Drop-down filters

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Overview

Administrators with access to the Dropdown Filters page can manage the items available in drop-down lists on input forms. A filter would typically be used to define a shorter drop-down list.

Filters can be added, removed, modified and two existing filters can also be merged to define a new filter.

The Dropdown Filter list macro name that is generated starts with DDF__ and is of the format (dots and slashes replaced by underscores):

DDF__<target model type> _<target model name>_<target field>

This is also the name shown in the Dropdown Filters list view at the hierarchy at which is was created.

Add a drop-down filter

1. Navigate to the required hierarchy.

2. Go to the Dropdown Filters page, then click the Plus icon (+) to add a new record.

3. At Select a Dropdown Filter action, select Create a Dropdown Filter.

4. Select a target model name and target field name to which the filter is to be applied.

   This is the drop-down field on an input form on the Admin Portal. Click Help on the input form to see the names.

5. Identify the associated Model Type and Dropdown Field of the Dropdown Filter specifications.

   Note

   This can differ from the form names. Click Help on the input form to verify.

6. Set up the Filter Fields. Compare a Filter Field to a Filter Field Value:

   • contained in or not contained in

   • equal or not equal

   Note

   • The Filter Field can differ from the Target Field, that is, the drop-down list can be filtered according a filter applied to another field that belongs to the Model Type.

   • The Filter Field value can also take the name of a named macro that resolves to a value, for example: macro.SITENAME.

   • If the same Filter Field is used more than once, these filters will be merged, that is, the combined filters on the field apply.

7. Add Additional Parameters to the filter:

   • direction:hierarchy direction for search: [up|down|local|parent|below|above] (below and above exclude current hierarchy)

   • device: device name

   • ndl: network device list that the device belongs to

   • limit: number of results

   • skip: start number of results - can be used for paging

   • title: character or regular expression: only return values matching its value

   For details and examples, refer to the topics on macro syntax in the Advanced Configuration Guide.

8. Click Save. A drop-down filter is created.

   This filter is a named list macro that will be added to the GUI Rule which is in place at the selected hierarchy for the Target Field on the Admin Portal input form of the selected Target Model Name.

   When opening a drop-down filter, the macro is shown in the Macro field at the bottom of the form. Users who have menu access to the list of named macros can also see the drop-down filter macros by filtering the list by name starting with DDF__.

Drop-down filter example

Consider the filter:

• Target Model Name: relation/LineRelation

• Target Field: callForwardAll.callingSearchSpaceName

• Model Type: device/cucm/Css

• Dropdown Field: name

• Filter Field: name

• Filter Condition: Contains

• Filter Field Value: Cu2

• Additional Parameter: Parameter Title: Direction

• Additional Parameter: Parameter value: up

The list macro that is created applies to the GUI rule for the input field callForwardAll.callingSearchSpaceName of the input form for relation/LineRelation at the selected hierarchy. The list macro would then be:

{# device/cucm/Css | name /Cu2/i | direction: up #}

If you have access to the Macro Evaluator, you can test this macro. Also refer to the topic on Macro Syntax in the Advanced Configuration Guide for more details.

In the Dropdown Filters list view at the hierarchy, the Filter Name shows as:

DDF__relation_LineRelationTarget_callForwardAll_callingSearchSpaceName

Merged drop-down filters

Two existing drop-down filters can be merged to create a new dropdown filter. The merged filter is a drop-down list that uniquely combines the lists from the two drop-down filters.

Merge drop-down filters

1. Navigate to the required hierarchy.

2. Go to the Dropdown Filters page.

   Check that the two drop-down filters that you want to merge are showing in the list view at the hierarchy. Otherwise, add the drop-down filters.

3. Choose Merge Existing Dropdown Filters from the Select a Dropdown Filter Action drop-down list.

4. Choose the Target Model and Target Field names to which the filter is to be applied.

5. Choose the two drop-down filters from the Dropdown Filters to merge form.

6. Click Save. A merged drop-down filter is created.

Note

Only two filters can be merged. To merge more than two drop-down filters, first create a merged filter of each filter pair and select it to be merged.

When a created merged drop-down filter is opened, the macro is shown in the Macro field at the bottom of the form. The macro uses the fn.list_extend_no_dup macro function to uniquely merge the two drop-down filter lists. The macro syntax is of the format

{{ fn.list_extend_no_dup macro.DDF__<filter name 1>, macro.DDF__<filter name 2> }}

Refer to the topic on Macro Syntax and List Functions in the Advanced Configuration Guide for more details.