Hierarchy Search Guideline
http://fusiongps/guidelines/content/guidelines/hiersearch/
Version 1.0.0.1
Last Modified: Feb 13 2016 3:16:17 AM
Author: Sherry Mead
Contributors: Harris Kravatz, Amy Chen
This guideline describes a set of hierarchy conditions that can be added to the condition choice list of a
search field when the data to be searched is hierarchical. It also provides guidance on how to display
hierarchy search results.
Guideline Contents
Hierarchy Search Guideline ..................................................................................................................1
Hierarchy Conditions .......................................................................................................................2
Hierarchy Condition Terminology .....................................................................................................2
Family Terminology .....................................................................................................................2
Tree Terminology ........................................................................................................................5
Selection-Independent Conditions ....................................................................................................5
Default Search Conditions ................................................................................................................6
Conventional Search Defaults ......................................................................................................6
Hierarchy Search Defaults ...........................................................................................................6
Conventional and Hierarchy Search Combined Defaults .................................................................7
Hierarchy Search Results .................................................................................................................7
Results Marked in a Tree Table ....................................................................................................8
Results and Their Ancestors in a Tree Table .................................................................................9
Flat Table and Path .....................................................................................................................9
Flat Table ................................................................................................................................. 10
View in Hierarchy ...................................................................................................................... 10
Appendix: Examples .......................................................................................................................... 11
Conditions that Use Family Terminology ......................................................................................... 11
Is a Descendent of Node .............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Is a Last Descendent of Node ....................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Is a Child of Node ........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Is an Ancestor of Node ................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Is a First Ancestor of Node ........................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Is a Parent of Node ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Is a Sibling of Node ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Conditions that Use Tree Terminology ............................................................................................ 19
Is a Member of Branch .............................................................................................................. 19
Is a Leaf Node .......................................................................................................................... 20
Is a Leaf Node Under Node .......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Is the Root Node ...................................................................................................................... 22
Conditions that Require Metadata .................................................................................................. 23
Is a Member of the Level .............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Has the Label ........................................................................................................................... 24
Change History ............................................................................................................................. 24
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Hierarchy Conditions
When hierarchy search conditions are available, the condition choice list (drop-down) should be visible by
default. Use ADF Query Basic View, not ADF Quick Query. See the Focused Search Guideline. Any of the
Transactional Search Design Patterns may be used for the search.
The searchable fields must include:

Tree Node
The prompt for the Search field must be the name of the object each tree node represents. For
example, if tree nodes are employees, the prompt for the search field is "Employee Name". See
the example below.
Note: ApplCore will provide a "Tree Node Picker" in Drop 7. Use it for all tree node search fields.
All select tree node illustrations in this guideline represent the ApplCore tree node picker.

Tree Node Label
If you are using Fusion Tree Management and have Labels enabled, then the Labels field must be
a searchable field. The prompt for the field must be the name of the attribute the label
represents. For example, if tree node labels represent Positions, the search field is labeled
"Position". See the example below.
Figure 1: Tree Node and Label in search region
f
Figure 2: Tree Node and Label in search results
Hierarchy Condition Terminology
There are a few different options in displaying hierarchy Search Condition Terminology to the user. The
three options are: Family Terminology, Domain-Specific Terminology, and Tree Terminology.
Family Terminology
Family terminology provides a set of seven (7) different conditions. These conditions include: Is a
descendent of node, Is a child of node, Is a parent of node. Some family condition names may
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be confusing if used standalone. For example, Is a last descendent of node of Node may not
make sense when used on its own. Use family terminology when users will be accessing several
levels of a hierarchy and will need to use a majority of these terms.
Not all of these are required in the condition choice list. Use the ones that are applicable to your
use cases.







