A filter type describes a class of filters. It contains all the information to generate a Filter dialog, through which filters can be created. The element lists can be generated from a filter using the relationships of the FilterType to action descriptors.
At run time, filters can be created and edited via the Filter view. If element types have been defined with relationships to filter types, filters can also be created via the context menu of an element. The input fields of the Filter dialog will be initialized with the property values of an element.