Populating Drop-Down Lists with Entity Links Using New 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 a new specification:
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From the Studio menu, select Show Design Perspective.
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Click the Dictionary tab.
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Select the data element that you want to tag as a characteristic.
The Data Element tab appears in the Data Schema editor.
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Click the Settings tab.
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In the Control Type field, ensure that DropDown is selected.
See “About Control Types" for more information.
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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.
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In the Drop Down Options field, select Entity Link.
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In the Entity Link area, click the Entity link.
The New Studio Entity dialog box appears.
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Select an entity type, then click Next.
The Entity Specification Wizard appears. See "Creating New Specifications" for more information.
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Configure the properties of the new specification.
See "Specification Editor" for more information.
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When you finish configuring the new specification, return to the Data Schema editor.
The new specification is displayed in the Entity Link area.
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From the File menu, select Save.