Is
Is
Is
Is
Is
Is
Is
a child of node
a descendent of node
a last descendent of node
a parent of node
an ancestor of node
a first ancestor of node
a sibling of node
Figure 3: Sample hierarchy: Chart of accounts
Table 1 shows the search results of each of the Family Terminology conditions. For a more
detailed diagram, click on the link for each of the Family Terminology conditions.
Table 1: Search results for family conditions
Family Condition
Selected Search Results*
Node
Is a child of node
Current
Cash, Market, Receivables, 127000
Is a descendent of
Current
Cash, 100000-100099, 100100; Market, 110000, 110001,
node
110002, …, 110099, 110100; Receivables, 120000,
120001, 120002, …, 120199, 121000; 127000
Is a last descendent of
Current
100000, 100001, 100002, …, 100099, 100100; 110000,
node
110001, 110001, …, 110099, 110100; 120000, 120001,
120002, …, 120199, 121000; 127000
Is a parent of node
Current
Assets
Is an ancestor of node
Current
Assets, Balance Sheet, All Accounts
Is a first ancestor of
Current
All Accounts
node
Is a sibling of node
Current
Prepaids
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*Note: Matching range nodes appear expanded in the search results. Range nodes are
expressions that represent a set of tree nodes. The actual tree nodes appear in the search
results.
Figure 4: Detailed example of an “Is a child of node” hierarchy search.
1. User selects a hierarchy condition in a search field.
2. User launches the tree picker then selects the desired node.
3. Step 3 in the illustration is not visible to the user. It is included here and in the Appendix to
illustrate the definition of the selected condition by displaying the tree nodes that match it.
4. Results are displayed to the user.
Note: In Fusion v1, this dialog contains a Tree Table and will only support browsing for tree nodes.
Also note that the tree picker behaves like a date picker and is based on LOV Text Field, rather than
LOV Choice list (see the BLAF+ LOV UI Spec.)
Domain-Specific Terminology
Use domain-specific terminology when you are certain it will be familiar to the majority of your
users. For example, when searching for an employee of a specific manager, use a condition such
as “Is an employee of person” instead of “Is a child of node”, which is the less familiar family
term.
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Table 2: Examples of Domain-Specific hierarchy conditions for employee search.
Family Terminology
Domain-Specific Terminology*
Is a child of node
Is a direct report of person
Is a descendent of node
Is a report of person
Is a last descendent of node
Is an individual contributor
Is a parent of node
Is the manager of person
Is an ancestor of node
Is in the reporting chain of person
Is a first ancestor of node
Is the CEO/President
Is a sibling of node
Is a peer of person
*Note: These are examples, not recommended terms.
Tree Terminology
Tree terminology provides a set of 7 conditions. These conditions include: Is a leaf node, is the
root node. Use tree terminology when domain specific terminology is not appropriate, and where
tree terminology will be the most familiar terminology for the users.
Table 3: Relationship between family terms and tree terms
Family Terminology
Tree Terminology Equivalent
Is a child of node
Is a child of node
Is a descendent of node (excludes selected node)
Is a member of branch (includes selected node)
Is a last descendent of node
Is a leaf node
Is a last descendent of node
Is a leaf node under node
Is a parent of node
Is a parent of node
Is an ancestor of node
Is an ancestor of node
Is a first ancestor of node
Is the root node
Is a sibling of node
Is a sibling of node
Selection-Independent Conditions
The following conditions are selection-independent. Selecting one of these conditions should
trigger a PPR event that hides the value field. Selection-independent searches do not need a
value in the hierarchy to compare to execute the search.
Table 4: Selection-independent hierarchy conditions
Family Terminology
Is a last descendent of node
Is a first ancestor of node
Tree Terminology Equivalent
Is a leaf node
Is the root node
Figure 5: Selection-independent condition: Is a leaf node
The Value field is hidden when a selection-independent hierarchy condition is selected.
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Figure 6: Selection-dependent condition: Is a leaf node under node
The Value field remains visible when a selection-dependent hierarchy condition is selected.
Default Search Conditions
This section explains the Default Search Conditions shown in Conventional Search, Hierarchy Search, and
Conventional and Hierarchy Search.
Conventional Search Defaults
Typical Focused Search default conditions include: Starts With, Contains, or Equals; depending
on the field type.
Figure 7: Default condition list for character fields
See the Focused Search Guideline for the list of default conditions by data type.
Hierarchy Search Defaults
The Hierarchy Search default recommendation is to use the most common search condition for
the particular task as the default. This default may differ from task to task.
For example, if the most common task in this Hierarchy search example task is to find the child
of an Account in the hierarchy, then the default should be “Is a child of node.”
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Figure 8: Select the default hierarchy condition based on common use cases.
Using Conventional and Hierarchy Search Conditions
When Conventional and Hierarchy Search are combined, the recommendation is to group
conditions by type of search. For example, group Conventional search conditions together, such
as Starts With, Ends With, Equals, Contains; then group the Hierarchy Search conditions together,
such as Is a child of node, Is a descendent of node.
Figure 9: Hierarchy condition list
Hierarchy Search Results
There are four format options for presenting the results of a hierarchy search:
 Results Marked in a Tree Table
 Results and Their Ancestor in a Tree Table
 Flat Table and Path
 Flat Table
To illustrate these four hierarchy search results options, we will use the example of the following
organizational chart as the tree to be searched.
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Figure 10: Sample hierarchy used in examples
Results display examples show the results of the search: “Employee Name starts with K”. The following
are examples of the search results shown in the four hierarchy search result formats.
Results Marked in a Tree Table
Figure 11: Matching nodes highlighted in full hierarchy
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The full hierarchy is displayed with nodes expanded to show matching records. Matching records
are indicated using an icon (see icon request SHERRY.MEAD.2381).
This results display is often preferred by users but produces the slowest performance. Use this
display when the hierarchy is small and it is important for users to see matching nodes in the
context of their peers and descendants as well as their ancestors. This display is also preferred
when most use cases involve searching for multiple target records per query.
Results and Their Ancestors in a Tree Table
Figure 12: Matching nodes and their ancestors
Search results are displayed in a tree table. Matching records appear as leaf nodes under their
ancestors.
This results display typically produces acceptable usability and adequate performance. Use this
display when users require some context when viewing search results, which can be adequately
provided by displaying the ancestor nodes. This display works well when most use cases involve
searching for a single target record.
Flat Table and Path
Figure 13: Matching records with their ancestors in a flat table
Search results are shown in a flat table along with a list of their ancestors in path or breadcrumb
form.
This results display provides the same amount of hierarchy context as the Results and Ancestors
in Tree Table display, but in a less usable form. Use this design only if the path will be short in
the large majority of cases.
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Flat Table
Figure 14: Results in flat table with no hierarchy context
Matching nodes are shown in a flat table without information regarding where they appear in the
hierarchy. Other relevant attributes can be added to the results table, such as Label.
This results display provides no hierarchy context for result items, but it supports the display of
additional node attributes better than the other alternatives. Use this display only if users do not
need to see hierarchy context for matching nodes.
View in Hierarchy
When search results are displayed in a flat table, with or without hierarchy context, place a View
in Hierarchy button on the toolbar of the results table. When users select a result item, then
click View in Hierarchy, the results table is replaced with a tree table. The selected item's parent
(if exists) appears as the root note and the tree is expanded to display the children of the
selected result item (if exist).
The View in Hierarchy button is disabled if a row is not selected. Note that the results table
should not support multiple selection.
Figure 15: View in Hierarchy interaction
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Appendix: Examples
Each of the following examples use one of three sample hierarchies, an organization chart, a geography
hierarchy and a chart of accounts. Each example shows:

