When you want to edit items in bulk, you select some items of the same type, determine the way you want to edit them (Step Edit, List Edit, or Apply to All), and select a property group. A property group contains a set of properties defined for a given item type that you can edit at the same time in the Multi Edit tab. There are no property groups provided out-of-the-box, so if you want to edit items in bulk, you need to define them yourself. You can use Step Edit without defining a property group because it provides a default list of properties that includes all defined for a given item, but it’s a good idea to restrict the display to a smaller set. There’s no way to use Apply to All or List Edit without creating property groups.
Before you create property groups, consider how they will be used. The property groups you create should be appropriate for a given task, such as Update all SKU Images or Restructure a Catalog. In other words, organize properties in a group that will be updated by the same user in the same manner. Consider the task of re-structuring a catalog. A property group for this task should include properties, such as Fixed Child Products and Parent Category, that you use for adjusting asset locations. You could use Apply to All mode, so the new parent category is edited once and the new value applied to the selected products, for example. Other properties in this property group should also provide one value to all products; adding a property such as Keyword to this property group is a good choice while adding Name is not.
Properties can be part of as many property groups as you like. When you build your property groups, keep in mind that you can make some properties read-only as a point of reference, even if they are editable in other tabs. See below for instructions.
If a property group is designed for a given workflow task, you can configure it to display only to the users performing tasks that require it. By default, all property groups are available to all users. When users can see a property group, it is visible to Step Edit, List Edit and Apply to All modes.
Consider a property group that lets users update the auto-applied roles and organization roles associated with an organization in Step Edit mode. Here’s how you create that property group:
Create one item mapping for organizations that supports the multi edit map mode. Provide values to the following properties as follows:
In the Name text box, provide a name that identifies your custom property group. The name is used by the task configuration file to determine the circumstances in which the property group is visible to users. If all property groups should be visible at the same time, provide the same name to all property groups. Note that the item mapping is identified in the list to the left by an automatically generated ID not the name you are providing for it now.
In the Map mode text box, specify
AssetManager.multiEdit.In the Item name text box, enter the item type or subtype. In this case, enter
organization.In the Item path text box, enter the path and name to the repository that holds the item type or subtype you entered in the Item name property. In this case, enter
/atg/userprofiling/ProfileAdapterRepository:organization.In the Form handler text box, enter the default form handler,
AssetManager AssetRepositoryFormHandler.
Note: In general you need one item mapping per item type that supports the multi edit map mode. If your item type has subtypes, you can also create an item mapping for each subtype, so your property groups can be tailored to your subtypes.
Click OK.
Create an item view mapping for each property group.
In the Name text box, provide a name that identifies your property group. Note that the item mapping is identified in the list to the left by an automatically generated ID not the name you are providing for it now.
In the View text box, provide the name of the item view used in the item view mapping for this item type with
AssetManager.editmode.
Click OK.
Identify the properties that should display in the property group as described in the Specifying Properties to Display section. In this case, you use the
specificPropertieskey and define an object to holdrolesandrelativeRolesproperties.Add the name of the new item view mapping to the
viewMappingsproperty in the new item mapping.Click Save.
Specify your property group in the task configuration file as described in Updating View Mapping Settings in a Task Configuration File.
To make editable properties read-only when viewed in a property group, follow these steps:
Create the property group as instructed above.
In the Property mappings text box, enter the property view mapping used for items of that type in
AssetManager.viewmode. The best way to find the property view mapping is to locate the item view mapping used for items of that type in view mode and check thepropertyMappingsproperty.Click OK.
