Defining link end conditions

When you define the ends of the link types on the Types Page, if the end of a link can be more than one entity type, you must define the conditions for which end it is associated with.

To define the link end conditions:
  1. Right-click the circle denoting the link end, labeled A or B, and select Link End Conditions.
  2. The fields available on which to add conditions are listed in the Available fields list. The entity types listed in the Conditions grid are all of the entity types which could be at the end of the link.

    Select the first field on which you want to add a condition and click on the right arrow button or double-click on the field to add it to the Condition fields list.

    If the field on which you wish to add the condition is not available, you will need to edit the structure of the link type to make it accessible. For example, in the Accounts Example 3 database, you may have set up an Account Owner link type and three different Account entity types. The condition about which Account type the link refers to will be based on the AccountType field in the Account table. If the Account Owner link type structure only contains the fields in the AccountOwner table, the AccountType field will not be available. You must edit the structure of the Account Owner link type to include the Account table.

    The field you have added to the Condition fields list appears in the Conditions grid.

  3. You must now enter a condition in each of the grid boxes below the field that has just been added, that is for each entity type. To do this, click in the grid box and button that appears to display the Field Condition dialog and enter a condition.
  4. Add any other fields into the Condition fields list in the same manner and set conditions for all entity types as before.
    To remove a field from the list, select it and click on the left arrow or double-click on the field.
  5. If there are any records that do not meet any of the specified conditions, that is not all the records apply for this link type, you must mark the link end as incomplete. To do this, turn on Partial coverage.
  6. When you have defined all of the conditions, click OK.
    Note: All of the boxes in the Conditions grid must contain a condition, that is the grid must be completely populated.