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Working with Records in RDM

This chapter describes how to make changes to data in RDM.

The features described on this page require you to open a table in the EDIT mode. For the changes to take effect, they need to be published.

Creating records

To add a new record to a table, select Create in the toolbar.

In case you want to create a record duplicating some attributes of an already existing record, go to Tables, select the record and then Create. This copies all attribute values to the new record, which you can then modify as needed.

Fill in the attributes in the Create detail dialog.
Select Save to save changes and display the record detail.
Publish the changes (see Move to publish).

A green dot is used to label new records. The dot is displayed at the beginning of the row.

Validity messages

Validity messages are displayed to the right of the record attributes with the following possible values:

Valid: The attribute value complies with the validation parameters and, if applicable, the online validation.
INVALID: The attribute does not comply with validation parameters and, if applicable, the online validation.
Warning: The attribute complies with validation parameters but does not pass the online validation. The details of the validity messages are displayed in the lower part of the dialog.

For more information about validity, see Getting Started with RDM, section Record validity.

Lookups

Some attributes are filled in from parent tables using lookups. There are three possible kinds of lookup display:

Window lookup - Opens the parent table displaying all database attributes (excluding RMD default columns, see Getting Started with RDM, section Default columns); allows choosing one value.

Alternatively, start typing into the field. This displays the values containing the input expression.
Combo-box lookup - Allows choosing one parent attribute from the list, without showing any additional attributes.
Multi-value lookup - Allows choosing several parent attributes from a parent table, similar to the window lookup. The options have the following functions:
- Plus icon - Opens a dialog for adding parent attribute values.
- Minus icon - Opens a dialog for removing parent attribute values.
- X icon - Removes all added parent attribute values.

Enrich and Validate

When configured, Enrich fills in one or several attributes based on one of several attribute values. For example, in the previous image (in section [Record validation]), the Code field can be filled in by the Enrich functionality based on the Name field and the number of semicolon-separated values in the Product Groups field.

Other cases might use lookups for filling in information based on a code. The Enrich functionality is configured in the RDM backend.

When configured, Validate performs complex online validations of applicable fields. For more information, see Getting Started with RDM, section Record validity.

Editing records

When making changes to data, RDM locks the table you are working with as well as any tables with a relationship to that table.

The same applies to records: if the record is being edited by someone else, it is locked for editing for other users.

However, if you have the Edit permissions and want to edit the record, you can select it and then choose Action > Assign to me from the toolbar. You can now edit the record.

To edit a record:

Open the table.
Choose a record and select Edit from the toolbar.
Fill in the attribute in the Edit detail dialog.
Select the Edit children recursively option.
Select Save to save changes and display record detail.
Publish the changes (see Move to publish).

For more information about the Edit detail dialog, see Creating records.

The Edit children recursively option must be selected when the edited record has child records. Otherwise, editing records results in an Inconsistent column value with parent error with the child tables, making the affected records invalid and changes (editing) unpublishable.

You can view child records by selecting Show children in the record detail. For more information, see Viewing Data in RDM, section Show children.

Note, however, that you must have the Edit permissions on the given table. If you do not, the edited record remain unpublishable due to the same error.

An orange dot is used to label edited records and attributes. The dot is displayed at the beginning of the row for records and next to the modified attribute.

Editing several records

Editing several records simultaneously is available through the Multi edit feature. This feature is useful for cases when several records need to have one or several attributes changed to the same value.

The Multi edit feature is only available in Tables.

To edit several records:

Open the table.
Select the records for editing in one of the two ways:
- Select records manually.
- Apply a filter. For more information about filters, see Viewing Data in RDM, section Filters.
Select Action > Multi edit from the toolbar of the opened table.
In the Edit more rows dialog, select either Use selected rows or Use all rows currently filtered depending on your selection method in the previous step.
Select Add columns in the next dialog.
In the Add columns dialog, select the columns to edit and then Select.
In the subsequent Edit detail dialog, fill in the details for the selected rows. You can add and remove the attributes to be edited using Add columns and Delete columns options (select columns to be deleted first).
Select OK to finish.
Publish the changes (see Move to publish).

