Custom Attributes

>What is a Custom Attribute?

>Prerequisites for Creating a Custom Attribute

>Custom Attribute Support for Entities

>Creating a Custom Attribute

>Actions for a Custom Attribute

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What is a Custom Attribute?

Custom attributes let you create placeholders to store additional information for an entity. This information can be input while creating or editing that entity.

For example, suppose your organization needs to store the company web site address (URL) with every end user that a vendor user creates. For this, you can create a custom attribute, Company Website, for the user entity. This enables a vendor user to save the company web site address in this custom attribute when creating an end user.

Prerequisites for Creating a Custom Attribute

The vendor user must have administrative rights in Sentinel EMS.

Custom Attribute Support for Entities

The following table lists the entities that support custom attributes along with their supported data types:

  Entity Supported Data Types
String Date Numeric Boolean List XML
Feature  
Product  
Customer  
User  
Entitlement
Channel Partner  
Activation  
Product Key (Line item)  
Channel Partner Users  
Download

NOTE   The updated values of List data-type custom attributes are maintained globally in a list, even when updated at an individual entity level.

Creating a Custom Attribute

You create a custom attribute from the Custom Attributes page.

To create a custom attribute:

1.From the navigation pane, select Configuration > Custom Attributes to view the Custom Attributes page.

2.Click the Add Custom Attribute button.

3.Fill in the custom attributes.

4.Click Save.

Defining Custom Attributes

The following table explains the attributes that are used to create a custom attribute:

Attribute Description Required/Optional Valid Values
Name Name of the custom attribute. Required

>Must be unique for a given entity.

>Alphanumeric

>Up to 100 characters

>Must not start with LDK. or LDKMemory. (notice the dot in each string), as these strings are reserved for built-in Sentinel LDK attributes.

Entity

The entity for which the custom attribute is being created.

 

>Feature

>Product

> Customer

> User

> Entitlement

>Channel Partner

> Activation

>Product Key

>Channel Partner Users

>Download

Data Type Data type of the custom attribute.  

> String

> Date

>Numeric

>Boolean

> List
Note:

Only vendor administrators can delete the value of the List data-type custom attribute.

You cannot delete the value of the List data-type custom attribute if that value is either used as the Default Value or within any entity.

>XML

See Custom Attribute Support for Entities for more information on data-type support based on entities.

Mandatory

The optional or mandatory status of the custom attribute.

NOTE   Mandatory custom attribute inputs are not supported for user registration from the Sentinel EMS customer portal. If you expect end users to register using the customer portal, do not create mandatory custom attributes for those users.

 

"Yes" or "No"

Default: "No"

Unique

Make the value of a custom attribute unique and mandatory.

When the value of Allow Changes By attribute is set to "Vendor Admin Only", Unique is set to "No" and that cannot be changed.

 

"Yes" or "No"

Default: "No"

For activation entitles, set to "No".

Allow Changes By

Specifies the type of user that can modify the custom attribute.

Note: Only vendor administrators can change the value of custom attributes at the entity level; for all other users, it is displayed as read-only.

Required

> All Users

> Vendor Admin Only

Default: All Users

Default Value

Default value of the custom attribute. Displayed only if Unique is set to "No".

> Optional if the Allow Changes By attribute is set to "All Users".

>Required if the Allow Changes By attribute is set to "Vendor Admin Only".

Must meet the validity of the data type. The allowed value for each data type is listed below (applicable for all entities):

>String: Maximum 510 characters

Note: For the String data type, at the entity level: Maximum of 2000 characters

>Date: Current date by default.

>Numeric: Maximum value: 2147483647

>Boolean: Yes or No

>List: Maximum 250 characters

>XML: Maximum 555 characters

Regular Expression

Defines the restrictions for the input value of the custom attribute.

Example: [-a-z0-9]+(\.[-a-z0-9]+)*

Optional Must be a valid regular expression.
Description Additional information about the custom attribute. Optional

>Alphanumeric

>0 to 500 characters

Where are Custom Attributes Available for an Entity?

After you create a custom attribute, it is available on the create or edit page of its entity. Custom attributes that are optional appear in the Additional Attribute section and are sorted by their creation date and time. Mandatory custom attributes are listed under primary entity attributes.

Actions for a Custom Attribute

The following table lists the actions available for custom attributes:

Action Description
Edit button Edit

Updates information for an existing custom attribute.

Note:

>When editing a custom attribute that contains duplicate values, you cannot set the Unique attribute to "Yes".

>You cannot specify a Default Value if Unique is set to "Yes".

Delete button Delete

Deletes a custom attribute.