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Managed Data Fields gives you the ability to easily define and manage structured Data Fields globally in Confluence, instantiate Field Definitions on Confluence pages and perform Queries on existing Field Instances.
Manage Access Control
By default, every Confluence user may add, edit and delete Field Definitions, as described in Add a Field Definition. However, the access to the central Field Definition page can be controlled via Confluence user groups. As soon as the user group managed-data-fields-editors exists with at least one member, access is only granted to group members. These users will then see a new button Field Definitions in the Confluence top bar which allows quick access from everywhere in Confluence to the Managed Data Fields Definition page.
Add a Field Definition
The creation of Field Definitions is managed centrally for your entire Confluence instance. More information on how to manage editing rights for Field Definitions can be found under Manage Access Control.
If the Confluence group as described in Manage Access Control does not exist, simply insert the Managed Data Fields macro on a Confluence page. Select Field Definition and open the Definition Page by clicking on Create. You are redirected to the global Field Definition page. There you can add, edit and delete Field Definitions. These changes will be directly available in all Confluence pages and displayed in existing Field Instances and Queries.
Field Definitions centrally define your data fields. For each Field Definition, you may select a name and one or more Data Attributes.
Since Managed Data Fields 2.0.0 and BPMN-Modeler Enterprise 3.14.0, your globally defined Data Fields can be used on process elements within the BPMN-Modeler Enterprise! Therefore, for each Field Definition a decision can be made where it should be possible to instantiate Field Instances (on a Confluence page as a Managed Data Fields Macro, and/or within the BPMN-Modeler Enterprise Plug-In).
It is also possible to restrict the usage of Field Definitions to certain Confluence spaces. Simply add your private Confluence here and the Field Definition may only be instanted on pages that belong to the whitelisted space.
Data Attribute Types
A Field Definition can comprise of one or more Data Attributes. These are currently:
Text → free-text input
Number → allows only numbers
Date → date-picker
Confluence user → add one or more Confluence users found by their name
Option Field (Radio-Buttons) → one of several predefined selection options can be selected
Multi Select (Checkboxes) → multiple predefined selection options can be selected
Dropdown → one of several predefined selection options can be selected
Note that the latter three data types require at least one predefined selection option to be defined.
Edit existing Field Definitions
On the Field Definition page you cannot only create but also edit existing definitions. When doing so, you cannot change the type of a Data Field (cf. Field Types), but edit the name and edit, add or delete attributes. Changes to Field Defintions are directly applied to all matching Field Instance. When possible, existing instances are merged with the changes applied to the definition. If this is not possible, for example if an attribute value was deleted that was selected by an instance, you will see an indicator next to this attribute, and have the possibility to synchronize affected instances with the changed Field Definition. This way, you will never loose any data. Whenever data would be deleted, you will be asked to manually confirm this deletion. Any other changes not causing data deletion will be applied automatically.
Field Instance with deleted attribute in page view
Field Instance with deleted attribute in page editor
Instantiate a Field
Once you have defined an abstract Data Field by creating a Field Definition, you can instantiate it as a macro on every Confluence page. Simply select the Managed Data Field Macro from the insert menu. Alternatively, use the shortcut { and start to type Managed Data Fields.
In the up showing dialog, choose Field Instance, the Field Definition you want to instantiate and fill in your instance values. Click on Create to add the macro to your page.
Editing Existing Fields
If you already have a page with Data Field instances, you can edit them by going into the Confluence page editor, clicking on the corresponding macro placeholder and entering your changes to the showing input panel.
Field Query
Create a Field Query
A Field Query allows you to create reports on over the existing Field Instances of a certain Field Definition. Simply create a Manage Data Fields Macro on your Confluence page and choose “Field Query”. After selecting the Field Definition you want to create a report for, you may also define some filtering values. If no value filter is applied, the Field Query will retrieve all corresponding Field Instances, irrespective of their value.
Moreover, you can restrict the query on Field Instances on a certain Confluence space.
Complex Searches with Numbers
|Since 2.1.0-ONPREMISE.|
Instead of only searching for a field instances with a specific number, you can also search for field instances using ranges and conditions. For this, you need to use a certain syntax which will be explained in the following:
How to search for numbers that are ...
Greater or Lower than
To search for numbers that are lower or equal than a specific number use "<" or ">". For example:
"<10" would return every field instance with numbers that are smaller than 10.
">10" would return every field instance with a number that is greater than 10.
Greater or equal than/ Lower or equal than
If you want to include the borders, you need to also include "=". For example:
"<=10" would return every field instance with numbers that are smaller or equal to 10.
">=10" would return every field instance with numbers that are greater or equal to 10.
Unequal to
To search for numbers that are unequal to a specific number you can use the "!=" operator. For example:
"!=10" would return every field instance with a number that is not 10.
Equal to
By default you will always search for a number that is equal to the specified number. However, you can also you the "=" operator. For example:
"=10" would return every field instance with a number that is exactly 10.
Combing and ordering operations
Combing multiple operators using the OR-operator
You can combine multiple operators with an OR-operator by typing "OR" in between them. For example:
"<=1OR>10" would return every field instance with a number that it lower or equal to 1 or greater than 10
Combining multiple operators using the AND-operator
You can also combine multiple operators with an AND-operator by typing "AND" in between them. For example:
"<10AND!=2.5" would return every field instance with a number that is lower than 10 and unequal to 2.5
Determining the order of operations using brackets
To determine the order of operations, user brackets. Operations in brackets have higher priority. By default the AND operator is prioritized. For example:
"(>0OR<10)AND(<4OR>8)" would return every field instance with a number that is either in between 0 and 4 or between 8 and 10.
">0OR<10AND<4OR>8" would return every field instance with a number that is either greater than 0, lower than 4 and 10, or greater than 8.
In the first example 5 would not be found because it is not between 0 and 4 or 8 and 10. In the second example 5 would be found because it is greater 0.
Keeping an overview
Some operations can get pretty long and get cluttered. You can use spaces to keep an overview. These will not have any impact on the results.