Adding an Object as a Delta Link or as a Copy

This section explains the difference between adding portal objects as delta links and as copies, and describes the options for adding them from the different tiles in the navigation panel.

Delta Links

If you add an existing object to the structured hierarchy of a role or a workset as a delta link:

The object is linked to the source object. Both the source object and the target object do not exist independently of each other. The dependency is always in the direction: source object –> target object.
The object can be changed within the role. For example, entries can be deleted or added in linked worksets. Properties of iViews and pages can be changed. These changes have no effect on the source object.
If the source object is changed, these changes are copied to the target object. For example, if you change the properties of an iView, the changed properties are transferred to all iViews that were derived from this iView.

For more information, see How Are Portal Objects Linked? and How Are Object Properties Inherited?.

Copies

If you add an existing object to a role or a workset as a copy, the copied object no longer references the object from which it was copied.

Procedure

You can add an object to a role in a number of ways:

From the Portal Catalog, choose Add <Object> to Role Delta Link or Add <Object> to Role Copy from the context menu of the object.
From the Detailed View of an object other than the role or workset that you are editing, choose Copy <Object> to Role from the context menu of the object.
From the My Objects list, choose Add <Object> to Role Delta Link or Add <Object> to Role Copy from the context menu of the object.

Similar options are available for worksets.

More Information

You can only see if an object was added as a copy or as a delta link in the properties of the linked object. The property list of a delta link includes both the Delta Link Target and PCD Location properties. The PCD Location displays the ID of the child object of the delta link. The property list of a copy, on the other hand, includes only the PCD Location property.