Objects in the registry can be linked via associations. For example, when you create a new version of an asset, CentraSite generates a unidirectional "supersedes" association between the new and old version.
CentraSite offers the possibility of viewing associations between the registry objects and hence identifying the impact when updating or deleting an asset in the catalog. This is called impact analysis.
The impact analysis feature enables you to easily navigate and visualize the associations between the catalog assets and registry objects. This feature helps you to:
Understand asset-to-objects associations by displaying the associations that exist between the catalog assets and other registry objects.
Check that existing associations between the assets and objects are not violated when you make changes in the registry. Also, check the external links from registry objects to supporting documents.
Determine the impact that updating or deleting an asset would have on its related objects.
You can visualize the currently defined associations for an asset with other registry objects, either in graphical or tabular form. The graphical representation is enabled via a Flash-based web browser.
Note that apart from the assets, you can also view the impact analysis for other CentraSite objects like organizations, users, groups and roles through the object's context menu.
The content is organized under the following sections:
To visualize the impact of an asset in graphical form
Choose from the context menu of the asset's link.
Or:
Choose from the
menu in the asset's detail page.
By default, the impact analysis is show in graphical form. You can switch to the tabular view using the link Switch to Tabular View. When you are using the tabular view, you can switch to the graphical view using the link Switch to Graphical View.
The graphical view shows a visual representation of the selected asset, the objects referred to by the selected asset, the objects that refer to the selected asset and the associations.
Here is an example of the impact analysis diagram for the asset "CalculatorService", which is an asset of type "Service":
The asset for which the impact analysis is being displayed is shown in a box with orange colored text (in the example, "CalculatorService"). The objects that are associated with the central asset are displayed initially in boxes with dark blue text on a lighter background (for example, the node "Default Organization").
Associations between assets are represented by orange-colored arrows. Each association has a name and a direction (indicated by the arrowhead). For example, the diagram shows the association with the name "Service" that connects the "Default Organization" node to the "CalculatorService" node. This indicates that an association of type "Service" connects the two nodes. The arrowhead points to the "CalculatorService" node, indicating that "Default Organization" contains a service "CalculatorService".
The display of the associations can be expanded or collapsed as required. If an association is shown with an orange plus sign, you can click on the plus sign to expand the association; this reveals the node or nodes at the other end of the association, and the plus sign changes to a minus sign. To collapse the association, i.e. to hide the other end of the association, click on the minus sign, and the display reverts to its original state.
When you expand an association, the association's background color changes to blue. If you collapse a previously expanded association, its color remains blue; this way you can identify the associations that you have already visited. Associations that have not yet been expanded are displayed with a neutral background (i.e. the same background color as the drawing canvas).
The text in the box for any collapsed association shows three items of information:
The type of the association;
The number of currently invisible target nodes that are attached to the visible source node;
The object type of the invisible target node(s).
So, for example, the association labeled "deployed on (1) Application Server" in the diagram indicates an association of type "deployed on" between the visible source node "Default Organization" and a currently invisible node of type "Application Server".
If you click on an object (as opposed to an association), a window appears with a short summary of the object's definition.
You can move the whole diagram within the web browser display by moving the cursor to an empty part of the diagram and dragging the diagram in the required direction.
You can rearrange the position of any node in the diagram by clicking on the node and dragging it to a new location on the canvas.
The display also contains a bird's eye view of the impact analysis diagram, for example:
The shaded central part is the part that is shown in detail in the full display. You can drag the shaded central part to any location in the bird's eye view, and the focus of the full display will move accordingly. You can minimize the bird's eye view by choosing the "-" icon. The minimized view shows just a menu bar with a "+" icon. To restore the view, click the "+" icon.
You can use a filter to restrict the type of objects and associations displayed, and to specify the maximum depth of nesting for the displayed associations.
Note:
Customizations that you make for
the graphical view apply only for the graphical view, not for the tabular
view.
CentraSite provides the following built-in filter configurations that you can use to visualize the impact analysis for the various objects:
Asset Dependencies
This shows associations that are of particular relevance for
assets.
Schema Usage
This shows associations that are of particular relevance for schema
objects.
Organization Details
This shows associations that are of particular relevance for
organization objects.
Service Details
This shows associations that are of particular relevance for service
assets.
webMethods Assets
This shows associations between services and webMethods Suite types
like CAF and web applications.
By default, CentraSite displays the "Asset Dependencies" filter configuration. You can select the configuration you require by choosing its radio button from the Configuration tab. After a few moments, the display is updated according to this configuration.
