Conditional visibility and mandatoriness of elements
It is possible to make individual configuration elements conditionally visible and/or mandatory. This can be used to streamline the user interface and to provide guidance to the user. For example, the software part (represented as one or more component groups) of a PC workplace configuration can be made visible in the offer only when an 'Include software' check box is selected.
Conditional visibility/mandatoriness is achieved by defining rules which make the visibility and/or mandatoriness of an element dependent on the state of another element. These rules can be created and administered in the general section of the parameter or component group editor.
In the description of this functionality we will use the following terms:
Trigger (configuration element) - the parameter whose state influences the visibility and/or mandatoriness of another configuration element
Target (configuration element) - parameter or component group whose visibility and/or mandatoriness is influenced by the state of the trigger.
Conditional visibility and/or mandatoriness in overview
Trigger configuration element | Target configuration element | |
Element type | parameter | parameter or component group |
Limitations | Parameters of the following types cannot be used as a trigger:
Parameters of these invalid types are not offered for selection as a trigger in the rule creation dialog. | There is a restriction regarding element mandatoriness. The following parameter types cannot be made mandatory. :
As for component groups, these also cannot be made mandatory by a rule. (This is because component group type (fixed, optional, mandatory) already determines mandatoriness of the group.) |
Condition type |
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Important notes
Configuration elements used as a trigger cannot be deleted. See example 1.
One element can be used as a trigger in multiple rules (i.e. can influence multiple targets). See example 2.
Multiple rules can be created for a single target. In such case, individual rules are processed sequentially in the order of their position in the target's list of rules. Consequently, reordering the rules applied to a target element can have a decisive influence on the final visibility/mandatoriness outcome. See example 3.
The order in which individual elements are presented to the user should follow the trigger-target direction of used rules. In example 3, for instance:
All catering-related parameters come after the check box which triggers their visibility.
The field comes after check boxes and which determine the cost center field visibility and mandatoriness.
Note that business object parameter (which must always be present in an offer) cannot be made invisible.
Beware of possible conflicts between visibility and mandatoriness of an element. Making a mandatory element invisible by a rule would make it impossible to fill in and thus prevent the offer from being saved. (Creation of a rule which makes an element invisible and mandatory at the same time is not possible but making an already mandatory element invisible is not precluded by the system.)