A contributing element adds to the base element.
Contributes provides a way for elements to contribute their properties into their base element without
directly changing any of its existing properties, such as in an additive fashion.
When the contribution is resolved during publication or by using the Browsing perspective,
the base element is logically replaced with an element that combines the attributes and associations
of the contributing element with the base element.
Relevant information in the contributing element is added to the base element.
Text fields in the contributing element are appended at the end of the
respective text fields in the base element.
For example, text in a brief description is appended to the brief description in the base.
A contributing element only adds attributes and associations to the base element.
It never overrides or replaces existing attributes or other association in the base.
If the base element is defined with an existing association to exactly one other element,
the existing association will not be replaced by a contributor's association.
Contribution Rules
- Attributes from the contributing element are appended to the base element
except for identifying or naming attributes and non-textual attributes such as boolean or date.
- Outgoing associations of the contributing element are ignored if the base element
already has such an association,
or if the base element has more than one contributing element.
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- Outgoing associations are added to the base elements of a contribution.
- Incoming associations to the contributing element with a to-one constraint
on the other association end are ignored if the base already has such an incoming
association, or if there is more than one contribution to consider for the base element.
- Other incoming associations to the contributing element are added to the
base elements of a contribution.
- A base element can receive contributions from multiple elements,
provided those associations are supported individually.
- Contributions are transitive.
This means a contributing element that has its own contributing elements will add them to the base.
A complete list of all possible associations is provided on the
Variability Associations page.
How to Add a Contribution Association
- Use the Content Variability section on the Description
tab to make an element contribute to another element.
- Select Contributes as the Variability
type and then select the base element to which this element will contribute.
Note that the base element must be the same type of element as the contributing element.
Related Concepts