Overview

Dependencies can be configured between pulldown menu fields in Tracker such that the option menu values displayed in one pulldown menu can be dependent on the option menu value selected in another pulldown menu. Pulldown B is dependent on Pulldown A. When a user selects a value in Pulldown A, the values displayed in Pulldown B are changed. Pulldown A is the parent pulldown and Pulldown B is the child pulldown. A simple example to illustrate this functionality:

A system has the pulldown fields called Product and Component with the option menu values listed below.

Product

• -Select- (default)
• Our Computer
• Our Printer

Component

• -Select- (default)
• Hard Drive
• Video Card
• Ink
• Paper Tray

The Component field is dependent on the Product field, which results in the following behavior:

• When Our Computer is selected as the Product, the values available to be selected in the Component field are None (the default value), Hard Drive, and Video Card. This relationship is illustrated in the figure below.
• When Our Printer is selected as the Product, the values available to be selected in the Component fields are None (the default value), Ink, and Paper Tray

This behavior is achieved by configuring dependencies between the Product and Component pulldown fields.

Topics Covered In This Section

• Configuring a Pulldown to be Dependent on Another - describes how parent and child pulldowns are related.
• Set up the Child Pulldown Menu to select a Parent Pulldown - describes how to connect a specific parent pulldown to a child pulldown.
• Special Cases - describes fields that cannot be configured to be dependent or otherwise have non-standard properties when involved in a dependency.
• Configure relationships between option menu values in the parent pulldown and the child pulldown - explains how to select which child items will be displayed when a parent item is selected.
• Pulldown Dependencies List - how to see a list of which pulldowns are configured in a dependency.
• Dependent Relationships with Multiple Levels of Hierarchy - how to set up a pulldown dependency hierarchy with more than two levels.
• Setting Defaults for Dependencies - how to configure which item(s) will be displayed by default.
• Effects of Making Dependent Pulldowns Invisible - describes how fields behave and values are affected in scenarios where a dependent field is not visible.
• Effects of Making Changes to Dependent Pulldowns - explains how existing records are affected when dependencies are changed or removed.

Select a pulldown field to be the parent pulldown, then select a pulldown field to be the child pulldown menu. Multiple dependencies on a single parent pulldown can be configured. For example, Pulldowns B, C, and D are all dependent on Pulldown A, that is to say, Pulldowns B, C, and D are all children of Pulldown A. Dependencies can be configured to span multiple levels as well. For instance, Pulldown C is dependent on Pulldown B and Pulldown B is dependent on Pulldown A.

Set up the Child Pulldown Menu to select a Parent Pulldown

To configure the child pulldown menu so that a particular pulldown is selected to be the parent pulldown,

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Fields link
4. Click on the Edit button to the left of the pulldown field that will act as the child pulldown menu
5. In the Edit Pulldown Attributes section, select the field that will act as the parent pulldown in the Parent Pulldown field (as shown in the figure below).
6. Click on the OK button to save this change.

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Special Cases

Please note that the fields Status, Assigned To, or Reported By cannot be involved in a dependent relationship. The only dependencies that can be created based on these fields is via the Workflows section.

Pulldown fields configured as User Pulldowns can be a parent to another pulldown, but cannot be a child of any pulldown.

The "Search Pulldown" style allows users to type in key words to find any option menu items that match the criteria. This style is recommended if you anticipate having a large number of option menu items in a pulldown field. When there is a large number of option menu items in the field and the display style is something other than "Search Pulldown", all of the option menu items are displayed in the field, which can impact performance as the browser loads all of the available option menu items. With the "Search Pulldown" style selected, only the items that match a search are loaded, minimizing the time needed for the browser to render the field.

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Configure relationships between option menu values in the parent pulldown and the child pulldown

Tracker must be configured to show which option menu values in the child pulldown correspond to each option menu value in the parent pulldown. This configuration will determine which values should be displayed in the child pulldown when a particular value is selected in the parent pulldown field.

When specifying a parent pulldown field for the child pulldown field, Tracker will automatically create implicit relationships to relate the option menu items in the parent pulldown menu with the option menu items in the child pulldown menu. This is done to ensure that each parent option menu item is related to at least one option menu item from the child pulldown menu. The following example shows a temporary (implicit) relationship created automatically for a parent pulldown menu. The item "-Select- * " listed in the "Associated" column is an implicit relationship.

These temporary (implicit) relationship(s) are just a starting point after configuring a dependent relationship. In this section, you will have the opportunity to change the implicit relationships created by Tracker. Once you create an explicit relationship as mentioned in the steps below, the implicit relationship(s) will be removed.

There are 2 ways to configure the relationships between the option menu items in the parent and child pulldown fields:

• By mapping child option menu values to corresponding parent option menu values
• By mapping parent option menu values to corresponding child option menu values

To map the values with respect to the parent pulldown menu,

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Fields link
4. Click on the Items button to the left of the parent pulldown menu
5. Click on the Item Dependencies button
6. The Option Menu Item field will contain the option menu items configured for the parent pulldown menu. Make a selection in this field so that you can configure option menu items from the child pulldown to be associated to this option menu item from the parent pulldown.
7. The Associated Option Menu field will contain all option menus that are associated with the parent pulldown. The option menu items of the pulldown that you select in this field will be displayed in the columns below to be associated or unassociated to the parent option menu item selected in the Option Menu Item field.
8. Any child option menu items already associated with the parent option menu item will be displayed in the left column called Associated. Any child option menu items in the Associated column proceeded by "*" are implicit relationships (these relationships were made when the parent pulldown was selected for the child pulldown field in the Edit Attributes section of the Fields page).

   Any child option menu items not associated with the parent option menu item will be displayed in the right column called Not Associated. A child option menu item temporarily associated to the parent (proceeded by "*") will also be listed in the Not Associated column without "*".

   To select a pulldown menu value to be associated to the parent pulldown menu value, click on the child option menu item in the Not Associated column, then click on the Add button. The child option menu item will be moved to the Associated column. To select multiple child option menu items, hold the Shift key on your keyboard while clicking on multiple values.

   As soon as ANY child option menu item from the Not Associated column is added to the Associated column, any implicitly associated child option menu item (proceeded by "*") will be removed from the Associated column. When you choose to associate a child option menu item to a parent option menu item manually, you are creating an explicit relationship. Any explicit relationship removes the implicit (temporary) relationship created automatically by Tracker.

9. Select another parent option menu item in the Option Menu Item field, then choose the corresponding child option menu items to be associated.
10. After assigning child option menu items to each parent option menu item listed in the Option Menu Item field, click on the OK button to return to the Manage Menu Items section.

The following figure shows the result of associating option menu items from one pulldown to another. "Our Computer" is an option menu item of the "Product" field. The "Product" field is a parent to the "Component" field. The "Component" field has the option menu items "Other", "Video Card", and "Hard Drive", which have been associated to the "Our Computer" option menu item. "Component" also has the option menu items "-Select-", "Paper Tray" and "Ink", which are unassociated with the "Our Computer" option menu item.

To map the values with respect to the child pulldown menu,

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Fields link
4. Click on the Items button to the left of the child pulldown menu
5. Click on the Item Dependencies button
6. The Option Menu Item field will contain the option menu items configured for the child pulldown. Make a selection in this field so that you can configure option menu items from the parent pulldown to be associated to this option menu item from the child pulldown.
7. The Associated Option Menu field will contain all option menus that are associated with the child pulldown. The option menu items of the pulldown that you select in this field will be displayed in the columns below to be associated or unassociated to the child option menu item selected in the Option Menu Item field.
8. Any parent option menu items already associated with the child option menu item will be displayed in the left column called Associated. Any parent option menu items in the Associated column proceeded by "*" are implicit relationships (these relationships were made when the parent pulldown was selected for the child pulldown field in the Edit Attributes section of the Fields page).

   Any parent option menu items not associated with the child option menu item will be displayed in the right column called Not Associated. A parent option menu item temporarily associated to the child (proceeded by "*") will also be listed in the Not Associated column without "*".

   To select a option menu value to be associated to the child option menu value, click on the parent option menu item, then click on the Add button. The parent option menu item will be moved to the Associated column. To select multiple parent option menu items, hold the Shift key on your keyboard while clicking on multiple values.

   As soon as ANY parent option menu item from the Not Associated column is added to the Associated column, any implicitly associated parent option menu item (proceeded by "*") will be removed from the Associated column. When you choose to associate a parent option menu item to a child option menu item manually, you are creating an explicit relationship. Any explicit relationship removes the temporary (implicit) relationship created automatically by Tracker.