An orange dot is used to label edited records and attributes. The dot is displayed at the beginning of the row for records and next to the modified attribute.

Deleting records

To delete one or several records:

Open the table.
Select the records for deleting in one of the two ways:
- Select records manually.
- Apply a filter. For more information about filters, see Viewing Data in RDM, section Filters.
Select Action > Delete from the toolbar of the opened table.
In the confirmation dialog, select either Use selected rows or Use all rows currently filtered depending on your selection method in the previous step.
Select Recursively if you are deleting rows with parent attributes.
Select OK to confirm.
Publish the changes (see Move to publish).

The Recursively option must be selected when deleting records with attributes used directly in child tables. Otherwise, deleting records results in a Rows with non-existing parents error with the child tables, making the affected records invalid and changes (deletion) unpublishable.

Note, however, that you must have the Delete permissions on the given table. If you do not, the deleted record remain unpublishable due to the same error.

A red dot is used to label deleted records. The dot is displayed at the beginning of the row.

Undoing changes

In order to quickly cancel all changes made to the record, use the Undo feature.

The Undo feature is available only for records in the Edited state and only for the user who performed the operation. Records moved further down the workflow must first be returned to the edit state first.

The Undo feature completely removes newly created records.

To undo changes:

Open the table.
Select the records whose changes should be discarded in one of the two ways:
- Select records manually.
- Apply a filter. For more information about filters, see Viewing Data in RDM, section Filters.
Select Action > Undo from the toolbar of the opened table.
In the Undo dialog, select either Use selected rows or Use all rows currently filtered depending on your selection method in the previous step.
Select OK to finish.

Marking records for later use

In case you need to mark certain records for further work or publishing (for example, to prevent publishing records edited by someone else), RDM provides the possibility to add such records to the Cart.

Adding records to the cart

To add records to the cart in the opened table:

Select the records.
Select Action > Add to cart.

After this, the records have a cart icon in the corresponding column. Now when you switch from the editing mode to CART, you see only the records you have added to the cart.

Removing records from the cart

To remove records from the cart in the opened table:

Select the records.
Select Action > Remove from cart.

After this, the cart icon in the corresponding column disappears.

Move to publish

Before a record can be published by users with the corresponding permissions, the changes made to a record (create, edit, or delete) must first be saved as final by the user who made them. This is done using the Move to publish feature.

To send a record to publishing:

Open the table.
Select the records in one of the two ways:
- Select records manually.
- Apply a filter. For more information about filters, see Viewing Data in RDM, section Filters.
Select Move to publish in the Features Bar of the opened table.
In the Move to publish? dialog, select Use selected rows or Use all rows currently filtered depending on your selection method in the previous step.
Select OK to finish.

Outcome

After you send records to publishing, the record state (displayed in the [ State ] column) changes either to Waiting for confirmation, which means that it is ready for publishing, or to the next workflow state, if a workflow is defined for the current table. In the latter case, the record is not available for publishing until it passes all necessary workflow stages.

Return to edit

The Return to Edit feature reverts the record to the Edited state of the workflow after it was moved to publish. This feature is reserved for users with the Publish permissions.

To return one or several records to the Edited state:

Open the table.
Select the records in one of the two ways:
- Select records manually.
- Apply a filter. For more information about filters, see Viewing Data in RDM, section Filters.
Select Action > Return to edit from the toolbar of the opened table.
In the Return to edit state? dialog, select Use selected rows or Use all rows currently filtered depending on your selection method in the previous step.
Select OK to finish.

Records participated in bulk operation

When performing some actions in RDM, you might encounter the following message: Records participated in bulk operation. Should I apply action to whole bulk operation?.

This means that the record on which you are trying to perform undo, return to edit, or move to publish operations was edited or deleted recursively, affecting child records. Therefore, you are asked whether you want to perform the current action on the affected child records as well (that is, recursively).

In most cases, you need to confirm. Recursive editing and deleting is described in previous sections.

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