Working with Applications |
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Working with Applications
Applications provide business users and data stewards with a customized access to the master data and with human workflows for managing this master data.
Introduction to Applications
The model contains entities describing all the master of the enterprise. Business users and data stewards require specific access to the master data the hub, depending on their roles and privileges.
This access should:
- Display only the relevant information organized in a business-friendly way.
- Support workflows for master data management operations, such as data entry and duplicate management.
- Provide dashboard to monitor the data quality as well as the workflows' performance.
For example, a deployed model contains
customer,
contact,
employee and
cost center entities:
- An HR user would access it and see the
cost center and
employee data organized with hierarchies of cost centers, hierarchies of managers/employees, and should have access to human workflows for entering or modifying employee information.
- A Finance user would access it and see the
cost center data only through a hierarchy of cost centers, and would be able to perform changes on the cost centers only.
- A Data Steward would access all these entities to fix errors or manage duplicates, and use dashboards to monitor the status of the master data hub.
Such an access to specific access to the master data is defined in Semarchy Convergence for MDM using
Applications.
An application provides the following features:
- Access to the golden and master data in business-friendly views. These views aggregate data from several entities and display them in forms and hierarchies specific to business roles.
- Human workflows for duplicates management. Through these workflows, data stewards can validate or invalidate matching decisions taken by the matchers in the automated Integration Process.
- Human workflows for data entry. These workflows enable data stewards and business users to contribute to the hub and manually publish data that goes through the data certification process. Contribution via data entry workflows includes authoring new data, modifying existing data or fixing rejects.
- Dashboards to monitor the data quality, the number of duplicates, the data volumes and workflows' performance.
Tip: From a single holistic model that includes all the master data domains (
customers,
suppliers,
products,
HR, etc.), you can define several applications (
Customer Data Hub,
Product Information Management,
HR Hub etc.) for all the business roles and responsibilities of the enterprise. An application will expose to users the data and workflows appropriate to their roles.
Applications
An application is made up of the following components:
- A
Home page that provides an overview of the hub, including the workflow activities, the data certification jobs and the detailed statistics of the MDM hub.
- A
Search feature to look for records in the business objects or directly in the entities.
-
Business Object Views that provide a business-friendly view of the MDM hub data. These business object views are organized into
Folders in the
Application Structure.
-
Human Workflows for duplicate management and data entry. These workflows can be started as
Activities and follow their lifecycle through
Tasks processed by the application’s users.
-
Dashboards include a default Global View dashboard and more detailed dashboards powered by Convergence Pulse.
- Applications may also provide direct access to the
Entities of the MDM hub. This access allows data stewards to view the data at any stage of the certification process, and review the rejects created by this process.
The Home page, Search feature, Dashboards and Entities are automatically generated. The Application Structure, Folders, Business Object Views and Human Workflows are created as part of the application design.
Note: When a model is created or upgraded from an older Convergence for MDM version, a simple application called
Default Application is automatically created. This application contains no business object views or workflow.
Note: When accessing an MDM hub (a data edition), you can select one of the applications deployed with this data edition.
Objects and Views
In an application, business users can browse and edit the content of the MDM Hub using user-friendly views called
Business Object Views.
A business object view joins two elements:
- A
Business Object, which is composite object made up from a set of related entities. It is described as a
Root Entity and a set of navigable
Transitions to
Entity Objects. For example, the
Company Hierarchy business object includes information from the
Cost Center and the
Employee entities, and uses the relations that link
employee to managers,
cost centers to parent cost centers, and
employees to cost centers for the transitions.
-
Form Views and
Table Views that describe the layout used to display the entities involved in a business object as forms (e.g.: one
Employee record) or tables (e.g.: a list of
Employee records reporting to a cost center).
Design Process
When designing an application, the Semarchy designer creates:
- Various
Forms Views and
Table Views to define the layout of the entities used in the application.
- Various
Business Objects by assembling
Entities Objects (from the entities) and organizing them through
Transitions (based on the relations).
- Various
Business Object Views that will state how these business objects must be displayed using the configured form and table views.
Note: Business Objects, Form and Table views can be reused in several Business Object Views across the applications attached to the model. The business object defines a functional group of related entities. The business object view defines how a business object is displayed in a specific application.
Table Views
Table views are views used to display a list of records for a given entity.
Such a table has is an ordered list of
Table Attributes (columns in the table), and each attribute displays a SemQL expression built from the attributes of the entity. It is possible for all attributes to provide a
Custom Label for the table attribute as well as a
Display Type
.
For example, to display a list of
Employee records, we define two table views:
- The
SimpleEmployeeList table view that displays the following attributes:
- The
Employee Name, that is the
First Name concatenated with
Last Name using the following SemQL expression:
FirstName || ' ' || LastName
- The employee’s
Cost Center.
- The
FullEmployeeList table view that displays the same attributes plus confidential information such as
Salary,
Hire Date, etc.
The first view will be used in most cases, and the second view will be relevant for applications dedicated to HR users.
The example below shows a table view in action for an Employee entity.
Form views are views used to display the details for one record for a given entity.
A form view is organized in ordered
Form Sections that contains an ordered list ordered list of
Form Section Attributes.
Similarly to the attributes of the
Table Views, the form section attributes:
- Display a SemQL expression built from the attributes of the entity.
- Support
Custom Labels.
- Support
Display Types
.
Form views support two types of layout:
- The
Flow Layout shows the sections and the attributes within the sections ordered in a vertical flow. This simple layout can be designed very fast.
- The
Grid Layout shows sections and attributes at a fixed positions in the form. They are positioned and sized on a grid at design-time. This layout required more work at design-time but gives better results for complex forms.
