Reference : Attribute types : Choice
  
Choice
The choice attribute value is selected from a set of predefined values. The difference between this attribute and the multi choice attribute is that this attribute must be set to exactly one of the predefined values.
To change the value of a choice attribute
1 Click the Edit link.
2 Select a new value and click the Save link.
If a choice attribute is configured with the Propagate feature, the choice values in the element tree propagate to their parent folders. This means that if all of the elements in a folder have the same choice value, the folder gets that value also. If the elements in a folder have different values, the first item in the choice list that at least one of the elements has is selected. If a choice attribute is configured with the Cascade feature, the choice items can be organized in a tree structure. If there are many choice items, organizing them in a tree structure makes it easier to find an item. When a cascading choice attribute is edited, the different levels in the tree structure are organized in different drop-down choices.
Note You can let a choice attribute determine the icons in the element tree.
Choice settings
The choice attribute presents a set of predefined items from which a user can select one item.
 
Setting
Name and description
Value
You can configure the following settings:
▪ Default Value: The default value for the choice attribute from the available list of choice items.
▪ Click here to add and edit choice items: Enables you to add or edit a choice item.
Click an item to edit it, or click Add Item to add a new item. The Name, Description, Position, Icon, Color, Alias (in Focal Point 6.6.1 and later), and Value URI for the choice items can be added or edited.
The Export and Import options can be used to export the choice item setup into a Microsoft® Excel file, and later import the setup back into Focal Point in order to modify a choice attribute, or create a new choice attribute.
Visual
You can configure the following settings:
▪ Sort Alphabetically: If you sort the module according to a Choice attribute, you can choose to sort items either according to the alphabetical order, or according to the order in which the items are displayed in the items list. Select this check box to sort the items in the alphabetical order, or clear the check box to sort the items according to the order in the items list.
▪ Allow Group By: If this check box is selected, the choice attribute can be used to group elements in a tree structure in a Display view.
The Display Parents check box also affects the sorting of elements.
Propagate
You can configure the following setting:
▪ Propagate: (Choice attribute only.) You can use the propagate settings to organize items so that you can easily find them. If this check box is selected, the choice attribute values of the elements propagate to their parent folders. If all the elements in a folder have the same choice attribute value, that value is also assigned to the parent folder.
For example, many requirements of the same kind are placed in a parent folder. The statuses of all the requirements are set to New. If Propagate is selected, the parent folder has the New status. If the statuses of all the requirements except for one is changed from New to Accepted, the status of the parent folder is still New. The status of the parent folder changes only when all the requirements change to the same status.
Cascade
You can configure the following settings:
▪ Cascade: Determines if cascading is applied to the Choice attribute in the editor.
– Select Vertical if the cascading option should be shown vertically.
– Select Horizontal if the cascading option should be shown horizontally.
▪ Cascade Group By: Select this option if the Group By option in tree view is configured to create nested folders that are based on cascading values.
▪ Display Parents: Select this option if the choice state must be prefixed with the parent name when it is displayed.
▪ Item Separator: The separator to separate the choice state from the parent name if the Display Parents option is selected.
Mandatory
You can configure the following settings:
▪ Mandatory: To make sure that users enter a value for this attribute, select this check box. Mandatory attributes are displayed with an asterisk.
The mandatory settings do not apply when you add folders.
▪ Feedback Text: The text to display when the user does not specify a value for the mandatory attribute.
▪ Disallowed Items: Select the items that you do not want the user to be able to select.
The user can select the item, but will not be able to save the item.
The Mandatory setting must be selected in order to use the Disallowed Items option. For example, you can have an item None as a disallowed item. This must also be the default value. The user cannot select None and must make a distinct selection.
Confirm Dialog
You can configure the following settings:
▪ Display Dialog: Opens a confirmation window opens every time the selected items for the choice attribute change. The confirmation window opens only if text is specified in the Dialog Text field.
▪ Dialog Text: The text to be displayed in the confirmation window that opens when the selected values for the choice attribute change. For example, when the requirement status is set to Verify, “Do you really want to verify this?” is displayed in a window.
Visual
You can configure the following setting:
▪ Display: Specify the display settings for the choice items. You can select one or more from the available options: Icon, Color, and Text. This is a mandatory setting. By default, Icon and Text are selected. If you select only the Icon check box, only the icons representing the choice items are displayed. If you select Color, the colors configured for the choice items are displayed, and if you select Text, the name of the choice items are displayed.
Change Log
You can configure the following setting:
▪ Log Changes: If this check box is selected, history logs are created for each change of the attribute value.
Integration
You can configure the following settings:
▪ Property URI: Provide a unique URI according to the Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC) standard for the attribute.
▪ Alias: Alias to use when you integrate with other tools. The default alias is an auto-generated random Universally Unique Identifier (UUID). You can change the alias, but it must be unique.
Copy Default Value To All Elements:
Copies the default values of the attribute to all the elements in the module that contain the attribute. The previous values of this attribute are lost.
Go up to
Attribute types