Prevent branched references

Components can be branched if you want to make a copy and maintain a relationship between the original and the new copy. When choosing which references in the source component to branch, you can prevent a component from being included in the new branch by attaching a specific tag. Attaching the ExcludeFromBranch tag only prevents a reference from being branched and not the source. The tag does not prevent a user from going to the Components browser and saving a component as a branch.

For example, you branch a particular map on a routine basis.

Within the map are a set of referenced components that should never be branched.
When you branch the map, you choose to include All referenced components.
In this case, all maps must reference the exact same set of files that never change.
You want to make sure the referenced components you don't want branched can never be selected when a user branches the map.
To do this, you apply a tag to each referenced component called ExcludeFromBranch.

The results of this action are:

On the Save as a branch screen, all referenced components that have the ExcludeFromBranch tag aren't listed.
On the Save as a branch screen, when the Show referenced components option is selected, any component that has the ExcludeFromBranch tag isn't listed and can't be selected.
In the Branch referenced components field, if the user selects All referenced components, any component that has the ExcludeFromBranch tag isn't listed and isn't included.

In the example shown above:

In the map component, a reference is included for the component Aar to Abezzo.

The component named Aar to Abezzo has the ExcludeFromBranch tag applied.

When branching the map, all references are listed except the component named Aar to Abezzo because it has the ExcludeFromBranch tag.

Note that a user can still go to the Components browser, right-click on the component named Aar to Abezzo, and select Save, and then Save as a branch...