IBM Content Navigator, Version 2.0.3

Search criteria behavior for EDS implementations of dependent choice lists

You can implement dependent choice lists in search criteria in IBM® Content Navigator by using an external data service (EDS) or IBM Content Manager foreign keys. However, dependent choice lists that are provided by an EDS or foreign keys in search criteria behave somewhat differently from how dependent choice lists behave elsewhere in IBM Content Navigator.

Restriction: EDS support and IBM Content Manager foreign key support for dependent choice lists in search criteria apply only to single-class searches. Dependent choice lists that are provided through EDS and foreign keys cannot be used in cross-repository searches, multiple class searches, or the IBM Content Manager All pseudo-class.

Runtime behavior when users specify a parent property multiple times in the search criteria

If a property that has dependent (child) choice lists is added to the search criteria more than once, the last parent property whose value is updated controls the child choice list. For example, if the Country property is specified twice in the search criteria, first with the value United States and then later in the list with the value Brazil, the dependent State choice list will contain the choice list for states in Brazil. Users should therefore specify parent properties of dependent choice lists only once in a search.

To enable users to specify more than one value for a parent property, you can implement EDS so that it can handle multiple value updates for properties that have dependent choice lists. Then, users can use smart operators such as Include Any to specify multiple values for a property that has dependent choice lists. For example, if you use the Include Any operator and add United States and Brazil to the Country property, then the State property receives a choice list containing the states in the United States and Brazil.

Runtime behavior when users update the parent value of a dependent choice list

When users update the value of a parent property that has a child choice list, the selected value in the child choice list either persists or is cleared depending on whether the current value is available as an option in the new choice list.

The following behaviors occur with the current value in the child choice list when users update the value of the parent property:

If the current child choice list value is among the values in the child choice list, the current child choice list value remains selected when the parent property is modified.
If the current child choice list value is not available among the values that are in the new child choice list, the child choice list value is cleared (no value is selected) when the parent property is modified.