If necessary, you can choose the filter configuration that you want to customize, and change the filter settings accordingly. If you change any of the filter configurations and click the icon in the appropriate configuration menu, the display will be updated using your new settings. Any such changes you make apply also in subsequent login sessions. If you want to return to the original settings, delete the filter configuration; this deletes the current settings and restores the configuration to its original state.
You may want to have various display scenarios for your graphical impact analysis. For example, in one case you might want to restrict the depth of the association tree to two levels, but in another case you might want to have no such restriction. You can save these configuration scenarios for recall at a later stage by opening the tab and entering a new name in the appropriate text field. This lets you save your current configuration scenario under a name of your choice. If you have defined several scenarios, you can select the one you require by choosing it from the tab.
In the graphical view, there are four tabs (Types, Associations, Controls and Configuration) to allow you to set configuration parameters that control how the impact analysis is displayed.
Use the following procedure to define your own filter configuration.
To specify the filter settings
Choose from the context menu of an asset's link.
Or:
Choose from the
menu in asset detail page.
Ensure that you are using the graphical view rather than the tabular view.
If you want to display or hide specific object types, make appropriate selections from the tab.
You can choose a predefined entry such as to restrict the display to show just assets rather than all objects.
You can further refine the filter settings by choosing the entry for the chosen type. For example, for the type, choose . In the ensuing menu, select the asset types you want to display.
If you want to display or hide specific association types, make appropriate selections from the tab.
You can choose a predefined entry such as to restrict the display to show just relationship associations rather than all associations.
You can further refine the filter settings by choosing the entry for the chosen type. For example, for the type, choose . In the ensuing menu, select the association types you want to display.
If you want to control the nesting depth of the associations displayed, make the appropriate selection from the tab.
For a nesting depth of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, choose the appropriate numbered icon. For a level deeper than 5, enter the required value in the Custom field.
In certain cases, when the text area of the label exceeds the width of the text box, the excess characters are simply not displayed. In such cases, for labels that you know will contain a certain amount of text, then it is recommended that you use the entry and specify the desired width of the label (although it may take some trial-and-error to get the result you want).
Expand the tab and enter a new name in the text field at the end of the panel. Then click .
Use the following procedure to delete a filter configuration.
To delete a filter configuration
Open the profile.
Click the icon for the filter configuration you want to delete.
Note that you cannot permanently delete any of the predefined filter configurations. Deleting a predefined filter configuration just deletes the current settings and restores the configuration to its original settings.
You can zoom the display between 40% and 100% of the default display size. You can do this in several ways:
To zoom the display
In the menu bar, locate the panel marked "- 100% +", then click "-" to zoom out and "+" to zoom in.
Or:
Type over the "100%" with the value you
require, then click the mouse on a neutral part of the display.
Or:
Rotate the mouse wheel to change the zoom factor directly. (Not
supported on all browsers).
If you want to print the graphical impact analysis, you have the following options:
Print the graphical impact analysis using the current zoom setting. With this option, the output is printed using the current zoom setting, so multiple pages will be printed if the diagram is too large to fit onto one printed page.
Print the graphical impact analysis on one page. With this option, the output is scaled to fit onto one printer page.
To print the graphical analysis using the current zoom setting
Open the Controls tab.
In the Print section of the expanded Controls tab, click the icon to print the impact analysis.
To print the graphical analysis on one page
Expand the Controls tab.
In the Print section of the expanded Controls tab, click the icon to print the impact analysis on one page.
You can increase the physical display area of the graphical impact analysis on your monitor by activating full-screen mode. In this mode, all menus and task bars belonging to your web browser and operating system are suppressed.
To activate full-screen mode
Expand the Controls tab.
In the Full Screen section of the expanded Controls tab, click the icon to switch the display to full-screen mode.
To exit from full-screen mode, press the Escape key.
The tabular view displays a table containing the selected asset, the objects that refer to or are referred to by the selected asset and the associations between the objects.
To visualize the impact of an asset in tabular form
Choose from the context menu of an asset's link.
Or:
Select the item from the
menu in asset detail page.
By default, the graphical view is displayed.
In the graphical view, click .
The objects and associations listed in the table depend on your current filter configuration settings. You can change these settings by choosing the button. This opens the Customize dialog, in which you can select the required object types to display, the required association types and the nesting depth of the associations.
Note:
Customizations that you make for
the tabular view apply only for the tabular view, not for the graphical
view.
If you want to return to the graphical view, click Switch to Graphical View.
