Software AG Products 10.5 | Using CentraSite | Type Management | Managing Types through CentraSite Control | Adding an Asset Type
 
Adding an Asset Type
To create a new type definition, you must have the Manage Asset Types permission.
Note:
By default, users with the CentraSite Administrator role and Asset Type Administrator role have this permission.
If you have an asset that is not represented by one of the predefined types provided by CentraSite, you must create a custom asset type for it. CentraSite provides a wizard for creating custom asset types. If you want users to be able to generate the asset type from an input file, you must also create a custom importer for that type and register the importer in CentraSite.
Follow these general guidelines when creating a custom asset type in CentraSite:
*An asset type has two names: a display name and a schema name.
*The display name is the name that CentraSite uses when it refers to the type in the user interface. (This is the name that appears in the catalog browser, for example.) The display name can contain any character, including spaces.
*The schema name is the name that is given to the underlying schema that contains the type definition. The schema name must conform to the naming requirements for an NCName data type, which does not permit names with spaces or most special characters.
By default, CentraSite derives the schema name from the display name that you specify for the type. If your display name includes special characters, then you must explicitly specify a schema name that is NCName conformant in the type's Advanced Settings dialog box.
*To include a Classification attribute or Relationship attribute in your custom asset type, make sure that the corresponding taxonomy exists before you begin creating the custom asset type. To add a Classification attribute or Relationship attribute to the asset type, you must specify the taxonomy with which the attribute is associated. You cannot do this unless the taxonomy already exists in CentraSite.
*Consider using Classification attributes and Relationship attributes instead of ordinary String attributes whenever possible. Among other benefits, these attribute types enable users to more easily discover assets and understand the relationships that an asset has with other objects in the registry.
*In general, use a Classification attribute or an enumerated String instead of an ordinary String attribute when you want the attribute to be more strongly typed.
*Instead of defining multiple asset types to represent variants of the same basic type, consider creating one basic type and using a classification attribute to differentiate them. For example, instead of creating separate asset types for different kinds of Web services (for example, business services, technical services, security services), use the one basic Web service asset type and use a Classification attribute to classify its variations.
*When you are creating a custom asset type, think about the design/change-time polices that you may want to apply to assets of that type. If you need to apply different policies to different sub-sets of the asset type, use a Classification attribute to differentiate the sub-sets.
*If you do not want users to be able to assign ad hoc classifiers and associations to instances of a particular type of asset, omit the Classifications and Associations profiles from that asset's type.
*To provide different views of an asset to different users or groups, divide the attributes among profiles in a way that enables you to use profile permissions to selectively show or hide the appropriate set of attributes to different users or groups.
1. In CentraSite Control, go to Administration > Types.
2. In the Types tab, click Add Asset Type.
This opens the Add Asset Type wizard.
3. In panel 1 of the Add Asset Type wizard, provide the required information for each of the displayed data fields.
Field
Description
Name
Type a name for the new asset type.
Specify a name that your users will recognize and understand. For example, use BPEL Process Document, not bpdoc.
The name you assign to the asset type can contain any character, including spaces. However, if you specify a name that does not conform to the NCName type, you must click Advanced Settings and specify a name that is NCName conformant in the Schema Name field.
Note:
If the name that you assign to the asset type is NCName conformant, except that is includes spaces, it is not necessary to explicitly specify the type's schema name. CentraSite automatically replaces space characters with the _ character when it generates the schema name for an asset type.
Description
Optional. Type a short description for the new asset type. This description appears when a user displays the list of types in the Type Management page.
4. Click Advanced Settings.
5. In the Add Asset Type - Advanced Settings dialog box, provide the required information for each of the displayed data fields.
a. Verify that the schema name and the namespace name that were generated by CentraSite are valid.
Field
Description
Schema Name
Verify that the schema name that CentraSite generated for this asset type is NCName conformant.
CentraSite automatically populates this field with a name that is derived from the asset type name that you specified in the previous step. For example, if your asset type name is My Asset Name, CentraSite automatically populates this field with My_Asset_Name.
If the schema name generated by CentraSite does not meet the following criteria, you must specify a name that does.
*The name must begin with a letter or the underscore character (_).
*The remainder of the name can contain any combination of letters, digits, or the following characters: . - _ (that is, period, dash, or underscore). It can also contain combining characters and extender characters (for example, diacriticals).
