Navigation Tree 

Use

The navigation tree is the central component of the BE Navigator. It has several tasks: one of its goals is to create a transparent definition of a BE application that exists in the form of metadata, as well as to enable editing of its metadata. Its other goal is to enable intuitive linking of BEF metadata to the generated objects of a BE application. Furthermore, different functions are included for the analysis of the existing metadata.

The navigation tree is displayed in two columns. The first column, or the hierarchy column, displays the data in a tree structure. The second column displays a description for the corresponding node.

 

Tree Setup

The navigation tree provides a standard display of BEF metadata. The basic principle for this is simple. The tree contains two basic types of node: the folders, or “Text nodes”, which indicate a piece of metadata, and the “Entry nodes”, which consist of a technical key and a description. Only one type of node occurs at each hierarchy level in the tree, always alternating along the hierarchy.

The text nodes each represent a specific metadata table (for the metadata table BEFM_AOF, in which features are assigned to an application object, for example). The entry nodes each represent an individual entry in these metadata tables (for the entry CRMB in metadata table BEFM_APPL, in which the applications are defined, for example). The description for this entry is either taken from a corresponding text table or determined according to certain rules (for example, from a used template).

You always access the BE Navigator in the application view, in which the definition of an application (that is the structure from metadata entities) is represented. This is also where the individual workbench objects to be generated are defined. There is also the metadata view, which displays each metadata entity together with all of its dependent subobjects. From the application view, you can switch to the relevant metadata in the metadata view.

You can use different standard functions, depending on the type of node in the tree. This applies to the processing of metadata entries, and navigation. As described above, the text nodes represent metadata tables. They can be used to display or change the metadata in the form of a list of the entries relevant to the current context (for example, all features assigned to an application object). For details on this, see the section Special Functions. For assignment tables, you can also navigate to the corresponding metadata entity in the metadata view. When displaying or editing the metadata from an entry node, the corresponding metadata entry is directly available in the form of an individual dialog box display. For further details, see the section Special Functions. When navigating in the metadata view, only the individual metadata object (for example, feature PRC “Pricing”) is displayed – including the lower-level metadata (such as feature attributes).

In the application view, the following icons are used to indicate application inheritance in the navigation tree:

•       Inherited metadata entry
•       Redefined metadata entry
•        Replacement metadata entry
•        Released event
•        Obsolete event or replaced metadata entry

The metadata entries for inactive features are also grayed out. This applies to features themselves as well as to their corresponding subscriptions.

 

Switching the View

The previous section has already described in detail the navigation options from individual nodes in the application view to the metadata view.

It is also possible to go to a specific metadata view directly from the function bar. If you choose the function “Other Metadata Entity”, a dialog box appears, in which you can select the following metadata entities:

·         Application

·         Object

·         Container

·         Feature

·         Event

·         Subscription

·         Usage

·         Index

·         Selection Group

·         Service

You select the required metadata entity by selecting the corresponding radio button. Optionally, you can also specify a value. After confirming, the system displays the metadata view for the metadata entity (for all features, for example), or the metadata view, restricted to a certain metadata object (for example, to feature PRC “Pricing”). You can use F4 Help to help you select a value. Wildcards are not currently supported.