Both a grid and a flow layout can be defined for a form view. Switching from grid to flow is performed by user actions or automatically depending on the size of the browser window.
The figures below show a form view for an employee entity in action with a flow layout, then with a grid layout.
Display Types
Each form or table attribute can be associated with a
Display Type. The display type defines the graphical component used to show the attribute’s value in the table or form view. The graphical component can be configured using its display properties.
The available display types are listed in the following table:
Display Component |
Description |
Embedded Binary |
Displays the content of the binary attribute in an embedded frame. Use this type to display any application data or document supported in a browser (PDF, Video, etc.), stored in binary format. Note that in table views, the content will be displayed in a popup dialog linked from the table view. |
Binary Popup |
Displays the content of the binary attribute in a popup dialog. Use this type to display any application data or document supported in a browser (PDF, Video, etc.), stored in binary format. |
Checkbox |
Displays a checkbox representing the Boolean value of the attribute. |
Complex |
Displays the complex type’s display name with a button that expands in a popup the list of complex attributes. |
Date |
Displays a date chooser. |
Embedded Content |
Displays the content of the attribute in an embedded frame. Use this type to display any application data or document supported in a browser stored in text format (for example HTML, JavaScript or XML). This text will be interpreted by the client browser. Note that in table views, the content will be displayed in a popup dialog linked from the table view. |
Content Popup |
Displays the content of the attribute in a popup dialog. Use this type to display any application data or document supported in a browser stored in text format (for example HTML, JavaScript or XML). This text will be interpreted by the client browser. |
Embedded URL |
Displays the resource referred to by the attribute value in an embedded frame. The attribute value must be an URL. Use this type to display any application data or document supported in a browser (PDF, Video, etc.) stored in a remote location. Note that in table views, the content will be displayed in a popup dialog linked from the table view. Note than this display type renders a blank frame in most browsers if the referenced URL prevents frame/iframe embedding using “X-Frame-Options” in the HTTP response header. |
Hyperlink |
Displays a hyperlink contained in the attribute value. Note that you can use a displayed string different from the URL by putting a pipe sign (vertical bar) between the display string and the URL to link. |
Generated ID |
Displays the ID attribute with a generated value that cannot be modified. |
Generated ID (Editable) |
Displays the ID attribute with a generated value that can be modified. |
Manual ID |
Displays the ID attribute as a value to set manually. |
Image |
Displays the binary data stored in the attribute as an image. This display type supports Scaling Mode and Alignment properties. |
Image Popup |
Displays the binary data stored in the attribute as a popup dialog. |
Image URL |
Displays the resource referred to by the attribute value as an image. The attribute value must be an URL. This display type supports Scaling Mode and Alignment properties. |
Image URL Popup |
Displays the resource referred to by the attribute value as an image in a popup dialog. The attribute value must be an URL. |
Text |
Displays the attribute value a text field. This display type supports Alignment and Multi-line display properties. |
Long Text |
Displays the attribute value as a long text field. This display type supports Alignment and Multi-line display properties. |
Drop-Down List |
Displays the list of values attribute as a drop-down list. |
List Box |
Displays the list of values attribute as a list box. |
Multi-Value Zone |
Displays the list of values attribute as a multi-value zone. |
Multi-Value List Box |
Displays the list of values attribute as a list box that supports multiple selection. |
Reference Picker |
Displays the reference as a reference picker. |
Note: Each display type is appropriate for displaying certain data. Only the display types relevant for given attribute are available when editing this attribute in the workbench.
Business Objects
A
Business Object is a composite object made up from a set of related entities. It is a functional subset of the model.
For example, the
Company Hierarchy business object includes information from the
Cost Center and the
Employee entities, and uses the relations that link employees to managers, cost centers to parent cost centers, and employees to cost centers.
Entities used in the business object are defined as
Entity Objects. A given entity may appear several times in the same business object. For example, the
Customer entity may be used in a business object twice, once to describe the
Domestic Customers and once for the
International Customers. An entity object is a direct link to an entity, associated with a
Filter.
Transitions enable the navigation between entity objects within a given business object. The transitions are created based on the relationship references defined between the entities. For example, if the
Cost Center entity is related to the
Employee entity through the
Employee has Cost Center reference relationship, it is possible in a business object to create a transition to navigate from the cost center to the reporting employees.
A business object is always defined with a
Root Entity Object. This root entity object is the entry point of the business object.
For example, in the
Company Hierarchy business object, the root entity object is created from the
Cost Center entity, filtered to only return the root cost centers in the hierarchy of cost centers (that is those with
no parent cost center).
Business Object Views
A
Business Object View defines how a business object is displayed:
- For each entity object, a form view is selected to define how one record is displayed. For example, the details of one cost center.
- For each transition, a table view is selected to define how the list of child elements of a transition is displayed. For example, the
list of employees reporting to a cost center, or the
list of child cost centers attached to a given cost center.
Business object views are defined within an application, and serve two purposes:
- They are used to
browse data in a user friendly way from the
Application Structure.
- They are used to
edit data in the hub as part of a
Data Entry Activity.
The following example shows one instance of the
CostCenter business object, displayed through a business object view. The
CostCenter business object uses
CostCenter as its root object (filtered to show only the root cost centers), and has transitions to the
Child Cost Centers (this transition recurses to show an infinite depth of cost centers) and to the cost center’s
Reporting Employees. The form and tables used to display each node of the hierarchy are defined in the business object view.
Human Workflows
Human Workflows enable business users to manage the data in the MDM hub via an application.
