CHAPTER 4
Entering Metadata

This chapter describes how to enter metadata in a SIMPROCESS model.

Prerequisites

Before metadata can be entered into a SIMPROCESS model, at least one metamodel must have been created (Chapter 2) and assigned to the SIMPROCESS model (Chapter 3). Once a metamodel has been created it can be assigned to multiple SIMPROCESS models, and a SIMPROCESS model can have multiple metamodels assigned to it.

Metadata Entry Point

Metadata can be added to the properties of a SIMPROCESS model component (Activity, Entity Type, Resource, Pad, Connector, or Swimlane) by clicking the Metadata... button. For Activities and Processes the Metadata... button is located on the Documentation tab of every Activity properties dialog. Metadata is added to the Model component by selecting the Define/Metadata/Model Metadata... menu item. Metadata can also be added to Activities, Processes, Pads, and Connectors by selecting Edit Metadata on the contextual menu.

The Metadata... button is located just below the Document... button on the properties dialogs of Entity Types, Resources, Pads, and Connectors. For Swimlanes, the Metadata... button is located just below the Help button. Below are shown the properties dialogs for an Entity Type, a Pad and a Swimlane.

The Metadata... button and the Define/Metadata/Model Metadata menu item will only be active if there is at least one metamodel assigned to the SIMPROCESS model or metadata already exists for the component being edited.

Metadata Dialog

Clicking the Metadata... button displays the Metadata dialog for entering metadata. The format of the dialog is the same for all SIMPROCESS model components. If the SIMPROCESS model component being edited has data item definitions for this type of component in any of the assigned metamodels, the appropriate data items will be listed in the Metadata tree.

If no assigned metamodels have data item definitions that apply to the type of SIMPROCESS model component being edited, the Metadata dialog will have a Metadata tree that just lists the assigned metamodels and no metadata can be entered.

Metadata Dialog Description

The format of the Metadata dialog is similar to the format of the SIMPROCESS Metamodel Editor (see "Metamodel Editor Description" on page 7). On the left is the metadata tree, and on the right is the Data Item section, where the metadata is entered.

Metadata Tree

The top node of the metadata tree is always Metadata, and the top level child nodes are always the names of the assigned metamodels. The remaining items in the metadata tree are data item definitions from the assigned metamodels that apply to the type of SIMPROCESS model component being edited. Below the data item tree is the Status field (see "Reconcile/Remove Button" on page 47) and the Find Data Item section. The Find Data Item section allows searching for a particular data item by name and type. If Named is selected, a data item name to search for can be entered and Ignore Case is enabled for selection. Wild cards (*) can be used before and/or after the search text to search for similarly named data items. Indexed data items can be searched by including a space after the data item name and then the desired index number in brackets (for example Street [2]). If Of Type is selected, String, Real, Integer, Boolean, URL, Single Selection, Multiple Selection, Include, or Group can be selected. The search will then look for data items with a type matching the selected type. When both Named and Of Type are selected, the search is an "and" search. That is, the search will look for data items that match the entered text and the selected type. The Expand All button expands the complete metadata tree, and the Collapse All button restores the metadata tree to the top level.

Data Item Section

The Data Item section contains the Name and Description of the data item. If no data item is selected in the metadata tree, or the item selected is a Group data item, metamodel name, or the top node, nothing else will display in the Data Item section. Also, nothing else will display in the Data Item section if the Min Occurs value of the data item definition in the associated metamodel is zero and an instance of the data item has not been added (see "Adding and Removing Data Items," beginning on page 44).For all other items, when selected, a data entry field based on the type of the data item (String, Real, Integer, Boolean, URL, Single Selection, Multiple Selection, or Include) will display below the Description. The data entry field will be empty for String, Real, Integer, Boolean, and URL types if no default values were specified in the associated metamodel. The Single Selection type will display the first item of the possible selections if no default value was set in the metamodel, and the Multiple Selection type will show no selections if no default values were set in the metamodel. (See "Data Item Properties," beginning on page 16 for information on specifying default values.) Real and Integer will also display the valid range for the field. When a String data item is selected the Enter String Value field displays. Include data items will display a list of metamodels in the metamodel directory. If a default metamodel was set in the owning metamodel, that metamodel will be selected. In addtion, if the default selection was locked (see "Include Data Item Properties" on page 21), the list of metamodels will be disabled.

When an Integer data item is selected, the Enter Integer Value field displays, and when a Real data item is selected, the Enter Real Value field displays. These fields are similar in appearance but validation does occur to ensure that only Integer values are entered in the Enter Integer Value field and only Real values are entered in the Enter Real Value field. Also, validation ensures that the entered value is within the Valid Values range set in the metamodel.

Selecting a Boolean data item causes the Select Boolean Value selection box to display. Only True or False can be selected.

