Soft Law

Virtually all of the operations that you can perform on a standard hierarchy tree can be applied to a taxonomy tree. The following sections describe how to modify the taxonomy tree using the MDM tree operations. For each operation, you will also find a list of constraints describing the conditions necessary for completing the operation.

Hint: The MDM Data Manager prevents you from performing taxonomy tree operations that would result in a loss of data integrity.

Taxonomy Tree Operations Operation Description

Add Sibling Category Adds a new category to the tree as a sibling after the selected category.

Add Child Category Adds a new category to the tree as the last child of the selected category.

Removes the selected category from the tree.

Change Case Changes the name of the selected nodes to the selected case (upper, lower, sentence, title, toggle).

Sort Children

Sorts the children of the selected node in ascending or descending order.

Move Category

Moves a category between locations in the tree.

Merge Categories

Merges one category into another.

Hide Children

Hides the display of hierarchical detail of the taxonomy tree.

Create Alias Creates a duplicate category node so that a category can exist in multiple locations in the taxonomy.

Partition Category

Splits a category into children based on the values of an attribute, creating a child category for each value of the attribute.

Consolidate Children

Combines all of the children of a single parent category, creating a new attribute containing the values of the old children.

Adding a Category

To add a new sibling or child category to the taxonomy tree:

1. In the taxonomy tree, select the node either: (1) after which you want the new node to appear as a sibling; or (2) under which you want the new node to appear as a child.

2. Right-click on the node and choose from the context menu, or choose Tree from the main menu and choose from the main menu, as follows:

• Add Sibling

• Add Child

3. In the Record Detail pane, enter information for the new node.

4. Press Shift+Enter or right-click and choose Save Record to save the details of the new node.

5. MDM adds the new node either: (1) as a sibling of and just after the selected node in the taxonomy tree; or (2) as the last child of the selected node in the taxonomy tree.

Note: MDM does not add the new node to the tree until you have saved its details in the Record Detail pane.

Hint: Sibling nodes in a tree cannot have the same name. If a category named “New Item” already exists, MDM automatically names the new category “New Item (n)” (where ‘n’ is the first available numeric value that will avoid a conflict).

Renaming a Category

To rename a category in the taxonomy tree:

1. In the taxonomy tree, select the category you want to rename.

2. Right-click on the category and choose Rename from the context menu, or press F2, or choose Tree –> Rename from the main menu.

3. MDM highlights the name of the category for editing.

4. Type the new name you want for the category and press Enter.

Figure 75: Renaming a Category

Note: If the taxonomy table has multiple display fields, you must be in Hierarchy mode rather than Taxonomy mode to edit or rename a category.

Constraints:

• Must be in Hierarchy or Taxonomy mode

• Must be in Hierarchy mode if the table has multiple display fields

• Tree must have focus

• Exactly one node must be selected

• Root node cannot be renamed

• Sibling nodes cannot have the same name Deleting a Category

To permanently delete one category from the taxonomy tree:

1. In the taxonomy tree, select the leaf node you want to delete.

2. Right-click on the category and choose Delete from the context menu, or press Del, or choose Tree –> Delete from the main menu.

3. MDM prompts you to confirm that you really want to delete the category.

Click OK to remove the category from the taxonomy tree.

Hint: To bypass the delete confirmation dialog, press Shift when you perform the Delete command.

Constraints:

• Must be in Hierarchy or Taxonomy mode

• Tree must have focus

• Exactly one node must be selected

• Root node cannot be deleted

• Node cannot have children

• Node value cannot currently be assigned to a lookup field

Note: To prevent data loss, MDM will not allow you to delete a category if one or more records have a lookup field assigned to its value. However, MDM does not detect this condition until after you attempt to perform the operation. As a result, the Delete menu item is available even if the selected category is in use. If you choose Delete in this situation, MDM does not permit the delete and instead displays an error dialog.

Figure 76: Data Integrity and Category Deletion

Changing the Case of Category Names

To automatically change the case of one or more categories in the tree:

1. In the taxonomy tree, select the categories whose case you want to change.

2. Right-click on one of the categories and choose Change Case from the context menu, or choose Tree –> Change Case from the main menu.

3. Choose the new case from the cascading menu:

• UPPER CASE

• lower case

• Sentence case

• Title Case

• tOGGLE cASE

4. MDM changes the case of the selected categories Constraints:

• Must be in Hierarchy or Taxonomy mode

• Tree must have focus

• At least one node must be selected

• Root node cannot be renamed

Sorting Categories

To sort the children of a category in the tree (one level):

1. In the taxonomy tree, select the category whose children you want to sort.

2. Right-click on the category and choose Sort Children from the context menu, or choose Tree –> Sort Children from the main menu.

3. Choose the sort order from the cascading menu:

• Ascending

• Descending

4. MDM sorts the children of the selected category in the order you specify.

To sort all of the descendants of a node in the tree (all levels):

1. In the taxonomy tree, select the category whose children you want to sort.

2. Right-click on the node and choose Sort from the context menu, or choose Tree –> Sort Children from the main menu.

3. Choose the sort order from the cascading menu:

• Ascending

• Descending

4. MDM sorts all of the descendants of the selected category in the order you specify.

Constraints:

• Must be in Hierarchy or Taxonomy mode

• Tree must have focus

• Exactly one node must be selected

• Node to be sorted must have children