[ENHANCEMENT] Semantics of option "max. characters" in masking-based hierarchy wizard is unclear

[idhamari]

Describe the bug
When one changes the number in the Max character it has no effect.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Go to 'Edit>Create Hierarchy...'
2. Click on 'Use Masking ...'
3. Change the number in Max. hierarchy e.g. 1
4. The result is the same when selecting a larger number e.g. 5!!!

Expected behavior
Should mask only one character when Max. Characters is 1

ARX GUI (please complete the following information):

• OS: Windows 10
• Version 3.9.0 and 3.9.1

[jenno-verdonck]

The "max. characters" attribute, and other domain properties, are only used in the Loss metric calculations. They do not change the generalization method (same in the API). I think if the above behavior is needed, an additional attribute will be required.

[prasser]

This is not a bug. The semantics of the field is just confusing. It will not influence how masking is applied to individual values but will have an influence on how information loss / utility is measured when functional hierarchies are being used.