When users want to manage the master data, they initiate an
Activity based on a predefined human workflow. This activity follows the workflow through
Transitions and
Tasks which are assigned to roles, claimed, processed and then completed by users. The last task of a workflow can submit (or cancel) the data changes done in the activity, and start a data certification process with these changes.
There are two types of human workflows in Semarchy:
-
Duplicate Management Workflows: These workflows allow data stewards to override the decisions taken by the matchers running in the hub. Through these workflows, stewards can either manually match unmatched records, or split duplicate groups that were incorrectly matched (false matches).
-
Data Entry Workflows: These workflows allow data stewards or business users to contribute to the hub as manual publishers. The data entered via these workflows goes through the data certification process to create golden data. Contribution via data entry workflows includes authoring new data, modifying existing data or fixing rejects.
Workflow Lifecycle
A workflow is a set of
tasks, linked by
transitions. A running or completed workflow instance is called an
Activity.
An activity is initiated from an Application. When an activity runs, it executes a single task at a time. A task is
assigned to a role declared in Semarchy. Such a task can be
claimed by a user having this role. This user then can perform data entry or duplicate management operations. When the task is completed, the user completes the task and moves it through a transition to another task.
The task may finish the activity either via a
submit or a
cancel operation. The
cancel operation cancels any duplicate management or data entry action, and the
submit operation submits into the hub the data entry or duplicate management transaction. After a
submit operation, an integration job is started to certify the changes performed in the activity.
Transaction
An activity carries along a Load Transaction (equivalent to an external load) which contains the duplicates modified or the records manually entered by the users. This transaction attached to the activity, and is transferred with the activity when a task is assigned to a role. This enables multiple entry/edition points and validations steps as part of the workflow.
Creating an Application
An application provides a customized access to the MDM Hub.
To create an application:
- Right-click the
Applications node and select
Add Application.... The
Create New Application wizard opens.
- In the
Create New Application wizard, check the
Auto Fill option and then enter the following values:
-
Name: Internal name of the object.
-
Label: User-friendly label for this object. Note that as the
Auto Fill box is checked, the
Label for is automatically filled in. Modifying this label is optional.
-
Required Role: The application is by default available for all users. To restrict access to this application to a specific role, select it from the dropdown list.
- Click
Finish to close the wizard. The
Application editor opens.
- In the
Description field, optionally enter a description for the Application.
- If you want to add or remove features from the application, or restrict feature access to certain roles, select in the
Available Features section the features to activate and the required roles for each activated feature.
- Save the editor.
Tip: It is possible to create multiple applications for a single model and to support different views to this model. For example, a simple application for users browsing the hub through the Business Object Views, another application supporting in addition data entry workflows, and a third application for data stewards showing in addition the details of the entities.
Creating Views and Objects
Views and object define how business users and data stewards see the MDM hub content in an application.
Creating Table Views
A
Table View provides a layout for displaying a list of records for a given entity.
To create a table view:
- Right-click the
Table Views node under an entity and select
Add Table View.... The
Create New Table View wizard opens.
- In the
Create New Table View wizard, enter the following values:
-
Name: Internal name of the object.
-
Default: Select this option if the table view should be used as the default table view for this entity.
- Click
Finish to close the wizard. The
Table View editor opens.
The table view editor display a list of available attributes and a table showing all the attributes from the table view, with their label and SemQL expression.
To add attributes to a table view:
- In the
Table View editor’s
Table tab, drag an attribute from the available
Attributes list to the list of table attributes. The new attribute is added to the table attributes table:
- In the table attributes table, you can modify the
Name,
Label, or
Height or this table attribute.
- Click the (...)
Edit Expression button to create a complex expression for the table attribute.
- You can also reorder attributes in this table using drag and drop.
- To edit an attribute, select the
Properties view, and then select the attribute in the attributes table. The
Properties view shows all its properties, including:
-
Name,
Label and
Description. Note that if the
Use Custom Label option is unchecked, then a default label is used: if the SemQL expression is a simple entity attribute, the default label is the label of this attribute, otherwise, the text of the SemQL expressions is used.
-
Display Type
used for the table attribute.
-
Help Content: content displayed as the help text for the attribute. This either the attribute metadata or its description.
Note: You can add not only attributes from the entity, but also attributes of entities related to the current entity (For example, an employee’s parent
Cost Center name), or any complex SemQL expression.
Tip! You can alternately select (by pressing the
CTRL key) and drag and drop multiple attributes from the attribute list.
To remove an attribute from a table view:
- Select the attribute in the attributes table.
- Click the
Delete Selection button in the editor toolbar and confirm the deletion. The attribute is removed from the table.
A
Form View provides an organized layout for displaying a given entity record in a form. It is composed of several
Form Sections, each section containing
Form Attributes.
Form view are arranged either using a vertical
Flow Layout, where section and attributes are simply ordered, or a
Grid Layout, where each section and attribute is positioned on a grid. You may design a form with one or both layouts. When both layouts are available, the form view switches from grid to flow layout either by user action, or automatically when the display falls below a certain width.
To create a form view:
- Right-click the
Form Views node under an entity and select
Add Form View.... The
Create New Form View wizard opens.
- In the
Create New Form View wizard, enter the following values:
-
Name: Internal name of the object.
-
Default Form View: Select this option if the form view should be used as the default form view for this entity.
-
Default Layout: Select the layout used when opening the form view.
-
User Layout Switch: Select this option to enable the layout switch by the user.
-
Auto Layout Switch: Select this option to enable the automated switch based on the
Auto Layout Width.
- Click
Finish to close the wizard. The
Form View editor opens.
