Technical Abstract
Some complex devices have a number of options with each option having a number of choices. The number of option combinations for these devices can be large. These choices are typically made by the user at purchase time. Representing each combination with a unique Product Code is often not practical because the number of combinations can be in the 1000s. Multi-option support defines a mechanism that allows devices to have a unique identity for each combination of options, allows for keying along with a mechanism to define each option separately and how the options can be combined without the need for 1 EDS file for each combination of options.
Paper and presentation from the 2014 ODVA Industry Conference & 16th Annual Meeting
Pat Telljohann, Rockwell Automation