A hierarchy condition in a sample search panel

Selecting a node from a hierarchical Search and Select dialog with search results displayed in a
Tree Table

Nodes that match the search criteria highlighted in yellow
Note that, when hierarchy conditions are used as section headers in this document, they appear headline
capitalized. When used in a search panel, hierarchy conditions should appear sentence capitalized. See
BLAF+ Language in UI: Capitalization.
Conditions that Use Family Terminology
Not all of these are required in the condition choice list. Use the ones that are applicable to your use
cases.







Is
Is
Is
Is
Is
Is
Is
a descendent of node
a last descendent of node
a child of node
an ancestor of node
a first ancestor of node
a parent of node
a sibling of node
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Is a Descendent of Node
All tree nodes under the selected node, children, grandchildren, and so on to the leaf nodes.
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Is a Last Descendent of Node
All leaf nodes under the selected node.
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Is a Child of Node
All nodes directly under the selected node.
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Is an Ancestor of Node
All nodes above the selected node, parents, grandparents, and so on up to the root node.
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Is a First Ancestor of Node
Is the Root Node or nodes above the selected node in a multi-root hierarchy. Is the Root Node in a
single root hierarchy. In this case, the value field should be hidden. See the Is the Root Node condition.
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Is a Parent of Node
Is the node directly above the selected node.
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Is a Sibling of Node
All nodes that are peers of / have the same parent as the selected node.
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Conditions that Use Tree Terminology
Not all of these are required in the condition choice list. Use the ones that are applicable to your use
cases.




Is
Is
Is
Is
a member of branch
a leaf node
a leaf node under node
the Root Node
Is a Member of Branch
The selected node and all nodes under it, children, grandchildren, and so on to the leaf nodes.
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Is a Leaf Node
All leaf nodes (last nodes in each branch) in the tree. All last descendents of the root node.
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Is a Leaf Node Under Node
All lead nodes under / last descendants of the selected node.
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Is the Root Node
The top most node in a single root tree. This condition would be "Is a root node" for trees with multiple
root nodes and requires a value field if multi-parent nodes are allowed. See the Is a first ancestor
condition.
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Conditions that Require Metadata


Is a member of the level
Has the label
Is a Member of the Level
All nodes the same distance from the root node in a level-based hierarchy. A level-based hierarchy is a
hierarchy in which all nodes the same distance from the root node are logical peers and have the same
label.
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Has the Label
All nodes having the specified developer-defined label.
Change History
Date
10-Nov-2008
16-Jan-2008
Description
 Note added referring to
ApplCore Tree Node picker
to be available in Drop 7
 Fixed examples
 Recommendation is to
include the immediate
parent when the user
selects View in Hierarchy.
Initial Version
Author
Sherry Mead
Bug
7262268
Previous Version
1.0.0.0
Harris Kravatz,
Amy Chen,
Sherry Mead
7199778
n/a
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