Warning: To design both the flow and grid layouts for the form view, you must have either
User Layout Switch or
Auto Layout Switch activated. Otherwise, you can only design the layout selected in the
Default Layout.
When working with the
Form View editor:
- The
Overview tab shows the global options for the form view.
- The
Outline view shows the sections and attributes available for this form. Those visible in the currently selected (Flow or Grid) view appear in bold font in the Outline.
- The
Properties view shows the properties of the selected section or attribute.
- The
Grid tab shows a grid corresponding to the grid layout for the form, and the
Flow tab shows a table with the ordered list of sections and attributes for the flow layout.
In the
Overview tab, you can configure the following parameters:
- The
Default Layout for the form view (Grid or Flow). If you enable either
User Layout Switch or
Auto Layout Switch, both layouts will be available to the user.
Auto Layout Switch switches the layout to Flow when the display is below the
Auto Layout Width in pixels.
- The
Section Navigator for the flow layout appears as a table of content, tabs or a list of links to switch from section to section. Its position and appearance are configured using the
Section Navigator Look and
Section Nav. Position options. You can also define whether sections should be managed as expandable/collapsible components.
- The
Label alignment defines the position of all the labels in the form view.
-
Attribute Minimum Width and
Attribute Maximum Width are values in pixel that limit the resizing of the attributes on large or small displays.
Flow Layout Design
In the flow layout, you define and order form sections containing form attributes.
To add a form section:
- In the
Flow tab of the
Form View editor, click the
Add Form Section button in the toolbar. A new form section is added to the list.
- Edit the
Name and
Label for this section directly in the table or in the
Properties view.
- Optionally, you can:
- Make the section visible or invisible using the
Toggle Selection Visibility button in the toolbar.
- Reorganize the sections order using drag and drop in the table.
Note: A section or attribute can be
visible in the flow and/or grid layout. Changing an attribute or section visibility with the
Toggle Selection Visibility button does not remove it from the form, and can be reverted. Using the
Remove Selection button deletes the attribute or section from the form entirely, which cannot be undone.
To delete a form section:
- In the
Flow tab of the
Form View editor, select the form section and then click the
Delete Selection button.
- Confirm your choice. The section and all its form attributes are deleted.
To add a form attribute:
- In the
Flow tab of the
Form View editor, drag an attribute from the available
Attributes list to an existing form section. The new attribute is added under the form section. You can now:
- Modify the
Name,
Label and
Flow Height (size of the attribute in number of lines) for this attribute.
- Click the (...)
Edit Expression button to create a complex expression for the table attribute.
- Re-position the attribute using drag and drop.
- Select the
Properties view and then select the attribute in the attributes table. The
Properties view shows all the attribute properties, including:
-
Name,
Label and
Description. Note that if the
Use Custom Label option is unchecked, then a default label is used: if the SemQL expression is a simple entity attribute, the default label is the label of this attribute, otherwise, the text of the SemQL expressions is used.
-
Display Type
used for the table attribute.
-
Help Content: Content displayed as the help text for the attribute. This either the attribute metadata or its description.
Certain properties available for form attributes are used specifically in the flow layout:
-
Flow Height defines the height of the displayed component in number of lines.
-
Expandable defines whether a complex attribute appears as an expandable attribute by default. Such expandable component is optionally
Expanded by Default.
-
Customized Display Name for reference attributes. If it is checked, you can specify a SemQL
Display Name Expression that defines the label shown for the reference. Otherwise, the entity display name is used instead.
Tip! You can alternately select (by pressing the
CTRL key) and drag and drop multiple attributes from the attribute list. If you drag them into a section, they are added to this section. If you drag them outside of the sections, a new section is automatically created.
To remove an attribute from a form section:
- Select the attribute in the attributes table.
- Click the
Delete Selection button and confirm the deletion. The attribute is removed from the form section.
Grid Layout Design
In the grid layout, each section and each attribute is positioned at an absolute position on a grid, and has a defined height and width.
To add a new form section:
- In the
Grid tab of the
Form View editor, click the
Form Section button or drag the button to a position in the grid. A new form section is added to the grid.
- In the
Properties view set the following properties for the new section:
-
Name,
Label and
Description.
-
X-Coordinate,
Y-Coordinate,
Width and
Height to position and size the section.
-
Display Label: Un-select this option to hide the label of this section in the grid layout.
Tip! Use the toolbar to move and re-size faster the selected form section or attribute. Multiple selection is supported.
To add an existing form section:
- Drag an existing form section from the
Outline view to the grid. The section is added to the grid and you can edit it from the
Properties view.
To delete a form section:
- Select the form section from the grid and then click the
Delete Selection button.
- Confirm your choice. The section and all its form attributes are deleted.
To add a new form attribute:
- In the
Grid tab of the
Form View editor, drag an attribute from the available
Attributes list to an existing section in the grid. The new attribute is added to the grid.
- Select the
Properties view and then select the attribute in the grid. The
Properties view shows all the attribute properties, including:
-
Name,
Label and
Description. Note that if the
Use Custom Label option is unchecked, then a default label is used: if the SemQL expression is a simple entity attribute, the default label is the label of this attribute, otherwise, the text of the SemQL expressions is used.
-
Display Type
used for the form attribute.
-
Help Content: Content displayed as the help text for the attribute. This either the attribute metadata or its description.
-
Customized Display Name for reference attributes. If it is checked, you can specify a SemQL
Display Name Expression that defines the label shown for the reference. Otherwise, the entity display name is used instead.
-
X-Coordinate,
Y-Coordinate,
Width and
Height to position and size the attribute. You can also drag the attribute directly in the grid to position within its section.
