Some containers have multiple paths back to the segmentation entity. When a container has multiple access paths, you can select a path to help Data 360 understand how to build your segment. The paths available when you first create a filter may differ from those available when you edit it later. This is expected behavior driven by relationship-cardinality rules.
Why path selection matters
When you configure a related attribute filter, the Container Path dropdown lists every valid path from the container object back to your segment-on entity. The path you choose tells the segmentation engine which relationship to traverse, and therefore which group of records to use when building your segment.
For example, an order for a used car has a Buyer ID and a Seller ID, both relating back to the individual. Choosing a path when using order attributes as filter criteria determines which group is used to build the segment: car buyers or car sellers.
What drives the paths in the dropdown
Data 360 derives the dropdown from the Attribute Library Metadata (ALM) — the model of every relationship between objects in your data graph. ALM finds every path between the container object and your segment-on object, then keeps only the paths that produce a reliable, unambiguous result set.
Paths shown:
- Paths whose hops all narrow toward the segment-on object (each hop maps many records to one)
- Paths whose hops all expand away from the container (each hop maps one record to many)
Paths not shown:
- Paths that mix both directions. It narrows on some hops, and expands on others. Mixing directions can multiply or collapse rows and produce duplicate or ambiguous records.
A marketer wants to send a thank-you offer to customers who recently purchased a kitchen
appliance. They build a segment on Individual with a filter on the Product container:
Product.Category = Kitchen Appliances.
Product connects to Individual through two different relationships in the data model, so the Container Path dropdown shows two paths:
Product.OrderId > Order.PurchaserId > Individual.Individual ID— individuals who bought a kitchen appliance.Product.CaseId > Case.SubmittedBy > Individual.Individual ID— individuals who complained about a kitchen appliance.
Both paths are valid, but they build very different audiences. For a thank-you campaign, the marketer chooses the first path. For a service-recovery campaign, they would choose the second.