Each property structure configuration is defined for a feature context, i.e. is applicable only in a specific environment. The context defines under which circumstances the configuration is applicable. This allows you to define different property configurations for the same property structure.

While for a given property structure you can only define one property structure configuration for a specific context, there might be more than one property structure applicable to a specific property structure instance due to inheritance.

E.g. if you define a property structure configuration for the type specific feature data of a specific feature type in a domain, a feature in a sub-domain will inherit that configuration even though a separate property structure configuration might have been defined for the sub- domain.

Table 1 shows the contexts that are used for different property structures

Table 1: Contexts that are used to define the applicability of property structure configurations

When the system searches for property structure configurations for a property structure instance that is used in a specific context it will search for all property structure configurations that are defined in exactly that context or in a context that is superior. For a specific property or collection within the property structure instance the actually used configuration is determined either by unifying all configurations for that property structure or by taking the first matching configuration. Table 2 shows the determination strategy for different setting types.

Table 2: Determination strategies for different setting types