Skip to main content

Configure custom properties

Create custom properties to hold information not predefined in the product — extra fields on repository objects or diagram elements, and even custom relationships between objects.

Prerequisites​

Steps​

Create a property​

  1. In the Repository area, select Custom Properties, then click Create new property.

  2. Enter a Display name — the name users see. You can rename it at any time.

  3. Check the Property name, generated from the display name. Edit it now if you want a different one: it must start with a letter and use only letters, numbers, and underscores (up to 50 characters). The property name is permanent — once the property is created, the field becomes read-only and no one can change it. It identifies the property in iGrafx Query Language (IQL) report definitions and REST API calls, so settle on it before you save.

  4. Optionally enter a Description of what the property holds (up to 2,000 characters).

  5. Choose a Property type:

    TypeSettings
    TextSingle line, multiple lines, or a collection of unique text fields, with an optional character limit.
    Rich TextFormatted text. No additional settings.
    NumberInteger, floating point, or fixed point with a precision you set.
    Date, Date and Time, True/False, PercentNo additional settings.
    DurationA time span. How many seconds a day, week, month, and year count as is set once for the whole repository — not per property. Use Set Duration Values in the action row at the top of the Custom Properties list page, not this form.
    DistanceA length with a unit.
    Selection ListA single-value or multiple-value pick list. Click Add Option for each entry; the ID is generated from the label and is what IQL and the REST API use. Keep the A–Z order or switch to a custom order and drag entries with Reorder.
    Repository RelationA relationship to one or to multiple repository objects, optionally restricted by object type.

  6. Under Available On, choose where the property exists:

    • Repository Objects — objects in the repository tree (Diagrams, Process, Resource, Risk, Control, and so on).
    • Diagram Elements — shapes and other elements contained within diagrams.

    By default the property is available on all objects or elements. Select Restrict repository objects by type (or Restrict diagram elements by type) to limit it to the types you pick.

  7. Under Display, set the Visibility:

    • Normal — users can see and edit the value.
    • Read-Only — users see the value but only the REST API can change it. Use it for a value another system owns that readers still need to see, such as a status the source system keeps current.
    • Hidden — the value is invisible in the UI and managed entirely through the API. Use it for a value only an integration consumes — for example the ID of the matching record in a finance or ticketing system, which keeps the two systems linked but means nothing to someone reading the object.

  8. For repository objects, optionally check Present value at check-in to prompt for the property when an object is checked in. You can also initialize it with the value from the previous version and require a value before check-in completes.

    This reaches only the item types that go through check-out and check-in — diagrams, external files, and Reports (see Repository and object model). You edit a Process, Risk, or Resource directly, so neither the prompt nor the required-value rule applies to those, even when the property is available on them.

  9. Click Create property.

The create-property form with the basic settings, Available On, and Display sections.

tip

Use a Repository Relation only when the built-in object relationships don't already express the link. That set is broad — a diagram documenting an object, a resource supporting a process, and a performance indicator measuring one are all already covered.

Supersession is a real gap: nothing in the built-in set records which to-be process replaces an as-is one. A Replaced by relation restricted to Process captures that pairing on the as-is process, and nowhere else.

Manage existing properties​

  • Each property appears as a card on the Custom Properties page with Edit and Delete actions. Deleting a property removes all entered values from objects in the repository and cannot be undone.
  • Click Reorder and drag cards to change the order in which properties display.

Download the XML schema​

The XML Schema tab provides a schema generated from the repository's current custom properties. Use it to validate BPMNBPMN An ISO/OMG standard graphical notation for modeling business processes. Process360 Live uses BPMN 2.0 for design and simulation artifacts. XML files that carry custom property values — it changes whenever the properties change.

Limitations​

  • A property presented at check-in must have Normal visibility.
  • A text property's character limit reserves database space for every object that can carry the property, so set it no larger than needed.