Referential Integrity

[ashwken]

Originally posted by J-Mac

I always thought that child items were connected to parents some how other than the Data Explorer position. However I haven't looked into the exact "how" it is done. I guess that the fact that a child item can have more than one parent item helped to lead me into thinking that way. If a child item has multiple parents - but can only be positioned under one parent item in the Data Explorer - how does UR keep track of the other parent items internally?

Yes, the Data Explorer allows you to create the parent-child relationship, and the relationship is maintained as long as the children do not wander off (due to user error).

The example of the Invoice is a case where you really don't want the children to wander about, here's another example to consider:

Software Title (Parent)
Unique Item ID (node ID)
SW_Title
SW_Tilte_Edition (Pick List)
SW_Vendor (Info Item, lookup)
SW_Summary

Software Title Version (Child)
Unique Item ID (node ID)
Unique Item ID of parent (Info Item, lookup)
SW_Ver_Date
SW_Ver
SW_Ver_dType (Pick List for dateType)
other Attributes about SW_Ver

The inclusion of an Info Item type Attribute (user Lookup to Parent) in the child Item allows you to "pin a name tag on each child". I guess what I'm looking for is an "automatic pining" option (forgien key assignment).