9. Select another child pulldown menu item in the Option Menu Item field, then choose the corresponding parent pulldown menu items to be associated.
10. After assigning parent menu items to each child menu item listed in Option Menu Item field, click on the OK button to return to the Manage Menu Items section.

The following figure shows the result of associating option menu items from one pulldown to another. "Video Card" is an option menu item of the "Component" field. The "Component" field is a child of the "Product" field. The "Product" field has the option menu item "Our Computer", which has been associated to the "Video Card" option menu item. "Product" also has the option menu items "-Select-", "Other" and "Our Printer", which are unassociated with the "Video Card" option menu item.

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To see a list of which pulldown fields are involved in dependent relationships:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Fields link
4. Click on the Pulldown Dependencies link in the upper right
5. Any pulldowns involved in a dependency will be displayed as in the Pulldown Dependencies Sample

Pulldown Dependencies Sample

The sample below shows the various pulldown fields that are involved in dependent relationships.

• The Product field is parent to 2 pulldowns: Platform and Component
• The Component field is parent to the Sub-Component field
• The Request Type field is parent to the Severity field

Click on the down arrow to the right of each field to browse to:

• Item List - Selecting this option will display the list of option menu items for that field

• Item Dependencies - Selecting this option will display the Item Dependencies page for that field, where option menu items can be mapped to the field's parent or child pulldown(s).

• Item Defaults - Selecting this option will display the Item Defaults page for the field, where the default options specific to the dependent relationships are configured. This option will only be available for fields that have a parent pulldown.

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Dependent relationships between pulldown menus can span multiple levels. For instance, Pulldown A can be the parent of Pulldown B. Pulldown B is the parent of Pulldown C. This is a 3 level dependent relationship. Multiple level hierarchies (with 3 or more levels) are displayed slightly differently than a relationship where there is only 2 levels (one parent and its child pulldown menus). For multiple level hierarchies, the complete tree structure of all of the pulldown menus involved is displayed in the Item Dependencies page for each pulldown. The figure below demonstrates a 3 level hierarchy with the following dependencies established:

Product > Component > Sub-Component

The Product field represents the root (or highest) level in the hierarchy. The figure below shows the relationships between the Component field and Sub-component, its child pulldown.

This figure displays which option menu items from "Sub-Component" are associated with "Paper Tray", an option menu item in the Component field. In the Associated Items column, the option menu item "Sub-component 1"is associated with "Paper Tray". The option menu item "Sub-component 2" is unassociated with "Paper Tray".

Note the items "[-] Our Printer" and "[-] Paper Tray" in the tree structure displayed in this figure. "[-] Our Printer" is an option menu item of the Product field (from the root or highest level of the hierarchy). "[-] Paper Tray" is an option menu item of Component field (the second level of the hierarchy). When multiple level hierarchies exist in Tracker, the Item Dependencies page for a pulldown menu will display the tree structure higher than its own level. So, in the example explained above, the figure shows the Item Dependencies page for the Component field and also shows the level above Component.

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Because dependencies can be mapped such that the option menu item that is the "global default" (the default for the field involved in the dependent relationship) is not a valid selection, you can specify defaults for each parent-child mapping. The defaults should only be selected after mapping the relationships between the menu items in the Item Dependencies page. Instructions on mapping pulldown menu items can be found in the Configure relationships between option menu values in the parent pulldown and the child pulldown section.

For example, let's say the Product is parent to Component with the following values

• Product: Product A, Product B
• Component: 10, 20, 30 , 40

The following relationships are set up between Product and Component:

• Product A > 10, 30, 40
• Product B > 20, 30, 40

To set the defaults for a parent-child mapping:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Fields link
4. Click on the Items button
5. Click on the Default Items button
6. A tree structure will be displayed. Each parent option menu item will be preceded by "[-]". Under each parent option menu item, the related child option menu items will be displayed. If a parent option menu item does not appear on this page, this indicates that the parent item does not have any child items related (or mapped) to it.

   Select one child option menu item to be the default value for each parent. To set the child option menu item as the default, click on the child option menu item, then click on the Toggle Default button. Once the child option menu item has been set as the default, "[Default]" will be noted after the name of the child option menu item.

