Retrieving descriptor dimension values

The Navigation and Dimension classes have methods for getting descriptor dimensions and their dimension values.

1. Access the Navigation object from the query results object.
2. After the application has retrieved the Navigation object, retrieve a list of dimensions (a DimensionList object) that contain descriptors with:

   Option	Description
   Java	Navigation.getDescriptorDimensions() method
   .NET	Navigation.DescriptorDimensions property

   These calls return descriptor dimension values. An alternative way is to use:

   Option	Description
   Java	Navigation.getDescriptorDimGroups() method
   .NET	Navigation.DescriptorDimGroups property

   These calls return a list of dimension groups (a DimGroupList object) instead of a list of dimensions. Each dimension group then contains a list of one or more dimensions with descriptors.

   If one of the descriptors is a hierarchical ancestor of another, the MDEX Engine consolidates descriptors into single dimensions. The only exception to this is when a dimension is marked for multi-select. When a dimension is marked for multi-select and or multi-select or, the consolidation is not made and each descriptor gets its own dimension object.

3. Once a descriptor dimension has been retrieved, use these calls to extract various selected dimension value information from the dimension:

   Option	Description
   Dimension.getDescriptor() method (Java) and Dimension.Descriptor property (.NET)	Retrieve the dimension value that has been selected from this dimension.
   Dimension.getAncestors() method (Java) and Dimension.Ancestors property (.NET)	Retrieve a list of the ancestors of the descriptor of this dimension. Each member of this list is also a selected dimension value from the same dimension as the descriptor. The distinction between each member of this list and the descriptor is that each ancestor is a hierarchical ancestor to the descriptor by the dimension structure. These ancestors are ordered from parent to child.

Navigation nav = ENEQueryResults.getNavigation();
// Get list of the dimensions with descriptors
DimensionList dl = nav.getDescriptorDimensions();
// Loop through the list
for (int I=0; I < dl.size(); I++) {
  // Get a dimension from the list
  Dimension d = (Dimension)dl.get(I);
  // Get the descriptor and then its name and ID
  DimVal desc = d.getDescriptor();
  String descName = desc.getName();
  long descId = desc.getId();
  // Get list of descriptor’s ancestors and their info
  DimValList ancs = d.getAncestors();
  for (int J=0; J < ancs.size(); J++) {
    DimVal anc = (DimVal)ancs.get(J);
    String ancName = anc.getName();
    long ancId = anc.getId();
  }
}

Navigation nav = ENEQueryResults.Navigation;
// Get list of the dimensions with descriptors
DimensionList dl = nav.DescriptorDimensions;
// Loop through the list
for (int I=0; I < dl.Count; I++) {
  // Get a dimension from the list
  Dimension d = (Dimension)dl[I];
  // Get the descriptor and then its name and ID
  DimVal desc = d.Descriptor;
  string descName = desc.getName();
  long descId = desc.Id;
  // Get list of descriptor’s ancestors and their info
  DimValList ancs = d.Ancestors;
  for (int J=0; J < ancs.Count; J++) {
    DimVal anc = (DimVal)ancs[J];
    String ancName = anc.Name;
    long ancId = anc.Id;
  }
}

<table>
<%
Navigation nav = ENEQueryResults.getNavigation();
DimensionList dl = nav.getDescriptorDimensions();
for (int I=0; I < dl.size(); I++) {
  Dimension d = (Dimension)dl.get(I);
  %> <tr>
  <%
  DimValList ancs = d.getAncestors();
  for (int J=0; J < ancs.size(); J++) {
    DimVal anc = (DimVal)ancs.get(J);
    %> <td><%= anc.getName() %>
<%
  }
  DimVal desc = d.getDescriptor();
  %> <td><%= desc.getName() %></td></tr>
  <%
}
%>
</table>

<table>
<%
Navigation nav = ENEQueryResults.Navigation;
DimensionList dl = nav.DescriptorDimensions;
for (int I=0; I < dl.Count; I++) {
  Dimension d = (Dimension)dl[I];
  %> <tr>
  <%
  DimValList ancs = d.Ancestors;
  for (int J=0; J < ancs.Count; J++) {
    DimVal anc = (DimVal)ancs[J];
    %> <td><%= anc.Name %>
<%
  }
  DimVal desc = d.Descriptor;
  %> <td><%= desc.Name %></td></tr>
  <%
}
%>
</table>