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Status Declined
Created by Kenneth Barber
Created on Aug 20, 2022

Preserve variable-attribute mapping upon attribute path change

Currently, if a variable is mapped to an attribute and the attribute's AF path changes, the variable must be remapped to the attribute. Instead of relying on the attribute's full path to identify the attribute, each attribute should be identified by a unique ID number that is independent of where the attribute sits in the AF hierarchy. Then any part of an attribute's full path can change and any variables mapped to it will stay mapped.
  • ADMIN RESPONSE
    Aug 20, 2022
    Looking at the original post again, what I'm reading is that if I have an analysis, with Variable1 mapped to attribute1, and if the user moves attribute1 somewhere else, then the desire is for Variable1 to also change to pick up the new path. If this is the request, then unfortunately we have no plans to implement that even though we know the unique ID for that attribute. In a typical AF implementation, there are hundreds if not thousands of elements with at least an order magnitude more attributes. We highly suggest users configure their analyses as much as possible using the attributes belonging to the element for ease of management. The use case as described by the original post is pretty rare and as such it's very low in priority for us right now.
  • Attach files
  • Pete Long
    Reply
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    Aug 20, 2022
    bump
  • Guest
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    Aug 20, 2022
    Hi, looking for a bit more info on this. Can you clarify what you mean by "if a variable is mapped to an attribute"? Are you referring to a variable in analytics? Or something else?
  • Kenneth Barber
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    Aug 20, 2022
    Yes, I'm talking about a variable in analytics.
  • Guest
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    Aug 20, 2022
    Thanks for the quick reply. So let's say you have an Expression Analysis, working from left to right in the UI, you create a Variable, configure some equation, then map the output to an attribute. Now if you move this output attribute, you want the software to recognize that and adjust accordingly? Can you confirm if I got that use case correctly?
  • Kenneth Barber
    Reply
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    Aug 20, 2022
    Hi Stephen, It has been a while since I've worked with analyses. I did some testing and I can't reproduce the issue in the suggestion. I would say "maybe it has already been fixed", but the "bump" comment from pete.long makes me think otherwise, unless pete.long is using an older version of either PI Server or PI System Explorer. The testing did jog my memory a bit. I think that by "attribute path change", I meant the attribute or any of its parents being renamed. The attribute path appears in the Output Attribute column. To answer your question, your impression of what I meant is correct, but I'm not sure what you mean by "move this output attribute". If you can reproduce the issue on the latest versions of PI Server and PI System Explorer at the time that the suggestion was posted but not on the current versions of PI Server and PI System Explorer, then it's safe to say that the issue has already been fixed. If you cannot reproduce the issue on either, then we haven't found the right conditions to reproduce the issue. If you can reproduce the issue on both, then the suggestion still applies. But before any testing, it might be worth checking the release notes or internal documentation on what has been fixed since the release of the latest versions at the time that I posted my suggestion.