A context is a specific filter placed on data in STEP which groups a set of dimension points, allowing data to vary based on context. Each context is a combination of different dimensions, such as language and country. One and only one dimension point from each dimension can be associated with a specific context. In the below screenshot, the Language and Country columns contain the relevant dimension points.
When selecting a context from the Context dropdown list in the upper left of the STEP Workbench interface, the product data being viewed will change and only data that is valid within the selected context will be displayed. The below screenshot shows a list of contexts available within this specific STEP instance and the view of French data.
If the data being viewed is a dimension-dependent STEP name and no name has been provided in the context you are viewing, the ID, in parentheses, will appear in the name field instead. For example, if the ID is 123456, the name will appear as (123456).
Dimension Dependent Data
Data is stored in STEP in dimension points. In order to place data into different dimensions, the object type, attribute, and/or reference type that will either contain or link the data together must be made dimension dependent.
Note: Data is not stored in contexts.
- Object types are made dimension dependent if they should have different STEP names in different contexts. In most cases, this is because the names are translated into different languages, though they may also have different names in different markets, for example.
For information on making object types dimension dependent, refer to the Maintaining Dimension Dependent Object Types topic here.
- Attributes are made dimension dependent when their values should be different in different contexts. This also includes lists of values (LOVs).
For information on making attributes dimension dependent, refer to the Dimension Dependent Attributes topic in the Getting Started documentation here.
- Reference types are made dimension dependent when different linked objects (typically assets) should be visible in different contexts.
For information on making reference types dimension dependent, refer to the Dimension Dependent Reference and Link Types topic in the Getting Started documentation here.
- Assets can be made dimension dependent but this is a global setting applied under System Setup > Users & Groups > Image & Document Settings. For more information, refer to the Image and Document Settings topic here.
Note: In almost all circumstances, assets can be 'swapped out' in different dimensions by use of dimension-dependent reference types.
You can also find information about contexts and Web UI functionality in the Multi Context Screen topic