Self Referencing Hierarchies for Dynamic Modules
Any word on self referencing hierarchies. I've been discussing this with SF for two years and I keep hearing that it's coming soon but have not noticed any indication lately. Here's a post from back in 2014 that mentions you're planning on implementing it in 7.1:
The problem right now is that in a single dynamic module scenario (e.g. no child types) ensure that parent/child relationships are enforced. For example, I have a practice area dynamic module and it can have multiple levels of child practice areas. If I just use related practice areas, there's no enforcement that a child practice area doesn't become a parent to it's parent.
Below is a common scenario for us:
Practice area 1
--> Practice area 2 (sub practice of 1)
--> Practice area 3 (sub practice of 1)
--> Practice area 4 (sub practice of 1)
--> --> Practice area 5 (sub practice of 4)
--> --> Practice area 6 (sub practice of 4)
The only way to achieve this right now is with related data but with related data I can still easily go into practice area 1 and choose practice area 6 as its parent creating an endless loop.
I understand that I can create a practice area module and then add a child content type called sub practice area but what if this is 5 levels deep? Do I have to create a child content type for each of these even though the actual data is exactly the same for each level. It gets very cumbersome and they are all just practice areas.
We just need a way to create one dynamic module type and allow it to be a child of itself. We do this already with the old product module by immediately creating a taxonomy for each practice area created and then allowing the user to pick the hierarchical spot of the practice area using a classification. It works well but I don't want to use product module based modules any more. The are a pain to update and never really felt right within the Sitefinity ecosystem.
Hopefully I'm explaining myself properly and maybe there's an alternative that I'm just not seeing but I'd love to at least get an update on where this feature is since it's been promised for about 2 years. Any update would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Kalvin
Hello Kalvin,
The exact scenario you would like to use is still not available out of the box. From the features list you referred to, creating multiple child and levels of dynamic modules is possible now, using different nested hierarchical content types. Also self referencing related data is also available now.
However, we understand that both of the above scenarios does not meet your needs. I suggest that we continue the communication in your opened support thread. Feel free to share with the community the information from it. I would be also glad if someone from the community also joins in this discussion or suggest a feasibly solution for your scenario.
Regards,
Nikola Zagorchev
Telerik