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Metasolv Custom Data Fields

Metasolv Custom Data Fields. Marijo LePard TDS. Overview. Three major tools for customizable data fields Value Labels User Data Custom Attributes Comparison of these three tools Typical Uses Extending the value. Value Labels. Where they’re found How they work Scope & Impact

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Metasolv Custom Data Fields

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  1. Metasolv Custom Data Fields Marijo LePard TDS

  2. Overview • Three major tools for customizable data fields • Value Labels • User Data • Custom Attributes • Comparison of these three tools • Typical Uses • Extending the value

  3. Value Labels • Where they’re found • How they work • Scope & Impact • Miscellaneous Notes • Pros & Cons

  4. Value Labels • Where they’re found: • Product Specification/Product Catalog (therefore, PSR only) • Used to gather order-entry data about a product

  5. Value Labels • How they work • Created and applied in a two-step process (Spec/Instance) Product Spec Product Catalog Item

  6. Value Labels • Specifications • Value Label: Upper/Lower case sensitive • Value Data Type: Alphanumeric, Numeric, Date, and Dropdown • Min/Max Value Length: applies to Alphanumeric and Numeric only. Measured in characters/digits • Max Nbr Allowed: not what you think – this is actually the number of data values that can be collected against this one value label. • From/To: min and max numeric values (not to be confused with min/max lengths)

  7. Value Labels • Examples As defined… As seen on the PSR…

  8. Value Labels • Features Dropdowns Date Fields Required Values Multiple Values History of Values Default Values

  9. Value Labels • Scope & Impact • Can be applied to Multiple Product Catalog Levels • Ordered Alphabetically (bummer) • Flows down to Circuits and Trunks related to that product catalog level

  10. Value Labels • Misc. Notes • Metasolv Defined Labels – like predefined Value Labels you can’t control • Pros & Cons • The flexibility of Value Labels make them appealing • The fact that they store History against each label is nice • But they can only be used against PSR service items, no other order types • And the confusion between Structured Formats/Valid Values and Value Labels, coupled with the mystery of MDL’s, make them difficult to understand and use.

  11. User Data • Where they’re found • How they work • Scope & Impact • Miscellaneous Notes • Pros & Cons

  12. User Data • Where they’re found:

  13. User Data • How they work • Created against the specific area you’re trying to cover • Used with Categories to produce Lists • Appears against the specific item designated (Circuit, NetLoc, etc.)

  14. User Data • How they work • Column Name: Unique, Uppercase only • Data Type: Number, Decimal, Varchar2 (Alphanumeric), Date, and Dropdown • Category & Type: Used to create dropdown values • Relationship: For use with Categories, provides list validation • Value for Existing Rows: Fill in values for existing items • Label: Display label (can be changed) • Visible: Used to hide a field you no longer want to use • Required: Marks a value as required (not effective)

  15. User Data • Dropdowns are Lists or Table references using User Data “Categories” Dropdown as a List Dropdown as a Table reference

  16. User Data • Examples Network Location User Data PSR User Data Circuit User Data

  17. User Data • Scope & Impact • Multiple Different Application Areas Covered • Feeds directly down to the affected item • Can alter positions in the output display • Special vs. Message Trunk Groups  • Available on some Query screens

  18. User Data • Miscellaneous Notes • While the current User Data is available in 12 different areas, it would also be nice to have it in: • Equipment Specs • EUL’s (to cover more than just NetLoc’s) <TEST> • Others as defined by the Metasolv SIG… • Pros & Cons • Visible on CLR’s, Orders, TG’s, other places (inconsistent) • Flexibility for Lists, pull-downs via Tables • No Validation • Can’t make required (effectively) • Can change presentation order • Can’t search on Orders

  19. Custom Attributes • Where they’re found • How they work • Scope & Impact • Miscellaneous Notes • Pros & Cons

  20. Custom Attributes • Where they’re found

  21. Custom Attributes

  22. Custom Attributes • How they work • CA Utility • Create CA’s • Associate CA’s to elements

  23. Custom Attributes

  24. Custom Attributes

  25. Custom Attributes

  26. Custom Attributes • Scope & Impact • Depending on the Process Points you’ve associated the CA with, the CA will show up in the application in a number of different places: • At Order Entry time in what’s referred to as the Ordering Dialog • At Connection Design time in the Schematic Design Engine • On viewed and printed CLR/DLR’s • During Network design • In GUI reports, such as Bandwidth Allocation or VLAN ID reports

  27. Custom Attributes Ordering Dialog Connection Design

  28. Custom Attributes Components Bandwidth Allocatin Report

  29. Custom Attributes • Miscellaneous Notes • Pros and Cons • Extremely Flexible • High degree of Complexity • Limited to non-traditional Next Gen items

  30. Comparison of Features Positive Attribute Negative Attribute

  31. Comparison of Features Positive Attribute Negative Attribute

  32. Comparison of Features Positive Attribute Negative Attribute

  33. Typical Uses Valid Values – PSR ordering, with info flowing downstream onto the resulting product User Data – specific to a certain element (Circuit, Order, etc.), often used directly on inventoried items Custom Attributes – Next Gen ordering and resulting services, typically packet-based services and networks

  34. Extending the Value • Each tool has a limited “reach” within the application • These limitations can be overcome to a degree by customizations - • Custom Validations • Gateway Events • Custom Extensions

  35. Extending the Value - Example • Assume you have the following requirements and limitations: • Collect all data at order-entry time before the items exist (circuits, trunks, and trunk groups) • Some data is order-specific (User Data), and some data is service-item specific (Value Labels) • Orderable items include non-template circuits and Trunk Groups • The data needs to end up on the individual circuits and trunk groups affected by the order (we chose to use User Data because of some existing bugs with Value Labels appearing on CLR’s)

  36. Extending the Value - Example PSR User Data (Order-level data) ` PSR Value Labels (Serv Item-level data) PSR Order Custom Validation 1 - Copy order-level data from PSR to Trunk Group(s) and Trunk Circuit(s) User Data 2 - Copy SI Value Labels for Trunks Groups to Trunk Group(s) and Trunk Circuit(s) User Data Task Completion Custom Validation (CKTID Task) 3 - Copy order-level data from PSR to Circuit(s) User Data 4 - Copy SI Value Labels for Circuits to Circuit(s) User Data

  37. Conclusion • Not one solution for all problems • Each solution has strengths and weaknesses • It would be desirable to work with Oracle to • Extend one solution application-wide • -or- • Build better integrations between solutions

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