Adding variable set to a catalog item multiple times

[jyan3]

Hi

I was wondering if it was possible to add the same variable set to a catalog item multiple times or if there is a better way to do this.

essentially the users want to answer the same set of questions up to 10 times on a single catalog item and I'm not sure if copying the same variables 10 times is the best way to do it or if there is a better way.

[Nia McCash]

Sounds like a case for using a Multi-Row Variable Set (MVRS). There should be plenty of YouTube videos showcasing that capability if you're not familiar with MVRS.

[Mark Roethof · Accepted solution]

Hi there,

That's simply not possible, you can't have duplicate variable names.

And apart from this technical point, do you really want such? I mean if that set of questions consists of 3 / 4 / 5 variables, maybe a container start / split / end, that's easily 8 variables per set. Multiply that by 10... maybe a few other variables on your catalog item. So quickly a Catalog Item with 80+ variables...
That's a bit much of bad practice. Also looking at performance, that won't help your users at all + you need a lot of client side actions to hide the unnecessary variables, the performance will be massively slow 🙂 Another one, what if a user only is after 1 set of questions... then 90% of these variables are still technically created, though all empty, tables will rapidly grow and slow due to bad practices like this. 

Anyway, also read the suggestion from Nia. Sounds like MRVS is the goto for what you are describing.

Kind regards,
Mark