Classification Constraints

Windchill supports several types of constraints and allows more than one constraint for an attribute. For example, you can constrain an attribute to support only a single value. You can then further restrict the value to belong to a specific set of strings.

Enumerated Value List

Data Types

Description

String

An enumerated list of legal values. The enumerated list is different than other value lists in that it can use a global enumeration or be based on a global enumeration.

If an Enumerated Value List condition uses or is based on a global enumeration, the name of the selected global enumeration displays when creating or editing the condition.

For information on adding data to an enumerated value list, see Enumeration Constraints and Managing Global Enumerations.

For unwanted global enumeration entries that have already been used, it is better to disable the entry rather than delete it. For more information, see Deleting an Entry.

External Enumerated Value List

Data Types

Description

String

An enumerated list of legal values from an external source, such as an ERP system or other database outside of Windchill.

For example, you could link values in your ERP system to the Name attribute of an object type in Windchill. When users are creating or editing objects of that object type, they could choose from a list populated from the ERP system.

This enumerated list supports the following:

• Localized values

• Sort order

• Dynamic updates from the external source.

Once the external enumerated value list constraint has been added to an attribute, specify the class name of the EnumerationInfoProvider implementation and the initialization string customized for this value list.

Conditions cannot be added on external enumerated value list constraints.

For details on creating and adding data to the external enumerated value list, see External Enumerated Value Lists.

Immutable

Data Types

Description

All

The attribute values cannot be set, edited, or removed.

This constraint is primarily intended for making an attribute obsolete, without removing it from the user interface.

Calculated attributes always have an Immutable constraint, as their values are derived from their formulas, rather than edited.

Legal Value List

Data Types

Description

Examples

All

A list of allowable attribute values. The attribute value must be the same as one of the specified constraint values.

Enter multiple values separated by the pipe character ( | ), or click the edit icon

next to the text field to open the Edit Constraint window.

Legal Value List values cannot be localized. If you want to localize your legal values, use the Enumerated Value List constraint rule instead.

For Reference data types, the Legal Value List constraint includes two text fields. One field is for specifying the internal name of an attribute on the type specified in the reference, and the other for entering the list of legal values for that attribute.

• The legal value list specified is abc|cde|efg.

The legal strings that can be specified for the attribute are abc, cde, or efg.

• For the object reference data type, the Other Side Class specified for the object reference relationship is to the wt.org.WTUser object type. the attribute entered for the constraint data is last and the legal value list specified is Johnson|Olsen|Smith, then the legal values for the Last Name attribute of the referenced user can only be Johnson, Olsen, or Smith.

Lowercase
Data Types	Description	Examples
String	Uppercase characters are converted to lowercase when saved.	The user enters AB-aBc1. The value is saved and generated as ab-abc1.

No Duplicate Values
Data Types	Description
All global attribute data types	Requires the set of values for a multi-valued attribute to be distinct. Duplicate values are not allowed.

Regular Expression
Data Types	Description	Examples
String	A regular expression defining the pattern of text the attribute value must match. Standard regular expression syntax is supported.	You specify the following expression: f..l Accepted values include: • fall • foil Rejected values include: • fossil • foot You specify the following expression: [fall\|winter]2016$ Accepted values include: • Product Line Winter 2016 • Release Fall 2016 Rejected values include: • Winter Catalog 2016 • Release Fall 2012

Required
Data Types	Description
All	The attribute must have at least one value.

Single-Valued

Data Types

Description

All

No more than one value is allowed.

Windchill ProjectLink does not support multi-valued attributes. This constraint is inherently applied to all Windchill ProjectLink attributes.

String Format

Data Types

Description

Examples

String

A basic mask to constrain the format of a string.

The mask uses the following substitutions:

• C—One letter or digit.

• L—One letter.

• D—One digit.

The String Format constraint rule is retained for compatibility with previous releases. PTC recommends using the Regular Expression constraint rule for new constraints.

The definitions of letter and digit can be found in java.lang.CharacterClass.

You specify the following mask for telephone numbers:

(DDD)DDD-DDDD|DDD-DDD-DDDD|DDDDDDDDDD

Accepted values include:

• 123–456–7890

• (123)456–7890

• 1234567890

Rejected values include:

• 123–AB–6789

• 123/456/7890

String Length
Data Types	Description	Examples
String	The length of the string must be equal to or within the values specified. From specifies the minimum value; To specifies the maximum value.	From3To5 Accepted values include: • abc • abcd • abc12 Rejected values include: • ab • abc123

Suggested Value List
Data Types	Description	Examples
Date & Time Integer Number Real Number Real Number with Units Reference String URL	A set of suggested values for the attribute. Enter multiple values in the text field, separated by the pipe character ( \| ), or click the edit icon next to the text field to open the Edit Constraint window.	For the string data type, if the suggested value list specified is abc\|cde\|efg, then the suggested values for the attribute are abc, cde, or efg.

Uppercase
Data Types	Description	Examples
String	Lowercase characters are converted to uppercase when saved.	The user enters AB-aBc1. The value is saved and generated as AB-ABC1.

Valid Range
Data Types	Description	Examples
Date & Time Integer Number Real Number Real Number with Units String	The value of the attribute must be equal to or within the values specified. From specifies the minimum value; To specifies the maximum value.	The data type is an integer and you specify the following range: From3To5 Accepted values include: • 3 • 4 • 5 Rejected values include: • 2 • 6 Strings can be alphanumeric characters. • If you are expecting strictly alphabetical character input, you can specify the following range: FromcatToorange Accepted values include: ◦ dog ◦ fish Rejected values include: ◦ apple ◦ zebra • If you are expecting the input to include strictly numbers, you can specify the following range: From3To5 Accepted values include: ◦ 33 ◦ 465 ◦ 58 Rejected values include: ◦ 29 ◦ 6008

Wildcard
Data Types	Description	Examples
String URL	The attribute value must match the wildcard pattern of the constraint data specified: • Contains—Contains the value specified. This is the equivalent of string. • Begins With—Begins with the value specified. This is the equivalent of string. • Ends With—Ends with the value specified. This is the equivalent of string. • Equals—Equals the value specified. This is the equivalent of string.	Containssign Accepted values include: • Design • Signal Rejected values include: • Despite • Segment Ends Wither Accepted values include: • Engineer • Writer Rejected values include: • Engineering • Written