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. 

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. 
2. Navigate to the appropriate attribute dependencies page in TDAdmin:
   • Tickets: TDAdmin > Applications > [Ticketing Application] > Attribute Dependencies.
   • 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
4. Click Save. The system will take you to the attribute dependency details page. 
5. Click on the Choice Mappings tab to configure the specifics of the dependency. The parent and child attributes' choice will then be displayed in a grid. 
   
6. Check each of the boxes in the grid that correspond to the options you want to display. If the parent attribute has the value specified by the column, then the child attribute will display each of the checked choices in that column. You can use the checkboxes in the rows and columns to select/unselect all boxes in that row or column. 
   • In the example screenshot above, child options "East", "North", "South", and "West" will appear if the user selects "I'm having an issue with wireless connectivity" using the field "What problem are you having".
7. When you've chosen the relevant options, click Save. 

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 wan to use. 
4. Save the attribute settings for the child attribute. 
5. Save the form. 

At this point, the attribute dependency will take effect