-
Label Position to define the position of the label for the attributes (top, left or hidden) and
Label Wrap to indicate whether the label text should wrap when overflowing.
Label Width defines the size of the label.
Tip! You can drag and drop multiple attributes from the attribute list to the grid. If they are dropped on an existing section, they are added to the section. If they are dropped on the grid, a section is automatically created around these attributes.
To add an existing form attribute:
- Drag an existing form attribute from the
Outline view to the grid. The section is added to the grid and you can edit it from the
Properties view.
To remove an attribute from a form section:
- Select the attribute in the grid.
- Click the
Delete Selection button and confirm the deletion. The attribute is removed from the form section.
Creating Business Objects
A
Business Object is a composite object made up from a set of related entities. It is a functional subset of the model.
To create a new business object:
- Right-click the
Business Objects node and select
Add Business Object.... The
Create New Business Object wizard opens.
- In the
Create New Business Object wizard, enter the following values:
-
Entity: Select the root Entity Object for this business object. The root entity is the main entity of this business object, or the highest entity in the business object’s hierarchy.
-
Name: Internal name for this root Entity Object. The name default to the name of the entity suffixed with “EO”.
- Click
Next.
- In the second page of the
Create New Business Object wizard, check the
Auto Fill option and then enter the following values:
-
Name: Internal name of the business object. It is named by default after the root entity.
-
Label: User-friendly label for this object. Note that as the
Auto Fill box is checked, the
Label is automatically filled in. Modifying this label is optional.
-
Plural Label: User-friendly label when referring to several instances of this business object. The value for the plural label is automatically generated from the Label value and can be optionally modified.
- In the
Description field, optionally enter a description for the Business Object.
- Click
Next.
- Enter a
Root Filter expression for the Business Object. This filter selects only the records of the root entity that should appear when opening the business object. For example, in a business object representing the hierarchy of
Cost Centers, we should filter only the cost centers with no parent cost center. The navigation to child cost centers will be defined later in the business object.
- Click
Finish to close the wizard. The
Business Object editor opens.
- Press
CTRL+S to save the new business object.
After creating a business object, only the records of the root entity filtered by the root filter are displayed (for example, the root
Cost Centers of the hierarchy). To include more entities in the business object (for example, child
Cost Centers or
Employees reporting to the cost centers), it is necessary to create
Transitions to other
Entity Objects.
You can create transitions from the root entity object or from any entity object in the business object.
To create transitions:
- Create a transition from the root entity object or from another entity object:
- To create a transition from the root entity object:
- In the
Business Object editor, click the
Add Transition button in the
Transitions table. The
Create New Business Object Transition wizard opens.
- To create a transition from another entity object:
- In the
Business Object editor, select the entity in the
Transitions table and then click the
Add Child Transition button. The
Create New Business Object Transition wizard opens.
- In the
Create New Business Object Transition wizard, enter the following values:
-
Reference: Select a one of the references from the parent entity object. This reference points to one of the entities related to the parent entity object. For example, the reference that links a
Cost Center to its child cost center or to its reporting employees.
-
Name: Internal Name of this transition. The default name is the
Referencing Role Name for the selected relation.
-
Label: Label for this transition. The default name is the
Referencing Role Label for the selected relation. Note that you can set a customized label, plural label and description specific to this transition later. Double-clicking a transition in the editor for a business object opens the transition for edition.
- Click
Next.
- The target of the transition may be either a
New Entity Object or an
Existing Entity Object:
- To use an
Existing Entity Object:
- Select
Use Existing Entity Object and then click
Next
- Select an existing entity object as the
Target Entity Object of the transition.
- Click
Next.
- Enter a
Filter expression for this transition. This filter select only the records of the target entity object that should appear when navigating through this transition.
- To use a
New Entity Object:
- Select
New Entity Object and then click
Next.
- Select in the
Entity field an existing entity that will be target of this transition.
- In
Name, enter an internal name for this new entity object. The name default to the name of the entity suffixed with “EO”.
- Click
Next.
- Enter a
Filter expression for this transition. This filter select only the records of the target entity object that should appear when navigating through this transition.
Tip: It is possible to create hierarchies with infinite depth by creating a transition from an entity object to itself. For example, to create a hierarchy of cost centers, create a business object with a
Cost center as the root entity object (call it
CostCenterEO
) and a root filter selecting only the cost centers with no parents (e.g.:
ParentCostCenter is null
). Then add a transition using the self-relation linking parent and child cost centers, and transition to the existing
CostCenterEO
.
Creating Business Object Views
Warning: Before creating the Business Object Views, make sure that the appropriate business objects are created and that forms and table views exist for all the entities involved in these business objects.
To create a business object view:
- Right-click the
Business Object Views node and select
Add Business Object View.... The
Create New Business Object View wizard opens.
- In the
Create New Business Object View wizard, check the
Auto Fill option and then enter the following values:
-
Name: Internal name of the object.
-
Label: User-friendly label for this object. Note that as the
Auto Fill box is checked, the
Label is automatically filled in. Modifying this label is optional.
-
Business Object: Select an existing business object.
-
Visible: Select or un-select this option to make this business object view visible or not in the application structure. A business object that is invisible can still be used in a data entry workflow.
-
Use Search on Open: Select this option to open the search dialog when the business object view is accessed. Otherwise, the business object view opens directly either on the first record, or on the list of records at the root of the business object.
-
Open As: Select whether the business object view should open on the Record List or the First Record in the list.
-
Folder: Optionally select a folder into which this business object view will appear.
- Click
Finish to close the wizard. The
Business Object View editor opens.
Advanced Business Object View Configuration
When the business object view is created, every entity object in the hierarchy of the related business object maps to:
- A
Form View used to display one record of this node when browsing the data. The default form view for the entity is set by default.
