Creating a property template

When you create a property template, you are creating a collection of metadata properties that globally define one or more custom properties that you can assign to any number of classes in an object store. A property template has no function or meaning in the object store until it is assigned to a class as a custom property. During property template creation, you assign values to metadata properties such as data type and cardinality (determines whether a property holds a single value or multiple values).
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This topic is shared by ICS, Filenet 5.5.10. As of: 2023-05-10

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When you create a property template, you should not assign it the same name as the name of an existing property in the same class family. Although you can create such a property template without causing an apparent error, you cannot later assign it to a class as a custom property.

The symbolic name of a property template is its programmatic identifier and is required to be unique within a class family only. A class family is defined by a root class (for example, Document, Folder, and CustomObject) and all of its descendants.

Content Platform Engine used a metadata prefix-naming convention for property and class symbolic names. All new properties and classes that are introduced by the Content Platform Engine software or any IBM® ECM product that produces its own Content Platform Engine add-on feature adhere to this naming convention. This naming convention applies to property and class symbolic name values only; there are no constraints on the values that are chosen for display names.

Details of the prefix-naming convention are as follows:

  • A prefix of Cm is used for the symbolic name of any new Content Platform Engine class or system property of a user-extensible or system class. For example, CmNewProperty.
  • The DITA add-on feature continues to use the Dita prefix instead of Cm.

Any IBM ECM product that produces its own add-on feature must conform to a prefix-naming convention. These add-on features use a prefix of Cm???, in which ??? represents a short product-name abbreviation. However, any IBM ECM products that established their own prefix-naming convention prior to the introduction of this naming convention continue to use their own naming convention instead.

The following add-on metadata prefixes are reserved:

  • Cm: reserved by Content Platform Engine
  • Dita: reserved by Content Platform Engine for the FileNet® P8 DITA Add-on
  • RM: reserved by IBM Enterprise Records
  • EDM: reserved by IBM eDiscovery Manager
  • EDISC: reserved by IBM eDiscovery Manager
  • ICC: reserved by IBM Content Collector

When you create a custom property by using a property template or a new class, avoid assigning its symbolic name with a value beginning with one of these reserved prefixes; as long as you do so, you will not be subject to name collisions in this release or in any future upgrades.

Procedure

To create a property template:

  1. Start the New Property Template wizard in the administration console:
    1. In the domain navigation pane, click the object store.
    2. In the object store navigation pane, right-click the Data Design > Property Templates folder and click New.
  2. Complete the wizard.