7. Click OK to return to the Manage Menu Items page.

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A field can be set such that it is not visible in certain areas of Tracker or to certain groups by configuring the field visibility settings. When a field that is involved in a dependency is not visible on a page where values are being set (e.g. Add, Edit, Task pages), the values saved in the record will still adhere to the dependencies that were mapped for the related fields. Some examples are explained below to illustrate this concept.

All of the following examples are based on this sample configuration:

• The field Component is the parent of the Sub-Component field.
• Component has the values: A, B
• Sub-Component has the values: A1, A2, B1, B2
• Component A is mapped to Sub-Components A1 and A2; A1 is the default.
• Component B is mapped to Sub-Components B1 and B2; B1 is the default.

A record has Component set to "A" and Sub-Component set to "A2". Let's say you go to the Edit Page of this record and change the Component field to "B" and click on the "Update Fields" button. When you view this record, the Sub-Component field will have been changed to the value "B1" even though the field was not visible on the Edit Page when the change was made. This occurs because when the parent field (Component) is changed, all child fields (like Sub-Component) have to be reset to a value that corresponds to mappings configured for the dependent fields. In this case, "B1" was set as the value because it is the default for Sub-Component when the Component field is set to "B". The same behavior will occur when using the Task operation to modify a record.

Example 2: A record is modified using the Task operation. Component is not visible on the Task Page, but Sub-Component is visible on this page.

A record has Component set to "A" and Sub-Component set to "A2". Let's say you are using the Task operation on this record and click on the Sub-Component field. The only available values for this field will be "A1" and "A2". This occurs because when the parent field (Component) is not visible, any child fields (Sub-Component) can only display values that correspond to the current value in the parent field based on the mappings configured for the fields. The same behavior will occur when using the Add and Edit Pages.

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Dependent relationships between pulldown fields can be established at any time and also can be removed at any time. Because these changes can be made before and / or after problem records have been added, there are situations where these changes in the dependent relationships could result in additional changes with respect to the option menu items of the pulldowns involved. During the course of changing the relationship between pulldown fields (either when editing a pulldown's parent or modifying the mapping in the Item Dependencies section), Tracker will prompt the user with information about the effects of changing dependent relationships. Examples of such changes are discussed below. The following sample multiple level hierarchy is provided to illustrate the examples below:

Product > Component > Request Type > Priority

In addition, the root level is the highest level in the hierarchy (the Product field in this example). The intermediate leaf level are the levels in the middle of the hierarchy (the Component or Request Type fields). The last leaf level is the lowest level in the hierarchy (the Priority field in this example).

Click on the example to see an explanation of the effects

1. Pulldown Field at the root or last leaf level deleted
2. Pulldown Field at an intermediate leaf level deleted
3. Option Menu Item deleted from a pulldown menu involved at any level
4. Parent Pulldown changed to <No Pulldown>
5. The associations between an Option Menu Item and the next lower level are removed
6. Parent Pulldown changed to another pulldown field

Explanations for the above cases

1. Pulldown Field at the root or last leaf level deleted in the Fields section - When a pulldown field is deleted, any parent or child pulldown fields associated with the removed field will become independent of the relationship. The removed pulldown field will be removed from all records, but any levels of hierarchy above or below this field will be preserved.

   Using the example, if Product were deleted, the Product field and all of its option menu items would be removed. The option menu items in the Component field would be independent of the associations that existed with the Product field. However, the dependent relationship between Component and Request Type would be preserved. The dependencies in the level below Request Type are also preserved.

   Similarly, if Priority were deleted, the Priority field and all of its option menu items would be removed. The option menu items in the Request Type field would be independent of the associations that existed with the Priority field. However, the dependent relationship between Request Type and Component would be preserved. The dependencies in the level above Component would also be preserved.

2. Pulldown Field at an intermediate leaf level deleted in the Fields section - When a pulldown field is deleted, any parent or child pulldown fields associated with the removed field will become independent of the relationship. The removed pulldown field will be removed from all records, but any levels of hierarchy above or below this field will be preserved.

   Using the example above, if Component were deleted, the Component field and all of its option menu items would be removed. The option menu items in the Product and Request Type fields would be independent of the associations that existed with the Component field. However, the dependent relationship between Request Type and Priority would still be preserved.