- An optional
Data Entry Form View used to edit one record in this node when editing data in a workflow.
- A
Table View used to display the list of records in this node. The default form view for the entity is set by default.
It is also possible to configure a customized
Sort Expression for the records in the node, and a customized
Display Name for showing the records the hierarchy tree.
If the form views used contain references pointing to other entities, you can define for these references how
References Browsing (for browsing data) and
References Selection (for data entry) will behave.
To configure the views and the references behavior:
- In the
Business Object View editor, in the
Hierarchy section, review the Form/Table Views associated with the business object’s entity objects. To change or set one of these views:
- Select a node in the hierarchy corresponding to the entity object. The
Properties view shows the
Entity Object Form View properties.
- In the
Name and Definition section, select a
Table View, a
Form View and optionally a
Data Entry Form View.
- Select the
Customized Sort options and then set a SemQL
Sort Expression to define the default sort order.
- Select
User-Defined Sort to allow users to define their own sort order for this node in the hierarchy.
- Optionally configure the references navigation:
- Select the
References Browsing section in the
Properties view.
- Click the
Refresh button in the
Properties view toolbar to refresh the list of browsable references.
- For each reference listed, select a
Browsing Target:
Not Browsable makes the reference not navigable,
Default Form View opens a popup with the default form view for the entity and
Business Object View opens a business object view that contains in its hierarchy the target of the reference. If you select a
Business Object View target, then you can select a
Target Business Object View
- Optionally configure the references selection:
- Select the
References Selection section in the
Properties view.
- Click the
Refresh button in the
Properties view toolbar to refresh the list of selectable references.
- For each reference listed, select a whether the reference selection component should display a
Reference ID Input Field. If this option is not selected, the only way to select a reference is via a reference picker popup dialog.
- Optionally set for each reference a
Reference Picker Filter. This filter restricts the possible selection. Such a filter is used for example when selecting the
Customer referenced by a
Contact, to filter only those of the
Customers located in the same country as the
Contact.
- Repeat the previous step to assign the correct view to each entity object and transition.
- Press
CTRL+S to save the editor.
Tips for Creating Views and Objects
Creating Views for Specific Purposes
It is recommended to create different business objects/table/forms views for specific purposes. From the same business object, it is possible to design several different views that serve a variety of purposes. For example, create different business object views for browsing the same data with a reduced number or attributes for certain users and a more comprehensive set of attributes for power users.
It is not necessary to have business object view dedicated to data entry, as a business object view references different form views for browsing and for data entry. If you want to create business object views that will be used only for data entry, make sure to create them with the
Visible flag un-selected, so that they do not appear in the application structure.
Selecting Attributes for Views
The form/table views designed and used in a business object view define the attributes visible when the business object is used.
Key Attributes
The key for a record depends on the context (master record, golden record, source record, etc.) as well as the type of entity (fuzzy or exact matching). To make form design simpler and consistent, you can simply include the primary key attribute for the entity in the form or table view. Depending on the context and entity type, the correct attribute will be displayed. For example, for a source record of a fuzzy matching entity, the SourceID will be displayed. Unless you want to have a specifically one of the key attributes displayed (Golden ID, SourceID, etc.), you should not specifically add one of these in the form or table view.
Data Entry Form Views
For data entry purposes, certain attributes are required in the form views:
- The entity primary key attribute is required. Depending on the entity type and context, the appropriate attribute is automatically displayed.
- It is also recommended to include the mandatory fields in the data entry form views unless null values are automatically handled by the enrichers. Otherwise, mandatory value validation may reject data entries.
- If an entity is attached to a parent entity, it is recommended to include the foreign display name attributes to allow attaching a record to a given parent. For example an employee is attached to a cost center and a manager. The corresponding
FDN_CostCenter and
FDN_Manager attributes should be added to the form view used to edit the employee, for example to assign the employee to a specific cost center or manager.
Warning: When creating a business object view, make sure that the form views set for data entry include the primary key attribute.
Organizing the Application with Folders
You can use folders to organize the business object views in the application.
Creating Folders
To create a folder:
- Double-click the
Folders node under the application. The
Application opens on the
Folders section.
- Click the
Add Root Folders button to create a root folder, or select an existing folder and select
Add Child Folder... to create a sub-folder. The
Create New Folder wizard opens.
- In the
Create New Folder wizard, check the
Auto Fill option and then enter the following values:
-
Name: Internal name of the folder.
-
Label: User-friendly label for this folder. Note that as the
Auto Fill box is checked, the
Label is automatically filled in. Modifying this label is optional.
- Click
Finish to close the wizard. The
Folder is added to the list of folders.
Moving Business Object Views into Folders
You can select the folder containing a business object view when creating this business object view, or change it afterwards.
To move a business object view into a folder:
- In the application, expand the
Business Object Views node and then double-click the business object view. The
Business Object View editor opens.
- In the
Business Object section of this editor, select the
... (Select a Value) button in front
Folder field.
- In the folder selector, select one of the folders of the application and then click
OK
- Press
CTRL+S to save the editor.
Creating Human Workflows
Human Workflows enable business users to manage the data in the MDM hub via an application.
Creating a New Duplicate Management Workflow
To create a duplicate management workflow:
- Right-click the
Human Workflows node and select
Add Duplicate Management Workflow.... The
Create New Duplicates Workflow wizard opens.
- In the
Create New Duplicates Workflow wizard, check the
Auto Fill option and then enter the following values:
-
Name: Internal name of the object.
