Linking Instances from Outside a Case

Info

New in Atfinity 17.

A relationship normally points at instances the case already contains. It can also be allowed to point at an instance outside the case, an external instance. This is set per relationship and is off by default.

Which instances you can pick

Where it is allowed, you pick from the whole database in an instance table rather than from the case. The table offers every instance you have access to, except:

• those already in the case
• those no case has approved yet
• those outside the ontologies the condition declares

The rest of the condition is not applied, so an instance it would reject inside the case can still be picked from outside it.

What attaching one does

Choosing one attaches it to the case, which takes its own copy of its values for rules and documents to read through the relationship. The instance itself stays outside the case: it gets no tabs, documents or roles of its own, and rule declarations do not match it. It is marked as external wherever it appears, and clearing the reference detaches it and discards the copy.

Linking an existing instance into a case attaches the instances it references the same way, whether or not those relationships allow external instances.