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Publication priority

In a BluePrint, if a Child Publication shares content from more than one Parent Publication, Publication priority and chain length determine which Publication a Child Publication shares an item from.

The following rules apply to determine which Publication a Child Publication shares an item from:

  • If a local copy of a shared item exists, the Child Publication uses the local copy.
  • If one chain of Publications leading to the parent item is shorter than all other chains, the Child Publication shares from the shortest chain.
  • If there are two or more Publication chains of equal length, the Child Publication shares from the Parent Publication with the highest Priority.
Content inheritance
In the following example, Child Publication C has two Parents: Child A and Child B. The Content Manager accesses the closest local version of the Component by checking the Parent Publications according to the Priority assigned to them and will retrieve an item using the following logic:
  • If Publication C contains a localized item or local item, this item is used.
  • If Publication C contains a shared item, it checks the Parent with the highest Priority which in this case is Publication A and, if the item is localized here or is a local item, this item is used.
  • If the item is a shared item in Publication A, Publication B will check its next highest priority Parent (Publication B) and, if the item is a localized item or local item in B, this item is used. Otherwise, C will use the shared item from the root Publication.
BluePrint Publication chain length
In the following example, the length of the chain leading to an item determines which parent item the Child Publication uses. The example, assume that an item is shared from the primary Parent Publication, and localized in Child B. The Child E Publication now finds out which item to use by examining chain length:
  • The chain on the left has Priority 1, but it takes 3 steps to reach the parent item, which is located in the primary Parent.
  • The chain on the right has Priority 2, but it takes only 2 steps to reach the parent item, which is the localized item in Child B.
  • In this case, the shorter chain wins, despite the fact that it has lower priority. Child E uses the localized item found in Child B.

You can also reach this conclusion using the following algorithm:

  • Does E contain the localized item or local item? No; check the direct parents of E.
  • The direct parent of E that has the highest priority is C. Does C contain the localized item or local item? No; check the other direct parent of E, that is, D.
  • Does D have a localized item or local item? No; all direct parents have been exhausted, move up one level to the grandparents (Child A and Child B).
  • The grandparent of E that has the highest priority is A. Does A contain the localized item or local item? No; check the other grandparent of E, that is, B.
  • Does B have a localized item or local item? Yes; use this item.