How to Configure and use Attributes

Attributes are used to add custom data to supported entities without code changes.

• The definition of an Attribute is configured in the Estate Manager's Attribute / Option Set Maintenance application.
• The value for an attribute is defined in the entity maintenance application.

This tutorial focuses on how to load such attributes from code in the POS application.

Common Entities Supporting Attributes

The following entities support attributes and this tutorial can be applied to those entities.

• Customer
• IIN Range
• Loyalty Tier
• Location
• MM Group
• POS Terminal
• Product
• Promotion
• Tender
• Voucher Type
• User

Entity Names of Attribute Types

Entity name is used in code level with the specific attribute type

Attribute Type	Entity Name
Customer	customerAttributeSet
IIN Range	iinRangeAttributeOptionSet
Loyalty Tier	loyaltyTierAttributeOptionSet
Location	locationAttributeOptionSet
MM Group	mmGroupAttributeOptionSet
POS Terminal	posTerminalAttributeOptionSet
Product	productAttributeOptionSet
Promotion	promotionDisplayAttributeOptionSet
Tender	tenderAttributeOptionSet
Voucher Type	voucherTypeAttributeOptionSet
User	userAttributeOptionSet

Configuration

Attribute / Option Set Maintenance

In the Estate Manager (EM), navigate to Configuration > Merchandise > Attribute / Option Sets

Creating a new Attribute Set

1. Navigate to Attribute / Option Set Maintenance
2. Click Creat a new Option Set Button
   
3. Fill in Attribute / Option Set ID, Type, and Region according to your requirement.
4. Click "Create"
   
5. Give a human readable name to your attributes
6. Click "Add" button and select attribute type you need
   
7. Fill In attribute ID and human readable attribute name
   
8. Click "Save" on the pop up window to add the attribute
9. Click "Save" on Edit Attribute / Option Set page to save the attributes

Instructions

Loading attributes in an application process

Attributes are loaded in two steps

1. Creating the list criteria
2. Loading the attributes using the list criteria

Creating the list criteria

Action: com.enactor.commonUI.list.processes.AddListFilterAction

Inputs:

Input Name	Type	Value
enactor.coreUI.DefaultValue	java.lang.String	Entity Name of the Attribute
enactor.coreUI.FilterId	java.lang.String	Type
enactor.coreUI.FilterType	java.lang.String	TextValueFilter

Example: If a product attribute is being loaded, value of enactor.coreUI.DefaultValue should be set to "productAttributeOptionSet"

Output:

Output Name	Type	Value
enactor.coreUI.ListCriteria	com.enactor.core.servers.IListCriteria	The list criteria that can be used to load attributes

Loading the attributes using the list criteria

Action: com.enactor.commonUI.list.processes.LoadListAction

Inputs:

Input Name	Type	Value
enactor.coreUI.EntityName	java.lang.String	optionSet
enactor.coreUI.EntityNamespace	java.lang.String	Name Space of the Entity
enactor.coreUI.ListCriteria	com.enactor.core.servers.IListCriteria	Output of AddListFilterAction

Namespace is defined in the entity's Java class

Example: LocationAttribute.Java

Java class contains the following XML element
@XmlRootElement(name = LocationAttribute.ENTITY_NAME, namespace = PackageInfo.NSURI_MFC)

Notice namespace = PackageInfo.NSURI_MFC
The value of PackageInfo.NSURI_MFC is "http://www.enactor.com/mfc"

When loading location attributes, the value of enactor.coreUI.EntityNamespace should be set to "http://www.enactor.com/mfc"

Output:

Output Name	Type	Value
enactor.coreUI.List	java.util.List	Loaded attributes list

Loading attributes in a Java class

Each attribute has a corresponding server. The server is used to get data. A generale IServer<IAttributeKey, IAttribute> can also be used to get attributes.

The following code snippet is an example on getting location attributes using ILocationAttributeServer in Java.

//  Get the inputs
String locationId = "0001";

//  Load location server
ILocationAttributeServer locationAttributeServer;
try {
    locationAttributeServer = EntityServerProxy.getServer(LocationAttribute.ENTITY_QNAME);
} catch (UnknownServerException ex) {
    logger.log(Logger.LOG_ERROR, "Failed to obtain server for " + LocationAttribute.ENTITY_QNAME, ex);
    return CoreUIOutcomes.FAIL_OUTCOME;
}

//Making the filter
MatchTextValueFilter filter = new MatchTextValueFilter(ILocationAttributeServer.FILTER_LOCATION_ID);
filter.setComparisonOperator(ComparisonOperators.EQUALS);
filter.setValue(locationId);
List<IListFilter> filters = new ArrayList<>();
filters.add(filter);

//Making the list criteria
ListCriteria listCriteria = new ListCriteria();
listCriteria.setFilters(filters);


Map<String, Object> result = new LinkedHashMap<>();
try {
    List<IKeyedListElement> list = locationAttributeServer.listAll(listCriteria);
    //list object can be used to iterate over loaded attributes
    for (IKeyedListElement element : list) {
        ILocationAttributeKey locationAttributeKey = (ILocationAttributeKey)((ListElement)element).getKey();
        ILocationAttribute locationAttribute = locationAttributeServer.load(locationAttributeKey, LockType.READ_LOCK);
        Map<String, Object> values = locationAttribute.getValues();
        //values object is a data map for attribute items and values
        //values object can be used inside Java to meet any requirements
    }
} catch (DatabaseException ex) {
    logger.log(Logger.LOG_ERROR, "Error loading location attributes", ex);
    return CoreUIOutcomes.FAIL_OUTCOME;
}
return CoreUIOutcomes.SUCCESS_OUTCOME;

Example Use case

Requirement - A customer needs to stop POS logins from some (0002,0005) locations. The customer has stores in 5 locations (0001 to 0005).
Background knowledge - In the sign on process (Pos/SignOn/SignOn_1.0.xml), "HandleServiceMode" extension is called after a user login and before ending the process.

Configurations

1. A locationAttributeOptionSet is defined in Attribute / Option Set Maintenance app.
   • Name of the Attribute set is "Allow POS Operations".
   • The Attribute set as a boolean attribute called "Allow POS Login".
   • The default value for the "Allow POS Login" boolean flag is true.
2. In the Location Maintenance app, perform following changes.
   • Edit 0002 location.
   • Navigate to "Attributes" tab.
   • Set the "Allow POS Login" to false.
   • Click "Save" button to save the changes.
   • Edit 0005 location.
   • Navigate to "Attributes" tab.
   • Set the "Allow POS Login" to false.
   • Click "Save" button to save the changes.

Platform code changes

No platform changes are required

Customer code changes

• Register a process for "HandleServiceMode" extension point ID.
• In the new process, retrieve the location's "Allow POS Operations" attribute set using a method mentioned in this document.
• Check the value of "Allow POS Login" boolean flag:
  • If the value is true, return the Success Outcome
  • If the value is false, add a pop up message to mention pos logins are disabled in the location.