“must have one of the following values” validation action not working with text attributes by Robert McGough

If your users are using the MDS Excel add-in, one way is to save some query files ("Favorites") to the entities they view and edit. These can be shared as files, loaded in Excel (Import Favorite), and used like bookmarks so people can go directly to the data of interest. You could also use naming schemes to indicate entities that are "supporting" or not for end-user consumption. I don't think there is any way to hide them using permissions, because you want users to see and possibly edit them in the entities that reference them.
-Lynn

Hi Lynn,
That makes sense, and I have confirmed that it works with domain based attributes. We had interpreted the intent of this business rule as giving the ability to constrain attribute values without necessitating a domain based attribute. We use domain based attributes extensively to constrain attribute values based on other master/reference data entities, but in some cases stewards were requesting valid values rules for attributes for which we are hesitant to create entities. We already have 45 entities in our model, which are nearly all for important enterprise master/reference data. The entity list in Explorer is getting long, and we are trying to avoid proliferation of a large number of small code table entities that may hinder navigation.
If you have any suggestions or best practices for the above situation, we would be most appreciative.
Thanks,
Robert

Hi Robert,
I am sorry you are encountering this issue. I took a look, and it does seem the documentation is incorrect, or at least incomplete. The validation action “must have one of the following values” applies to Domain Based (text) attributes only. Do you need an attribute that is free-form text except in some conditions it must be constrained? If you describe your situation, I believe I can show a way to achieve it with a DBA column and other business rules.
Lynn