*The name cannot contain any spaces.
Additionally, the type's fully qualified schema name must be unique among all types in the registry.
Note:
Modify the schema name carefully. You cannot change the schema name later.
Namespace
Modify the namespace that CentraSite has proposed for the type if necessary. By default, CentraSite generates the namespace in the following form:
http://namespaces. OrganizationName .com/Schema
Where, OrganizationName is the name of your organization.
The Namespace value is used to qualify the name specified in Schema Name. Together, the Schema Name and Namespace values produce the type's fully qualified name. This name must be unique within the registry.
You generally do not need to modify the namespace that CentraSite proposes for a type. In most cases, the proposed namespace is adequate. However, you might modify the namespace if you want it to include the name of a different organization or if you need to resolve a naming conflict between this type and an existing type.
Note:
Modify the namespace value carefully. You cannot change the namespace value later.
b. To use a custom icon to represent this type in the user interface, upload large and small versions of the icon.
Note:
If you do not specify a custom icon, CentraSite assigns the default icon to the type.
Field
Description
Large Icon
Optional. Specify the large icon that is to be used to represent this type. CentraSite Control and CentraSite Business UI use this icon when it displays the details for an instance of the type.
To use a custom icon, click Browse to search for a particular image file, and upload the file containing the large version of the icon to CentraSite. This icon must be in GIF format. To ensure proper alignment when it is displayed in the user interface, the icon must be 64 x 64 pixels in size.
Small Icon
Optional. Specify the small icon that is to be used to represent this type. CentraSite Control displays this icon when instances of the type appear in lists or summary tables.
To use a custom icon, click Browse to search for a particular image file, and upload the file containing the small version of the icon to CentraSite. This icon must be in GIF format. To ensure proper alignment when it is displayed in the user interface, the icon must be 16 x 16 pixels in size.
c. Select one or more type-specific options:
Enable this option...
To...
Visible in Asset Browse
Allow instances of this type to be displayed in the catalog browser. When you enable this option, CentraSite Control includes the type in the Asset Types pane on the Asset Catalog > Browse page. When you disable this option, CentraSite Control omits the type from the Asset Types pane so users cannot browse for instances of the type.
Enable reports
Allow reports to be generated against instances of this type.
Policies can be applied
Allow user-defined design/change-time policies to be created and enforced for instances of this type.
Note:
If you disable this option, CentraSite does not apply any user-defined design/change-time polices to instances of the type, even in cases where the policy is designed to execute against all asset types.
Note:
This option does not apply to system policies. CentraSite will apply system policies to instances of the type whether this option is enabled or not.
Require Consumer Registration
Require users to register an application when they submit consumer registration requests for assets of this type.
Enable versioning
Allow users to generate versions of instances of this type. When you disable this option, CentraSite disables the Add New Versions command and omits the Versions profile from instances of this type.
Top Level type
Allow users to create instances of this asset type from scratch. When you enable this option, users are allowed to create instances of the type using the Add Asset button in CentraSite Control.
Generally you disable this option for types that are constituents of other assets, or for types that are only meant to be added to the registry by an importer. For example, the Operation type is used to represent an operation that belongs to a Web service. Operations are derived automatically from the service WSDL. They are not intended to be manually defined by users. Therefore, the Operation type is not designated as a "top level type".
Enable Lifecycle Management
Allow a lifecycle model to be applied to assets of this type.
Visible in Search
Allow users to define a search for this particular type. When you enable this option, CentraSite Control includes the type in the Types list on the Advanced Search page. Including a type in this list enables users to define queries that select on that specific type.
Note:
If you change the state of this option and then do an advanced search, you may need to refresh the Advanced Search page to see the change reflected in the Types list.
d. To specify asset types that can consume instances of this type, specify the consumable asset types:.
a. Click Consumer Registration Settings.
This opens the Consumer Registration Settings dialog box.
b. In the field labeled Consumable Type, select an asset type to allow instances of the particular asset type to consume instances of this type.
Note:
If you do not specify a consumable asset type in the type definition (with the exception of Virtual Services, Virtual XML Services, and Virtual REST Services), the asset types Users, Groups, and Applications are available for registering as consumers of asset instances of this type.
c. Click OK.
e. Click OK to complete the advanced settings of type definition.
6. Click Finish.