-
Label: User-friendly label for this object. Note that as the
Auto Fill box is checked, the
Label is automatically filled in. Modifying this label is optional.
-
Managed Entity: Select the entity whose duplicates can be handled by this workflow. Note that only fuzzy matching entities appear in this list.
-
On Submit Job: Select the job to execute when the workflow completes with a
Submit operation.
-
Initiator Role: Role required to create a new activity using this workflow.
-
Admin Role: Role required to administer an activity using this workflow. Users with this role can perform any operation on an activity based on this workflow.
- Click
Finish to close the wizard. The
Duplicates Workflow editor opens.
Creating a New Data Entry Workflow
To create a data entry workflow:
- Right-click the
Human Workflows node and select
Add Data Entry Workflow.... The
Create New Data Entry Workflow wizard opens.
- In the
Create New Data Entry Workflow wizard, check the
Auto Fill option and then enter the following values:
-
Name: Internal name of the object.
-
Label: User-friendly label for this object. Note that as the
Auto Fill box is checked, the
Label is automatically filled in. Modifying this label is optional.
-
Data Entry Publisher: Select the publisher defined in the model that will used to submit the data entries.
-
On Submit Job: Select the job to execute when the workflow completes with a
Submit operation.
-
Initiator Role: Role required to create a new activity using this workflow.
-
Admin Role: Role required to administer an activity using this workflow. Users with this role can perform any operation on an activity based on this workflow.
- Click
Next. In the next page, select the actions available for this workflow:
-
Checkout Golden Records: Select this option to allow users to copy existing golden records to this workflow’s transaction. These records will be editable as part of the workflow.
-
Checkout Master Records: Select this option to allow users to check previously authored master records out or copy master records from other publishers to this workflow’s transaction. These records will be editable as part of the workflow.
-
Checkout Rejects: Select this option to allow users to check rejects out into this workflow’s transaction. These records will be editable as part of the workflow.
-
Create New Record: Select this option to allow users to create new records using this workflow.
- Click
Next.
- In the
Business Object Views page, select a Business Object View in the
Available BO Views list and then click the
Add >> button to add it to the
Selected BO Views.
- Repeat the previous operation to add other BO Views to this workflow.
- Order the Business Object Views using the
Move Up and
Move Down buttons. The Business Object Views are displayed in this order at run-time.
- Click
Finish to close the wizard. The
Data Entry Workflow editor opens.
The Workflow Editor
The workflow editor displays the workflow as a diagram. This diagram is used to configure, add tasks and transitions to the workflow.
This workflow contains by default the following elements:
* A
Start Event that represents the startup point for this workflow. All the start tasks are linked from this event.
* An
End Event that represents the completion point for this workflow. This event is preceded by two built-in tasks called
Submit Data and
Cancel Data that represent the
submit and
cancel operations that finish a workflow.
* A
Task that is linked from the
Start Event and that links to the
Submit Data and
Cancel Data built-in tasks. This task is a placeholder that can be removed or modified.
Note: It is possible to link the start event to your tasks, but your tasks cannot link directly to the end event. They must transition to the built-in
Submit Data and
Cancel Data tasks that finish the workflow.
Configuring the Workflow
The workflow can be configured from the
Properties view. Click the background of the workflow diagram to open the workflow properties.
All workflow have the following properties sections:
-
Name and Definition: The
Name,
Label,
Description,
Initiator Role,
Admin Role and
On Submit Job options in this section are configured when creating the workflow and can be changed here. For Data Entry workflows, the
Data Entry Publisher appears here. The additional
Start from Homepage option defines whether or not this workflow should appear as a button shortcut on the homepage.
-
Tasks: The list of tasks of the workflow.
-
Transitions: The list of transitions of the workflow.
Data Entry workflows have specific properties sections:
-
Actions: The
Checkout Golden Records,
Checkout Master Records,
Checkout Rejects and
Create New Records options are configured when creating a data entry workflow.
-
Business Object Views: The list of default business objects managed by this data entry workflow. It is possible to override this list on each task of the workflow.
Duplicate Management workflows have specific properties sections:
-
Managed Entity: The entity whose duplicates is handled by this workflow.
Adding a Task
To add a task from the diagram:
- In the Workflow diagram, select the
Add Task tool in the
Palette.
- Click the diagram. The
Create New Task wizard appears.
- In the
Create New Task wizard, check the
Auto Fill option and then enter the following values:
-
Name: Internal name of the object.
-
Label: User-friendly label for this object. Note that as the
Auto Fill box is checked, the
Label is automatically filled in. Modifying this label is optional.
-
Assigned to Role: Select the role to which this task is automatically assigned.
The new task appears in the diagram. If it is the first task added to this workflow, it is linked from the start event.
Configuring a Task
A task selected in the workflow is configured from the
Properties view.
The
Name and Definition properties section contains the following properties:
Name,
Label,
Description and
Assigned to Role.
For data entry workflows' tasks, it is in addition possible to:
- Override the list of Business Object Views defined at workflow level with other Business Object views specific to the given task.
- Configure enrichers and validations triggered when data entry is performed in a task.
Tip: Task-specific Business Object Views help deliver an optimal experience for the data entry process. Enrichers triggered in tasks add interactivity in the data entry. Validations on tasks enforce data quality as part of the data entry process by proactively detecting errors.
Overriding Business Object Views in Tasks
A task of a data entry workflow can override the default business object views from the workflow and use a different set of business object views.
Setting Business Object Views on tasks allows workflow designers to specialize the data entry experience for each task of the workflow. For example, a first task uses a Business Object View to edit simple attributes, and a second (optional) task uses a different one to edit advanced attributes.
