Configure Relationships using Input Forms

Author: Ian Britz

Introduction

In this article, let's walk through the steps to configure a relationship using Input Forms. For example, imagine that we have a number of Entities and Departments. A Department could be valid in all, some, or only one of the Entities. As there's no key or intrinsic relationship between Entities and Departments, the best solution is to create a Form to define the mapping, manually.

For more information on Valid Relationships and Linked Models, visit the following articles:

• Use Linked Models
• Use Relationships
• Configure Relationships using Data Rules
• Configure Many-To-Many Relationships

Example

Step 1. First, we need to create a Validation Model to define which combinations of Dimension Members are valid. Let's call it Valid Entity-Dep and add just the Entity and Department Dimensions. Then deploy the application.

Step 2. Now let's create a Form in the Model to define the relationship. We can name the Form Entity-Department Mapping. Then let's set it up so that all the Departments are on the rows and all of the Entities are on the columns.

Note: The placement of the Dimensions in the layout of the Form is not important here. We could just as easily place Entity on the rows and Department on the columns.

Step 3. Now let's create a special Admin Dashboard to manage the mappings. An Admin Dashboard is just a regular Dashboard used for managing administrative settings and other configurations. For our purposes, don't need anything more complex than just the Form and a way to Post data.

Step 4. Configure the Dashboard into a Dashboard App that we can write to. Then enter a value in every intersection where a relationship exists between Departments and Entities.

Step 5. Now we can link our Validation Model to the Model we want to apply the relationship to. Under the RELATIONSHIP tab, in the ADVANCED section of the Form, we can add a new relationship.

Step 6. Then let's configure the relationship to apply to the Department Filter.

Now only valid Departments are shown for each Entity.