Make handler logic variant dependent

Good idea!

Please also add the @variant_id parameter to Default/Layout/Context and Task logic

Hi all,

We are currently reviewing the way variants work in the Thinkwise Platform.

It is likely that variants will be ‘promoted’ to be regular entities in the model, albeit special as they are based on an underlying table, view, etc.

This will make the following features a lot easier to add:

• Variant-specific authorization
• Variants which are less limited than the entities they are based on, in terms of editing, locked prefilters and such.
• Additional details specific to variants
• Additional expression columns specific to variants
• Custom display configurations for variants
• Custom look-up configuration for columns in variants

For logic, this is currently a point of contention.

A @variant_id is already available in badges and change detection as they are heavily dependent on the variant configuration (read: configured prefilters)

However, the code of such logic concepts is not getting easier to read or maintain.

An alternative is to allow the creation of dedicated logic procedures for variants, which is in line with the beforementioned ‘promotion’ of variants to regular entities. A variant can have its own handlers, defaults, layouts, contexts, etc.

Logic which must be applied on both variants and bases can be woven in both handlers.

We’d love to hear your input on this!

Hi Anne,

Thanks for your response.

Does this imply getting 1 - N relation between Data Model > Tables and “Subjects”? So essentially getting rid of Subject > Variants and replace this with multiple subjects? I think it is a great idea if it offers more customization of logic between variants of the same table, such as the context/handler, etc.

It would be nice if we can search on the Data model > Table name in the subjects tab the same way as before, so we can see all subjects that refer to the same Table together in one overview.

One challenge I can think of is the way that the default settings also apply to the variants at the moment. This will have to work similarly in the new setup, or things will behave differently.