Selecting a URL data item causes the Enter URL/File Value panel to display. The Enter URL/File Value panel includes a field for entering text, a Browse button to select a file, a View button to open the URL or file, and a check box (Is File) that designates whether or not the text represents a file. The Browse button is only active when Is File is selected. The View button launches the preferred web browser if Is File is not selected. If Is File is selected, SIMPROCESS assumes the URL is a file and will attempt to open the file with whatever program is designated to open that type of file. For Windows, the View button enables when Is File is not selected and the text field is not empty, or Is File is selected and the text field indicates a path (contains backslashes or begins with ./). The same conditions apply on Linux systems. In addition, on Linux, the view.properties file must be in the SPUser directory, and the view.properties file must contain valid url.view and file.view properties. Due to other applications being required, the View button is not guaranteed to work in every case.

Selecting a Single Selection data item displays the Select Value selection box. Note that if no selection is made, the first item in the selection box is considered the selected item.

Selecting a Multiple Selection data item displays the Select Values list. Multiple selections can be made by holding down the Control key (or non-Windows system equivalent) while making selections.

Selecting an Include data item will display a list of the metamodels in the metamodel directory. If the default selection was locked (see "Include Data Item Properties" on page 21), the list of metamodels will be disabled.

If there was no default selection, or the default selection was not locked, a single metamodel can be selected for inclusion. The selected metamodel will not be included until Apply Selection is clicked. If the metamodel selection changes, all data items from the previously selected metamodel will be removed from the data item tree and replaced with data items from the currently selected metamodel.

Adding and Removing Data Items

When data items are defined in a metamodel, the minimum and maximum number of occurrences of the data item are set using the Min Occurs and Max Occurs fields in the Metamodel Editor (see "Defining a Data Item" on page 14). These settings control how many instances of a data item are displayed in the data item tree. When a data item is selected, the Min Occurs and Max Occurs values are displayed in the Min and Max fields between the data item tree and the Data Item section. The plus button (+) and the minus button (-) above the Min field are used to add or remove instances of the selected data item. Those buttons will be enabled or disabled based on the Min and Max values and the number of instances of the selected data item already in the data item tree.

When the Min and Max values are both greater than zero and are equal, the plus and minus buttons will be disabled since no data items can be added or removed. In the example below, the data item Regions has a Min and Max of one, so both buttons are disabled.

A Min value of zero indicates that the data item is optional. In this instance, the data item will appear in the data item tree, but no metadata can be entered until an instance of the data item has been added. Below, the data item Country has a Min value of zero and no instance of that data item has been added. Thus, there are no data entry fields on the right and the plus button is enabled.

Clicking the plus button adds an instance of Country. The only changes are a String data entry field is added on the right with its default value "United States" and the plus button disables. It disables because the Max value is one.

If the data item is an Include data item, Group data item or is one of the other types with child data items, the child data items are not displayed until an instance of that data item is added. Notice below that Contact Info has no child data items even though in the associated metamodel there are three child data items defined for Contact Info. Also, notice that the Max value is zero. This indicates that there is no limit on the number of occurrences of the data item. Thus, the plus button will always be enabled when an occurrence of a data item is selected that has a Max value of zero.

When an instance of Contact Info is added, its three child data items are added to the data item tree. Also, the plus and minus buttons are both enabled.

In the example below, since the data item Street has a Min of one and a Max of two, the plus button is enabled. Although not shown, there is a String data entry field on the right since an instance of the Street data item already exists (due to the fact that the Min value is one).

Clicking the plus button adds another Street instance. Notice that the Street data items now have indices. When there are more than one of any data item, indices will be appended to the names. Also, since the maximum has been reached, the plus button is disabled, and since there are more data items than the minimum allowed, the minus button is enabled.

Applying Default Values

Metamodels can contain default values for data items. (See "Data Item Properties," beginning on page 16, for information on specifying default values for data items.) The default value (or values) for a data item will display when the data item is selected in the data item tree and no value for the data item has previously been entered or selected. The displayed value can be changed from the default for all data item types except for Include when the default selection is locked (see "Include Data Item Properties" on page 21). When the dialog is closed using the OK button, all data items that have not been previously populated will have the default values from the associated metamodel saved in the metadata for the SIMPROCESS component being edited. Note that a data item is only populated with the default value if the data item has no value. This means that if the default value in the assigned metamodel changes, that change will not be automatically reflected in the SIMPROCESS metadata. If the default value for a certain data item is changed in the metamodel and that change should be reflected in instances of that data item in the SIMPROCESS model, then instances of that data item that contain a default value must be edited and their value manually changed to the new default value. Thus, the reconcile process described in "Reconciling Metamodels," beginning on page 30, will not update default values. Also, the reconcile process described in the next section will not update default values except for default metamodel selections in Include data items. Changes in default metamodel selections can be reconciled when either the default selection is locked or an unlocked default selection was not changed during metadata entry.

Reconcile/Remove Button

Below the Collapse All button is the Reconcile/Remove button. The text of the button starts out with Reconcile, but can change to Remove depending on the action of the button. As discussed in Chapter 3, it is possible that the underlying metamodel (or metamodels) for the entered metadata has changed or been removed since the metadata was entered. The Assign Metamodels dialog offers the option to globally remove metadata that is no longer supported by an assigned or included metamodel (see "Reconciling Metamodels" on page 30 for a full discussion). The same check that is performed when the Assign Metamodels dialog opens is performed when the Metadata Dialog opens. Data items that pass the check display in the metadata tree in black. Data items for which action may be required display in red. Situations which cause data items to display in red are

· Supporting metamodel no longer exists in the metamodel directory.

