristics are:
Characteristic |
Possible Values |
The object is accessible (single-valued) |
Yes/No |
Language (multi-valued) |
Serbian/Chinese/Thai/Korean/English/German and so on |
Implicit and Explicit Classifications
You can use the characteristics to assign different values to repository objects. This process is called classification.
Objects can be classified either explicitly or implicitly:
● When you directly assign a value to an object, you classify that object explicitly.
● When you link two objects and one object inherits the classification of the other, you classify them implicitly. For more information, see Creating Object Links.
In the case of single-valued characteristics, it is necessary to decide which value is the effective one.
● If the values are entered manually, their order in the grid of the Characteristics Builder defines which one is effective. In that case, the topmost value overrules all other values.
● If the values are taken from a value table, a lexicographic order is assumed. For example, if we take a single-valued characteristic with possible values B and C, value B is the effective classification.
The order can be affected by implementing the enhancement spot CLASSIFICATION_TOOL
● In the case of multi-valued characteristics, both implicit and explicit classifications are effective.
Integration
Characteristics are applied to a domain. The domain is defined by a set of repository object types. For more information, see Object Types and Object Type Groups.
The characteristic Transaction is Web-enabled is applicable only to the set of objects with the object type TRAN. Only transactions can be classified by this characteristic.
See also: