Using the Sheet Editor

The sheet editor allows you to view and edit the properties of multiple objects in a spreadsheet view.

  1. Explore a product, expand it and select the objects for which you want to modify attributes.



  2. Select one or many objects and select Edit > Sheet Editor.

    The Sheet Editor immersive dialog box appears. There is a row corresponding to each of the selected objects.



  3. To modify an attribute value for a selected object, click the attribute, enter the new value and press Enter.



    The modification status is indicated in the left-most column:


    • : attributes in the row have been modified and the modifications are compliant with the Business Rules check.
    • : attributes in the row have been modified but warnings have been raised by the Business Rules check.
    • : attributes in the row have been modified but errors have been raised by the Business Rules check.

    Note: You will not be able to edit the attributes that the system considers to be non-modifiable.

    Tips:
    • The modification status tooltip indicates details per modified attribute.
    • To modify an attribute for multiple objects, use multi-selection to select the objects, noting that it is the selected attribute of the last selected object that will be modified for all selected objects.



  4. To revert to the original attribute values of a modified object, select the object row and click Revert Selected Row .

  5. To revert to the original attribute values of all modified objects, click Revert All .

  6. To remove a row from the Sheet Editor, click Remove Selected Rows .

    Note: To sort rows by a given attribute, click on the attribute name in the header.

    Warning: Once you remove a row, you will not be able to recover it in the current Sheet Editor.

  7. To filter the attributes that are displayed in the Sheet Editor, click Filter Attributes ... .

    The Filter Attributes dialog box appears.

  8. To modify the displayed attributes, you can select and deselect the displayed entries, then click "x" in the upper-right corner to close the dialog box.


    • Click the selection box of an individual entry to invert the selection criteria (selected becomes unselected, unselected becomes selected).
    • Check Apply to all to select all entries.
    • Uncheck Apply to all to deselect all entries.

    The attributes in the Sheet Editor will be be filtered accordingly.

  9. To save your changes, click Commit .

    The changes will be saved in the database if you are working from a Search Results window or a Navigation window. If you are working from an Authoring window, the changes will be saved in session (you must use the Propagate command to save them in the database).

    There are four states represented by the Commit icon:

    • : the modified attributes are all valid and you can commit them
    • : some of the modifcations have raised warnings, you can commit them, but you have been warned!
    • : some of the modifications are not valid, you cannot commit
    • : there are no modifications to commit

  10. To exit the sheet editor, press Escape or click the "x" at the upper-right corner of the immersive dialog box.

    Tip:

    Lock status is indicated in the second-left-most column:


    • No icon: the object is not locked
    • : the object is locked by you
    • : the object is locked by another user

    In an Authoring window, if Editability is activated, Editability status is indicated in the second-left-most column instead of Lock status:

    • : object is editable
    • : object is not editable

    • If any rows are indicated as "not editable", then you cannot commit any of the other modifications. You must remove the non-editable objects from the Sheet Editor and then commit.
    • If an object that you want to modify is indicated as not editable, select the object, then select Edit > Editability > Switch to Edition. For more details about Editability, see Editability.

    Important:

    • Only References can be edited in the Sheet Editor.

    • Attributes of objects currently open in VPM Editor cannot be modified in a Sheet Editor executed from a VPM Navigator window.

    • Extension attributes cannot be edited in the Sheet Editor (they are not displayed).

    • The object type of the object constituting the first row of the Sheet Editor is the reference. For objects of different types, only the attributes that are common with the attributes of that reference object type will be displayed.

    Important:
    • Objects modified outside the sheet editor, e.g. with Edit Properties: When objects are modified outside the sheet editor scope, the modification is automatically reported in the sheet editor panel. If the modified attribute had been previously modified in the Sheet Editor scope, this modification will be kept and the attribute is seen as a modified attribute in the Sheet Editor. If you want to forget these changes in the Sheet Editor, you must refresh the row.
    • Attribute modification and Business Rules:
      • The behavior of attribute modification is the same as in Edit Properties. Each modification triggers Business Rules of propagation and check.
      • If the check rule fails, the commit is not available, the status column shows the icon and the help message on the status icon explains why the rule failed.
      • If the check rule raises only warnings, the commit is available and the help message on the status icon explains why the rule raised a warning.
      • The finalization business rules are triggered when committing the values. If an error is raised by the rule, the commit is not available and the help message on the status icon explains why the rule failed.
    • Exiting the Sheet Editor without committing modifications:
      • When you close the panel with a commit icon in state , nothing is commited. If modifications are waiting to be committed, they will be lost.
      • When you close the panel and with a commit button in state or , modifications are waiting to be committed and an information message appears informing you as such. If you select Yes (commit the modifications), modifications are committed before closing the panel. If one of the objects raises a check or finalization error at this step, no modifications are commited for any of the modified objects.