· Supporting metamodel is no longer valid.

· Data item definition for the data item no longer exists in the metamodel.

· The type (String, Real, Integer, Boolean, URL, Single Selection, Multiple Selection, Include, or Group) of the data item no longer matches the type of the data item definition in the metamodel. Note that if the type has changed from Integer to Real, the data item type is automatically changed to Real.

· The Max Occurs of the data item definition in the metamodel has been reduced and the index value of the data item exceeds the new Max Occurs value.

· The data item definition in the metamodel no longer applies to the type of SIMPROCESS component (Activity, Entity Type, etc.) being edited.

See "Defining a Data Item" on page 14 for a full discussion of a metamodel data item definition.

Reconcile

In the example below, the type of the Department data item definition has changed from Single Selection to String, thus the data item displays in red. Note that the immediate parent level node is also displayed in red. When selected, a message displays in the Status field, and the Reconcile button activates. The value of Department cannot be changed because the type has changed.

Clicking Reconcile removes the Single Selection selection box of Department, changes the type to String, and displays the Enter String Value field, which will accept text.

If the type of the data item definition has changed from Group, all child data items will be in red because the child data item definitions no longer exist. Reconciliation in this scenario will offer the option to remove all child data items. This is recommended since the parent data item is no longer a Group data item. In the example below, Contact Info was changed from Group to String.

Clicking Reconcile will display a dialog confirming the deletion of the child data items. If the child data items are deleted, the following displays.

Note that the node representing the metamodel CorporateInformation is still red. This is because a model wide reconciliation has not been performed from the Assign Metamodels dialog (page 30). The Metadata Dialog Reconcile button only reconciles the selected metadata at the SIMPROCESS component being edited.

Remove

Some situations only allow the removal of the data item. In the example below the metamodel no longer defines the Contact Info data item (and thus its child data item definitions). Selecting Contact Info displays a message in the Status field and activates the Reconcile button with the text of the button changed to Remove.

The following example shows that the defined Max Occurs for Street was reduced to one. Thus, Street [2] is no longer supported by the CorporateInformation metamodel. Selecting Street [2] would cause the Reconcile button to enable with the text Remove.

There is no undo for Reconcile or Remove. The only way to restore data items is to Cancel the Metadata dialog or Cancel the properties dialog of the SIMPROCESS component being edited.

Metadata Search

Metadata Search... is on the SIMPROCESS Edit menu and, when selected, opens a dialog that searches model components for data items based on search criteria. Note that Metadata Search... searches for the names of data items in which metadata has been entered and not for metadata content. The Metadata Search dialog has three areas: Model Components, Find Metadata, and Search Results.

Model Components

Model Components has eight check boxes: Process or Activity, Entity Type, Resource, Pad, Connector, Model, Swimlane, or Any (default). The other items become available for selection when Any is deselected.

Find Metadata

Metadata Search searches the names of data items in the selected Model Components based on the options set in Find Metadata. To search for a data item with a specific name, select Named and enter the name of the data item to search for in the text field. Wild cards (*) may be used before and/or after the search text. To search for a specific index in a data item name, include a space and the desired index value in brackets, such as Street [2]. To search for a data item with a specific type (String, Integer, Real, Boolean, URL, Single Selection, Multiple Selection, Include, or Group), select Of Type and choose the type from the drop down box. If Named and Of Type are both selected, then an "and" search is done. That is, the text in the Named text field and the type selected in Of Type must match the name and type of the data item. Select Ignore Case to perform a case insensitive search of the name. If Any Metamodel is selected, the name of the parent metamodel is ignored, thus, metadata for which the parent metamodel no longer exists will be searched. When Select Metamodels is clicked, the list of metamodels in the metamodel directory is enabled. If more than one metamodel should be included in the search, use the control key to select multiple metamodels. Once Find Metadata has been set, click the Find button to perform the search.

Search Results

Search Results displays the model components found. Note that model components containing the matching metadata are displayed in Search Results, not the matching metadata. The model components found (Process or Activity, Entity Type, Resource, Pad, Connector, Model, or Swimlane) are identified by an icon to the left of the model component's name. Process, Activity, or Entity Type items display scaled down versions of their assigned icons. Resource, Pad, Connector, Model, or Swimlane display an icon based on the legend to the right of the list. If Find is clicked with Named and Of Type not selected, then items are found that have metadata of any name or type based on the From Metamodel selection. Thus, if Any Metamodel is selected, Find locates any metadata anywhere in the SIMPROCESS model no matter which metamodel was used to create the metadata. The example below shows a search for any metadata in a model. One Activity, three Processes, one Entity Type, one Resource, one Connector, and one Pad were found with metadata.

Selecting an item will cause the Edit... button to activate. The metadata of the item can be edited by clicking the Edit... button or by double-clicking an item. The Go To button will activate if the item selected is a Process, Activity, Pad, or Swimlane. Selecting Go To will take you to the level of the model where that item is located, and, except for a Swimlane, select that item (highlight in red).

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