Concepts

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Reference

Exploring the Object Model Through the User Interface

Sometimes, you might see a dialog or view in APM and you need to have more information about a field, list, or check box. For example, you might want to know which class owns an attribute so that you can add it to a custom report or table configuration. Or you might be trying to determine relationships between classes in order to create a performance indicator.

An easy method of determining the object model for a class or field is to find an APM view or dialog that contains the data that you want to work with. You will then be able to see the class, relationship, and attribute names in the status bar.

Note: To see the join path information in the status bar, you must be logged on as an APM administrator.

The object ID information is useful for some customizations. To view the object IDs in the title bar of every object, open APM Configuration, select the thick-client instance, and click Full Settings. In the Settings Editor, click the File menu and then Show Advanced Settings. Under the Client node, select User Interface. Set the Show Full Title option to “True”. For example:

This topic shows you how to get information about classes, attributes, and relationships by exploring the APM UI. This topic reviews the attributes and relationships for the Work Request class.

Note: To complete the steps in this topic, you must be logged on as an APM administrator. Your APM user ID must specify the administrator privilege; you must use a thick-client instance to launch the product; and the instance shortcut must end with “ -admin”.

To Explore the APM Object Model Through the User Interface

1.	Navigate to the view, window, or dialog that you want to explore. In this example, open the Work Request window.

(Select the site’s Work Management view and then open an existing work request.)

2.	Click in the Title field. In the status bar (bottom-left corner) the system shows the context class and the name of the attribute that the field represents. In this case:

Work request --> Title

The context class is Work Request, and Title is the name of an attribute of this class.

3.	Fields can also represent relationships with other classes, or attributes from other classes. For example, click on the Type field in the Asset to work on section. In this case, the status bar shows:

Work request --> Asset to work on.AssetType

The context class is still Work Request; however, the Type field (AssetType) comes from the related class Asset (Asset to work on).

Note: The general form of the “join path” shown in the status bar for attributes is:

ContextClassName --> Relationship.Attribute Name

If the attribute belongs directly to the context class, there will not be a relationship reference.

If the field represents a relationship, the format is:

ContextClassName --> Relationship --> Relationship

There may be two or more relationships in the join path.

4.	To see more information about the attributes and relationships linked to an object, you can edit the view you are looking at. From the View menu, select Edit View. The APM Forms Editor window appears, with Work Request view:Properties displayed in the Layout panel.

By default, the Toolbox panel appears at the bottom left corner of the Forms Editor. This panel shows object model items that you can add to the user interface.

5.

The Attributes tab displays attributes for the context class. The icons represent the data type of each attribute. The data type determines how the attribute will be displayed on the user interface. For example, if you drag the Date Requested attribute onto the Work Request Form, it will show a field with a dropdown arrow that, when clicked, opens a calendar:

You can click the “show full” icon in the Toolbox to view the characteristics of the attribute. For example:

Note: For more information on data types, see Data Types.

6.	Click the Relationships tab to see a list of relationships with the class.

The icons represent the type of relationship listed. Different relationship types are displayed differently in the user interface.

Note: For more information on relationships, see Relationship Types.

7.	On the Work Request layout panel, select the Source tab. This tab shows an Alarm acknowledgments multi-column list box (MCLB) or table.

8.	Click on the table and look at the status bar. This shows the relationship that the table represents. In this case:

WorkRequest --> Indicator readings that were acknowledged by this work request --> Indicator readings that were acknowledged by this acknowledgment instance

The Properties panel also displays the relationship information. Click a field on the Work Request Panel that is on the layout panel to view the relationship at the top of the Properties panel. For example, click the box beside the Requestor’s title label and view the relationship:

9.	When you are finished reviewing object model references in the view, close the Forms Editor without saving any changes.