Modeling dependent relationships in drop-down lists

Mind map

You can model dependent relationships in mind maps by attaching attributes to drop-down list items. For example, in a Pet Insurance product, the Dog risk object has a Type drop-down list where you can specify whether the dog is a Companion Dog, Guard Dog, or Unclassifiable. If you select Companion Dog, you can further specify the breed and whether the dog is a toy. The breed is a drop-down list, and Poodle includes a nested Poodle Color drop-down list. Companion Dog also has a Boolean Toy attribute. You cannot attach attributes to the Toy attribute.

A drop-down list can have Text, Number, Money, and Decimal attributes. Beneath any of these list items, you can attach data type attributes, such as Text, Drop-down list, and Number, among others. If you attach a drop-down list, you can continue attaching attributes on the list items. This relationship is preserved when you import the product to PolicyCenter.

In schedules, dependent attribute relationships in drop-down lists are not supported. They are dropped when you import the mind map.

Visualized product

When you import the mind map into PolicyCenter, go to the Fields tab for the risk object to see the drop-down lists and attached attributes. For these attributes, Field Usage is always Unavailable with conditional exceptions that make the attribute available when the parent list item is selected.

For Pet Insurance, go to the Fields tab for the Dog risk object. The top-level Type drop-down list imports with a Field Usage of User Entered. The Companion Breed and Toy attributes have Field Usage of Unavailable. For Companion Breed, click Unavailable to see that this drop-down list has a conditional expression that makes it available when Type is Companion Dog.

Use drop-down list for follow-up to true/false questions in visualized product

You can model follow-up questions to a True/False (binary choice) question in mind maps by using a Drop-down list. This is because True/False topics cannot have subtopics. They are deleted when you import the mind map, and you cannot model this relationship in Advanced Product Designer.

The following example has a binary choice question, Is this a toy dog?, that is modeled as a drop-down list. The Yes, they are a toy choice has a follow-up question How much do they weigh?

Yes, they are a toy, No, they are not a toy are text. How much do they weigh? is decimal.

In the visualized product, Yes, they are a toy and No, they are not a toy become drop-down list entries, which are answers to the Is this a toy dog? attribute.

When you import the mind map into PolicyCenter, go to the Fields tab to see the drop-down list and attached attribute.

On the Fields tab, the top-level Is this a toy dog? drop-down list imports with a Field Usage of User Entered. The How much do they weigh? attribute has a Field Usage of Unavailable. Click Unavailable to see that this drop-down list has a conditional expression that makes it available when the answer to Is this a toy dog? is Yes, they are a toy.