Set Up Entities and Containment Relationships

Entity instances are added in the Debugger using their containment relationships. To do this:

  1. Launch the Debugger.
  2. Switch to the Data tab.
  3. In the left hand pane, select the containment relationship for the entity. Containment relationships are indicated by a green multi-cube icon.
  4. In the right hand pane, select Add instance.

    The Add instance button in the Data view of the Debugger
    An entity instance will appear below the containment relationship in the left hand pane. Entity instances are indicated by a blue cube icon.

    Entity instance added to data view in Debugger

    It can be useful to provide a value now for the identifying attribute for the entity instance. This will make it easier to distinguish between the entity instances when debugging.
  5. In the left hand pane, select the entity instance. In the right hand pane, double-click the identifying attribute (for example, 'the child').

    Identifying attribute selected in right hand pane of Data view in Debugger
  6. In the Set Attribute Value dialog, enter a value for the attribute.
  7. Click OK.The Data view has been updated to use the value instead of the generic entity label.

    Data view in Debugger showing identifying attribute for entity instance
  8. Repeat this process for each entity instance.

For entities contained within other entities, instances are created in the same way as above, using the containment relationships within the existing instances.

Tip: Alternatively, you can create an entity instance in the Debugger from within a Word or Excel rules document. Simply put your cursor in the entity-level attribute in the rule and select Go To. In the pop-up window, select View in debugger and then Add instance. The Debugger will open and the entity instance will have been created.

To delete an entity instance, either:

  • Select the entity instance in the left hand pane on the Data tab. Then, right-click and select Delete instance. OR
  • Select the containment relationship in the left hand pane on the Data tab. Then in the right hand pane, select the entity instance text and click the Delete instance button.

The selected entity instance will be removed from the list of entity instances for that entity.