17.3 - Fake 'IsMandatory'

Setting a parent Feature’s behavior to ‘IsMandatory’ is not the only way to remind you users not to overlook certain parts of your configuration model. There is another, more easy-going way to indicate that a question has not be answered by the user yet.

You can see that I’ve created a simple Configuration Model. But there is a catch to this model. If you preview this model, you will notice that Child 0 is not visible but all the other are not selected either. Let’s look into the logic of this model.

Logic

You can create a “Fake ‘IsMandatory’ “ that will make it look like you have used a IsMandatory feature, but this is not the case. The key to the fake "IsMandatory' in this Configuration Model is Child 0. If we look into the logic of 'Child 0' you will see that it is set as a default but at the same time the feature is also hidden. Because Child 0 is selected by default, but hidden, it looks like as if none of Children 1 to 3 are selected.

• Parent
  • Child 0 (default) (Hidden)
  • Child 1
  • Child 2
  • Child 3

In this way, you will create a less aggressive Fake ‘IsMandatory’ in your Configuration Model without setting the behavior to ‘IsMandatory’