Populating Drop-Down Lists with Entity Links Using Existing Specifications

Entity links enable you to populate the drop-down list with the names of all entities created from the selected specification. For example, if you specify a Logical Device specification named Customer Edge Router, the drop-down list includes the names of all Logical Device instances created from the Customer Edge Router specification.

To populate a drop-down list with the names of entity instances created from an existing specification:

Open the Data Schema editor.
In the Dictionary area, select a data element.

The data element subtabs appear in the Element area.
Click the Settings tab.
In the Control Type field, ensure that DropDown is selected.

See "About Control Types" for more information.
Click the Characteristics tab.

The fields on this tab are read-only if the data element is not tagged as a characteristic. See "Tagging Data Elements as Characteristics" for more information.
In the Drop Down Options field, select Entity Link.
In the Entity Link area, click Select.

The Entity Selection dialog box appears, containing a list of available specifications.
Select a specification in the list.

To shorten the list of specifications, enter characters in the Select an item to open field. The list displays specifications whose names begin with the characters you enter. You can use the wildcard characters shown in the dialog box.
Click OK.

The specification you selected is displayed in the Entity Link area.
(Optional) Click the Entity link.

The editor for the selected specification opens.
(Optional) To remove a selected specification from the Entity Link area, click Clear.
From the File menu, select Save.