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Attributes for Mapping Setting up your Design Definition Mapping Attributes |
Accessing this function:
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Using the Edit Design Definitions panel, click Edit Matching Attributes
Matching Attributes
In versions prior to version 2.1, Studio UG matched designs to definitions by the field DESIGNDF (the design definition Name). In these versions, you had to ensure you applied the design definition to your designs. Applying a design definition to a design would set the values of the DESIGNDF, COLOUR, LSTYLE, and SYMBOL columns. During processing, the design definition of a design was only matched by reading the values in the DESIGNDF column. This could lead to a mismatch between the value of DESIGNDF and the display Properties (COLOUR, LSTYLE, SYMBOL) if you modified the display properties of your designs without using the Apply Design Definitions feature. In effect, there was a risk of data duplication that could get out of sync.
In Studio UG version 2.1 and later designs are once again matched to design definitions by matching attribute values. This means that if the attribute values are on the design, you don't need to apply the design definition as it will automatically be matched during processing. The action of applying a design definition sets the matching attribute values on the designs so that the automatic matching will work. This provides more flexibility and can save significant amounts of time. If the designs already have the appropriate attribute values, you can jump straight to processing. To apply values to the matching attributes, you can use the Apply Design Definitions screen, standard Studio commands, or even use a script.
You can select one or more attribute definitions to use for matching. Each design definition must have a unique combination of values for the matching attributes. The matching attribute definitions are defined per design type. You can still match using the display properties (LSTYLE, COLOUR, SYMBOL), but you are no longer restricted to doing so. Matching on fields other than the display properties allows you to use the same design definition for designs that have different colours, for example. Activity Solids get their colour from their associated design, whether COLOUR is used in the attribute matching or not.
In a way this is how Studio 5D Planner worked: it was just hard-coded to match by the attributes COLOUR, LSTYLE, and SYMBOL. In Studio UG, this restriction is lifted.
Each design type must match on at least one attribute. You can choose to match on the system attributes COLOUR, LSTYLE, and SYMBOL or any of the user attributes. The design definition needs a unique name as well.
These "Match By" attributes are configured using the Attributes for Mapping panel, a simple field chooser that updates (and is synchronized with) the Edit Design Definitions table.
If it is not possible
to create unique combinations of matching attributes for existing definitions,
non-unique value combinations will be highlighted in the definitions table
e.g.:
The Solid colour will be taken from the design file, regardless of whether COLOUR is used in the attribute matching or not.
How Mapping Attributes are used in Generating Definitions
The Generate Design Definitions function is a useful tool that allows you to extract information from external files and use it to construct design definitions automatically.
This panel also honours the current mapping attributes to automatically extract definitions from the selected file. For example, if your mapping attributes are LSTYLE, COLOUR and SYMBOL, the Generate Design Definitions panel will automatically construct definitions based on all combinations of values found for these attributes in the file.
See Mapping Attributes.
See Generating Design Definitions.
Using the Attributes for Mapping panel
The Attributes for Mapping panel lists all available user-defined attributes (plus LSTYLE, COLOUR and SYMBOL) on the left and a Use check box on the right.
To define a matching attribute, select the appropriate Use check box. You can select as many attributes as you need. For example, if you wanted your definition to be unique for all values of COLOUR, REGION and STOPENUM, select those three check boxes.
At least one Use check box must be selected. The default matching attribute is COLOUR.
Click OK to return to the
Edit Design Definitions panel.
Your matching attributes will be shown as columns in the Match
By section of the table e.g.:
If it is not possible to assign unique Match
By attribute value combinations to existing definitions, these
items will be highlighted in the table e.g.:
