Product configurations use dimension
and value pairs to determine the versions of all the products in a
configuration. You can order values to make certain values more specific
than others.
Dimension values that are more specific
are usually used for particular variants. For example, a variant for geo=germany is
more specific than a variant for geo=europe.
You can specify value order when you create the dimension. In this
example, consider the following values for a dimension of
geo:
germany,
france,
europe,
us.
The values are unordered. For example, it would make sense for
germany to
be ordered with
europe so that you would see
germany
more specific than europe, but they are not set that way,
so they are unordered. A product configuration looks for
geo=germany and
does not find it. Because no other value is ordered with
geo=germany,
the configuration looks for a version it is compatible with, namely,
a version without a
geo dimension.
- A product configuration with geo=germany first
looks for a German variant, and if there is none, looks for a version
without a geo dimension.
- A product configuration with geo=france first
looks for a French variant, and if there is none, looks for a version
without a geo dimension.
- A product configuration with geo=europe first
looks for a European variant, and if there is none, looks for a version
without a geo dimension.
- A product configuration with geo=us first
looks for a North American variant, and if there is none, looks for
a version without a geo dimension.
The following image shows the ordered values from the example above:

Values enable configurations to be more specific in their member
selection. For example, although a you prefer to have a country-specific
value, a continent-specific value might be preferable to no dimension
and value pair. You can define the following value order: germany
more specific than europe, france more specific than europe.
The resulting order shows how the specified order changes the previous
example.
- A product configuration with geo=germany first
looks for a German variant, and if there is none, looks for a European
version, and if there is none, looks for a version without a geo dimension.
- A product configuration with geo=france first
looks for a French variant, and if there is none, looks for a European
version, and if there is none, looks for a version without a geo dimension.
- A product configuration with geo=europe first
looks for a European variant, and if there is none, looks for a version
without a geo dimension.
- A product configuration with geo=us first
looks for a North American variant, and if there is none, looks for
a version without a geo dimension.
You can remove dimension and value pairs from a product configuration
or product, but the pairs are still available as choices in the Dimension and Value list
boxes.