To override business object views in tasks:
- Select the task in the workflow diagram. The
Properties view displays this task’s properties.
- Select the
Business Object Views section in the
Properties view.
- Click the
Define Managed Business Object Views button in the
Properties view toolbar. The
Manage Tasks dialog opens.
- Select the appropriate
Available Business Object Views and click the
Add >> button to add them to the
Selected Business Object Views
- Order the Business Object Views using the
Move Up and
Move Down buttons. The Business Object Views are displayed in this order at run-time.
- Click
Finish to close the dialog.
- Select the
Name and Definition section in the
Properties view.
- Select the
Override BO Views option. This option must be selected in order to take into account the BO Views of the task instead of those from the workflow.
Configuring Enrichers and Validations in Tasks
A task of a data entry workflow can provide interactive feedback to the user. This feedback includes:
- Triggering enrichers to populate or augment attributes automatically.
- Trigger validations to raise issues to the user as he enters data.
The following sections are available in the
Properties view for configuring the interactive feedback for data entry tasks:
- The
Enrichers section contains the list of enrichers applicable to the business objects managed by the workflow. These enrichers may be triggered during the workflow execution.
- The
Validations section contains the list of validations applicable to the business objects managed by the workflow. These validations may be triggered during the workflow execution.
Note: Enrichers triggered in a task modify the data entered in the transaction. The modified data is persisted in the transaction.
The triggers for validations and enrichers in a given task are:
-
Keystrokes: Execute the validation or enricher when keystrokes are done in the data edition window.
-
Field Exit: Execute the validation or enricher when the focus goes out of a field.
-
Manual: Execute the validation or enricher when the user clicks the
Validate button.
-
Save: Execute the validation or enricher when the user saves data in the transaction or clicks the
Validate button.
-
None: The validation or enricher is not executed during this task.
Note: When they have the same execution trigger, enrichers are always executed before validations.
Tip: The validations at a task level have an informational purpose, and do not prevent a user from entering incorrect data. You may prevent the user from proceeding with the workflow using transition validations. See
Configuring Enrichers and Validations in Transitions for more information.
Adding a Transition
A transition links to tasks in the diagram.
To add a transition from the diagram:
- In the Workflow diagram, select the
Add Transition tool in the
Palette.
- Select a task the diagram or the
Start event. Keep the mouse button pressed, and move the cursor to the next task in the workflow, or the built-in
Submit or
Cancel tasks.
- Release the mouse button.
The transition is created and a link appears between the two elements in the diagram.
Note: Transitions have a direction. If a transition goes from Task_A to Task_B, it only means that you can move in the activity from Task_A to Task_B. If you want to move from Task_B to Task_A, then you must create another transition in the other direction.
Configuring a Transition
A transition selected in the workflow is configured from the
Properties view.
The
Name and Definition properties section contains the following task properties:
Name,
Label and
Description. Label and description are customized only if the
Use Custom Label option is selected. By default, a transition is named after the target task of this transition.
Configuring Enrichers and Validations in Transitions
A transition of a data entry workflow can enforce data quality checks. These checks warn the user of possible data issues and can optionally block the transition.
The following sections are available in the
Properties view for configuring the checks for data entry transitions:
- The
Validations section contains the list of validations applicable to the business objects managed by the workflow. Each validation is configured to
Warn the user,
Block the transition, or you can simply
Skip it.
- The
Enrichers section contains the list of enrichers applicable to the business objects managed by the workflow. Select the enrichers to execute before the validations.
Note: Selected enrichers are always executed before validations.
Warning: Validations marked as
Block prevent the workflow from proceeding through the transition. Validation marked as
Warn may be ignored by the user.
Validating an Application
An application or a component of the application (business objects, workflow) must be validated to ensure its correct behavior after deployment and raise possible issues. For example, in a workflow, a task that cannot be reached or a task that cannot lead to the end of the workflow.
To validate the application or one component from the diagram:
- In the
Model Design view, select the node corresponding to your application, business process or human workflow, right-click and then select
Validate.
- The validation process starts. At the end of the process, the list of issues (errors and warnings) is displayed in the
Validation Log view. You can click an error or waning to open the object causing this issue.
The workflow is also validated as part of the overall model validation.
Opening an Application
You can connect the deployed applications from the Welcome page.
To open an application:
- Open a new tab in your web browser and connect to the URL that provided by your administrator. For example
http://<host>:<port>/semarchy/
where
<host>
and
<port>
represent the name and port of the host running the Semarchy application. If you are not logged in yet, the Login Form is displayed.
- Enter your user name and password.
- Click
Log In. The Semarchy Welcome page opens.
- In the welcome page, recently connected and available applications and data editions appear as buttons named as follows:
<application_name> [<data edition>] (<data location name>)
.
- Select a recently opened application in the
Recent Application group,
- Select one of the applications available to you from the
Available Applications group.
- Click the
More... button to open a given data edition in a data location, optionally using an application.
- Select a
Data Location from the list
- Select a
Data Edition in this Data Location. By selecting the
Latest edition, you always connect to the latest edition.
- Optionally select an application available in this data edition.
- Click the
Open button.
The application opens.
Tip: You can bookmark the URL when connected to a given application to return directly to this application.
Tip: When designing applications, changes made to the views, business objects, applications and workflows are directly applied to the development data location without having to go through a model deployment or update procedure. You simply need to refresh the browser tab connected to the application to see these changes.
Applications Global Configuration
All applications running in a Convergence for MDM instance share configuration properties such as the header logo or the export limits. These properties are configured from the Administration Console. See the
"Managing the Platform" chapter in the
"Semarchy Convergence for MDM Administration Guide" for more information.