3. Option Menu Item deleted from a pulldown menu involved at any level - When an option menu item is removed by deleting it in the Items section of a pulldown menu, the user making the change will be prompted with the options below:
   • Choose one of the remaining menu values for that field to replace the removed value in records that have the obsolete value selected. If this option is chosen, there may be records where the parent and child values do not follow the dependent relationship configured in the Item Dependencies section. Using the example above, Product has the option menu items "Our Printer" and "Our Computer". "Our Printer" is associated with the option menu item "Paper Tray" from the "Component" field. "Our Computer" is associated with the option menu item "Hard Drive" from the "Component" field. If we choose to replace the value "Our Printer" in all records where "Our Computer" is selected, these records will have "Our Printer" entered with "Hard Drive" in the "Component" field even though "Hard Drive" is unassociated with "Our Printer" in the Item Dependencies section. However, after completing this operation, you could use the Edit Results operation to globally change these records to have acceptable values. In the case described above, you could run a query with the criteria "Product" = "Our Printer" and "Component" = "Hard Drive". Then, when the results are generated, use the Edit Results operation to change the "Component" field to have a value that is associated with "Our Printer" for all of the records displayed in the query results.
   • Delete any records that contain the obsolete value. Choosing this option will permanently delete these records.
   • Leave the records containing the obsolete value unchanged. Choosing this option may cause unexpected results in the Edit, Task, Query and Metrics pages when the obsolete value is present in a record.

4. Parent Pulldown changed to <No Pulldown> in the Fields section - When the Parent Pulldown attribute of a pulldown is changed to <No Pulldown> in the Fields section, the option menu items of this pulldown become independent of any associations that existed between the pulldown and its former parent. However, any dependencies that exist at levels above or below this pulldown will be preserved.

   Using the sample hierarchy above, let's say the Component field was changed to have <No Pulldown> in the Parent Pulldown attribute in the Fields section. The option menu items of Component will be independent of the associations that existed with Product. However, the associations between the option menu items of Component and levels below it will be preserved.

   Using the sample hierarchy, let's say the Request Type field was changed to have <No Pulldown> in the Parent Pulldown attribute in the Fields section. The option menu items of Request Type will be independent of the associations that existed with Component. However, the associations between Request Type and Priority will be preserved. The associations between Product and Component will also be preserved.

5. The associations between an Option Menu Item and the next lower level are removed in the Item Dependencies page - If all of the associations between an option menu item and the next lower level are removed, this indicates that the option menu item is not explicitly associated with any option menu item in a child pulldown menu. When this occurs, Tracker automatically creates an implicit (temporary) relationship between the option menu item and the default option menu item of the child pulldown menu. This implicit relationship is shown in the figure below. The "*" after the child option menu item in the Associated Items column indicates that the association is implicit.
   

   Using the sample hierarchy and the figure displayed above, the Product field has the option menu item "Our Computer". All associations between "Our Computer" and the option menu items of the Component field were removed. The default option menu item of Component is "-Select-". Thus, when all of the associations between "Our Computer" and the option menu items of Component were removed, Tracker automatically created an implicit relationship between "Our Computer" and "-Select- * ".

6. Parent Pulldown changed to another pulldown field in the Fields section - When the Parent Pulldown attribute of a pulldown is changed to select another pulldown menu in the Fields section, the option menu items of this pulldown become independent of any associations that existed between the pulldown and its former parent. However, any dependencies that exist at levels above or below this pulldown will be preserved.

   Using the sample hierarchy above, let's say the Component field was changed to have another field, Severity, in the Parent Pulldown attribute in the Fields section. The option menu items of Component will be independent of the associations that existed with Product. However, the associations between the option menu items of Component and levels below it will be preserved.

   Using the sample hierarchy, let's say the Priority field was changed to have another field, Severity, in the Parent Pulldown attribute in the Fields section. The option menu items of Priority will be independent of the associations that existed with Request Type. However, the associations between Request Type and Component will be preserved. The associations between Component and Product will also be preserved. Tracker will automatically create an implicit association(s) between the default option menu item of Priority and the option menu items of its new parent, Severity. These temporary associations can be changed by creating explicit associations in the Item Dependencies section.

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