Defining components

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About this task

Most groups need at least one component. Categories do not have components, however, you can define components for a category for inheritance purposes.

To determine the components of a group, ask the question:

Group type _____________ consists of what?

For example, The file consists of what? The answer might be "records". So, Record(s) is a component of that group or category type.

Suppose you have a data file containing order records for an office supply store. You need to define the components of the type File.

To define components:

Procedure

  1. In the type tree, double-click the group or category type whose components you want to define.

    The group or category view opens.

  2. Drag each type from the type tree into the component column.
    The type name is displayed in the Component column.
  3. Enter component ranges where necessary.
  4. Drag each component from the type tree into the group view.
  5. Enter component ranges where necessary. A component range indicates the number of occurrences. The number of records in the file is indefinite, so the range is (s), which represents "some." When a component is highlighted, it appears in the component rule bar.
    For example, in the component rule bar, place the cursor after Record, type (s), and press Enter.
  6. Close the view and click Yes if prompted to save changes.