Working with Attribute Dependencies

Attribute dependencies allow you to create a parent/child relationship between two fields on an Ticket, Asset, or Configuration Item form.

• For example, imagine a form that needs to know the make and model of your car. Attribute dependencies let you have the "Model" field appear after you choose a value for "Make".
• Similarly, another box can pop up when you choose the model, prompting for the year.
• If you have two different forms that use those attributes, you may want the dependencies to behave differently between forms. 

Attribute dependencies can reduce the number of forms required by dynamically changing a part of the form based on an attribute's value (called the "parent" attribute). Once the parent attribute is set, a "child" attribute will display with its own input field. If the child attribute has choices, the dependency can also limit which of its choices are available. 

When using attribute dependencies on a ticket form, be sure to consider how the cascading attributes will interact with the Automation Rules system.

Defining Attribute Dependencies in TDAdmin

The following instructions describe how to set up Attribute Dependencies for Ticket, Asset, and CI forms. 

1. In TDAdmin or the form builder, create the attributes you want to use as your parent and child attributes. The parent attribute must be a choice-based attribute and cannot be a protected custom attribute. The child attribute can be any custom attribute. If the child attribute has no choices (for example, a text box), the dependency only shows or hides it. 
2. Navigate to the appropriate attribute dependencies page in TDAdmin:
   • Tickets: TDAdmin > Applications > [Ticketing Application] > Attribute Dependencies.
   • Tickets using global attributes: TDAdmin > Ticket Custom Attributes > Attribute Dependencies. On this page, the parent and child attributes must belong to the same ticketing application, or at least one of them must be a global attribute.
   • Assets: TDAdmin > Applications > [Asset/CI Application] > Asset Attribute Dependencies.
   • Configuration Items: TDAdmin > Applications > [Asset/CI Application] > Configuration Item Attribute Dependencies.
3. Click +New to create a new dependency. Enter the following options:
   • Name
   • Description
   • Parent Attribute
   • Child Attribute
   • Is Active. When unchecked, the dependency stays on forms that already use it but cannot be newly selected for forms.
4. Click Save. The system will take you to the attribute dependency details page. The parent and child attributes cannot be changed after the dependency is created. To use different attributes, create a new dependency. 
5. Click on the Choice Mappings tab to configure the specifics of the dependency. The page has two panels:
   • The left panel lists the choices for one attribute. A badge beside each choice shows how much of it is mapped: None, a count such as "3 of 12", or "Full 12". The panel heading shows how many choices have mappings.
   • The right panel shows checkboxes for the other attribute's choices, for the choice selected on the left.
   
6. Under Where do you want to start?, choose which attribute to list on the left:
   • Parent attribute: select a parent choice on the left, then check each child choice that should be available when that parent choice is selected. If no boxes are checked, the child attribute will not display for that parent choice.
   • Child attribute: select a child choice on the left, then check each parent choice that should make it available. 
   • If the child attribute has no choices, the right panel shows a single checkbox, "Show [child attribute] when this choice is selected." Check it for each parent choice that should display the child attribute.
7. Click Save. Mappings are saved for the selected choice only. Select the next choice and repeat. If you select a different choice with unsaved changes, you can choose Save and continue, Discard and continue, or Stay and keep editing.

The Choice Mappings tab also has tools for long choice lists:

• Filter choices narrows either list by name.
• Show unmapped choices only (left panel) lists only choices with no mappings.
• All, Selected, and Unselected (right panel) show checked or unchecked choices.
• Hide inactive hides inactive choices. Inactive choices stay in the lists because their mappings still exist.
• Select all shown and Clear all shown check or clear every choice currently displayed in the right panel.
• Copy from… fills the right panel with another choice's mappings. This replaces the current selections, and nothing is saved until you click Save.

If the parent attribute is a multiselect attribute, the child attribute displays if any selected parent choice has mappings. Each child choice is available if any of the parent choices it is mapped to is selected.

To test the dependency, click the Preview tab. It shows the parent and child attributes as they would appear on a form, using the saved mappings. Select a parent choice to see the child attribute appear, hide, or narrow its choices. 

Note: if you have attributes that are Updateable, be sure to also mark the Parent attribute as Updateable too. If not, the dependent attributes will *not* appear in the Update screen of a Ticket.

This defines a dependency, and makes it available to be used on forms in the form builder, but it does not automatically apply the dependency to forms that use the chosen attributes. You can check which forms are using the dependency using the Usage tab of the Attribute Dependency Details page. 

Adding Dependent Attributes to Forms

After you've defined a dependency, you will need to add it to a form before it can be used. Follow these instructions to add dependencies to a form: 

1. Open the form builder for the form you want to change (in TDAdmin for all forms or in TDClient for ticketing forms).
2. Add the parent attribute and the child attribute to the form. The form builder will detect that there is a dependency that can be applied, and display a broken link icon by the child attribute's Name. 
   
3. Click Edit on the child attribute and choose the Dependency you want to use. A child attribute can use only one parent dependency on a form, but a parent attribute can drive several dependencies. 
4. Save the attribute settings for the child attribute. 
5. Save the form. 

At this point, the attribute dependency will take effect.