Object Definitions

In this article:

• What are object definitions?
• Create a new object definition
• Adjust an object definition
• Object properties
• Questionnaires
• Connect questionnaire fields to source values
• Source connections
• Add a new source connection
• Delete a source connection
• Create objects

 

BlueDolphin uses objects to secure information about different assets. The tab Objects provides an overview of the object definitions contained in your environment. These object definitions are divided into layers, as shown in the image below.

 

Initially, object definitions are created or made after loading a library template, after which you can create new or modify existing object definitions from the Admin module.

 

What are object definitions?

To be able to work with Enterprise Architecture, the objects inside BlueDolphin are classified and defined according to the ArchiMate specification. It is possible to rename object definitions and give them names that are more familiar within your organization. It is also possible to create new object definitions. Object definitions are always based on the ArchiMate concept and this concept will always be visible when you visualize objects based on diagrams or views.

 

Create a new object definition

If you want to add a new object definition to your BlueDolphin environment from your Admin area, click Object definitions. Click the icon and the following screen opens.

 

Give the object definition a name and choose the ArchiMate type on which you want the object to be based. You can also choose to add the object definition to the personal view for certain roles. Once you have added the new object definition, click OK and it opens up directly for further configuration. 

 

Adjust an object definition

Once you have created a new object definition or selected an existing one, you can further configure it. The first tab contains general information about the definition, like in the screen below.

 

Object properties

You can see a list of object properties in the first tab containing general information. Object properties are used to establish relationships between objects and filter/search objects from the Objects tab.

An object property that is part of a selected template cannot be deleted, but you can delete object properties created by yourself.

To add a new object property, click Add object property and the dialog screen below pops up.

Use the Questionnaire drop-down only if the new field is based on an existing questionnaire.

Give the object property a name, fill in the required fields and click OK.

More information about search object using object property value, refer Search or Filter Objects section.

 

Questionnaires

Once you wish to secure additional information about an object, for example, because you have a new report request, you can add questionnaires to it. You can also first create a specific questionnaire (see object questionnaires).

To connect a new questionnaire, click Add questionnaire and the screen below opens.

Select the appropriate questionnaire from the list and click OK.

If you want to change the order of questionnaires, you can simply drag the mouse and reorganize them.

 

Connect questionnaire fields to source values

When you have imported sources for the relevant object definition that contain the information replicated in the questionnaire field, you can then link those. The questionnaire is updated automatically when the value changes in the source. The user interface is visible and the user can make changes if necessary.

To link a source value to a question field, click on the questionnaire from the list and select Add linked question. You can now select the relevant question.

Next, you can link one or more source values. Once you choose Add Field, a new element will be added. See the image below.

 

Here you can select the linked sources. After selecting the source, present fields are displayed in the selected source.

 

Source connections

Once you have linked sources with your BlueDolphin environment by using the DataCollection module, you have the opportunity to use this dataset as a basis for a BlueDolphin object. For this, you need to go to Sources in the relevant object definition. You will then find the screen below.

 

When you have multiple sources within a group, you can change position of the sources by dragging the mouse. The top source is regarded as the most important, which means that the configured title is used as the object title.

On top of the screen, you can see the checkbox Click here to enable manual source processing. Creating objects on the basis of sources runs via the source processing module. You are able to control the creation of an object. Source processing objects will be created when you check the checkbox, next you can link them manually to objects or make new objects out of them. See the source processing article for more information about this functionality. 

 

Add a new source connection

To add a new source connection to your object definition, click Add source connection. The following screen appears.

 

The following overview shows the options for the source connection.

Option	Description
Connection name	Give the source connection a name. This will be shown on the overview screen.
Select source	Select the imported source that contains the data by which the object can be created.
Group value characteristic	Give value to the group property. This can create a group with sources for the creation of objects.
Filter	In case the data source contains a lot of information, you can reduce the amount of data by using a filter. ·         = ·         <  ·         >  The syntax: name of the field = value Example filter: userdomain=valueblue.local
Composition expression	The expression with which the object name is created. You can use in the expression one or more fields from the source. It is important that the field name is enclosed by braces. For example: {Computernaam} Next to several fields, you can also use ordinary text. For example: {Applicatienaam} Gemeente: {Gemeentenaam}
Field connection	You can provide object properties with a value from the data source.

 

When you add a data source connection, one field connection is always present and that is Title. This field connection is used to determine the object title. As previously described, if there are multiple source connections present in the set, the highest source connection will determine the title of an object. The “=” sign behind the field connection indicates which field connection has to be used to connect data from different source connections to each other. This way you ensure that one object is based on various elements of data sources. See the screenshot below.

 

It is also possible to edit the value which is present in the source per field connection.

Option	Description
Post-processing expression	Here you can enter a regular expression which the value from the source edits. Please note that if your regular expression produces multiple matches, BlueDolphin will use the first one.
abc	Convert the value from the source to small letters.
ABC	Convert the value from the source to capital letters.

 

If the added source connection contains the values that you want to use as a value for an object property, you can add it by using Field connections. Once you select Add field connection, a new line is created. See the image below.

 

Select the object property via the dropdown and then fill in the composition expression.

With the above written accolade method, you can use one or more columns from the data source for the expression.

If you want to perform a post-processing operation on the value, you can enter it by pressing down the arrow behind the composition expression box.

After clicking OK, the source connection is added and placed by the right group property.

 

Delete a source connection

If you want to delete a source connection, click the small trash icon on your right-hand side.

The object definition will not be removed, but it will no longer be linked to the source.

 

Note: The small trash icon placed on the left-hand side allows you to delete all objects. We advise you to use this option with caution, as it will delete all created objects from the source without archiving.

 

Create objects

When you make use of the source connections, you can start the BlueDolphin object creation via the Admin module. The Sources overview shows you the present source connections. Next to the value Group property you will find a button that you can use to start the creation. When the object that you want to create doesn't exist, it will be created. If the object already exists, the source is added as a related source connection.