Creating Variables

Use the following syntax to include variables that contain long lists of constant or static data. This syntax builds a static list once and reuses it on each reference

<defvar name=’states’>
    <List>
      <String>Alabama</String>
            ...
    </List>
</defvar>

The former syntax is preferable to <list><s>Alabama</s>...</list>, which builds a new list each time it is referenced.

You must use balanced parentheses in form variable values and when naming Identity Manager objects. If you use parentheses in object names or form variables, they must be balanced (that is, for every ’(’ there is a corresponding ’)’). This allows all form variable expansions to expand properly. (Unbalanced parentheses will result in an error.)

For example, when a resource name contains unbalanced parentheses, you can neither edit or delete the user object of any user to whom this resource has been assigned. However, the pertinent error message will indicate that the failure is caused by unbalanced parentheses in the specific resource name.