Grid Overview

Introduction

This document describes the proprietary MetaManager^TM Grid seen throughout the various modules of the application.

MetaManager^TM Grid Overview

The MetaManager^TM proprietary grid provides detailed information on the content to be addressed in the applicable module. Though the grid is slightly different depending on the module, many of the actions and characteristics of the grid are the same in each module. This document will describe the common attributes and characteristics of the grid, and each individual module’s documentation will address the specifics that pertain to that module.

Grid Area

The grid area is made up of Query Rows and Object Rows.

In the example above, the following sections are examples of Query Rows:

• Selected Reports

• Name contains “List.”

In the example above the following sections are examples of Object Rows:

• GO sales and Retailers.

• Documentation Report Samples

• Gunter Erler

When the grid contains no rows, it displays a drop label and informative text to the user.

Query Rows

A Query Row is a top-level blue row that represents a query to be issued against the IBM Cognos server. The query will return applicable children objects in a sub grid called Object Rows. These Object Rows will be processed when the module is run.

A Query Row is created by dragging the following objects to the grid:

• Selected Reports Query Row by dragging leaf level objects (i.e. individual report(s) that are dragged from the tree to the grid).

• Container objects such as Public Folders, Directory, Namespace, Package, Folder or Account.

• Searches from the Search Tree or the Saved Searches area.

• Favorite Folders (green folders).

NOTE: Dragging a favorite folder will only drop the leaf level objects in that folder. It will not drop container object in the favorite folder.

The Query Row is not loaded until it is expanded by selecting the right arrow next to the Query Row name.  Users have the option of expanding the Query Row before running the module, or running the module without expanding it first. If the user chooses to manually expand a Query Row, the query will be issued against the IBM Cognos server and the user must wait for the row to load its objects (keeping in mind that some queries can take a long time to load).

If the user expands a Query Row, they must wait for it to load before pressing the update or preview buttons. Pressing the buttons before the load is complete will display an error message.

NOTE: There is no way to cancel the loading the Object Rows once the Query Row is expanded.

After a Query Row has been loaded and the Object Rows are displayed, the user has their first insight of impact analysis (i.e. which objects are going to be processed as a result of this query). Users can take advantage of this by manually removing some of the objects that were loaded. For example, if a user wanted to update all of the reports in a folder except a few select ones, they can achieve this by dragging the folder to the grid area and expanding it, then manually deleting the few select reports before hitting the update button.

Selected Reports

“Selected Reports” is a special type of Query Row, representing a general grouping for manually selected objects that are dragged to the grid and are not results from a query. The Selected Reports row is not a query, so expanding it does not execute a call to the server.  The Selected Reports row is not displayed if there are no individual objects added to the grid. In addition, the Selected Reports row cannot be refreshed.

• The Delete button will clear all of the objects in the bucket and hide the row.

• The Selected Reports row is automatically displayed if the user drags a report or leaf level object to the grid area and is automatically hidden when the last leaf level object is removed from the list.

A Query Row is created by dragging the following objects:

• Selected Reports Query Row by dragging leaf level objects.

• Container objects such as: Public Folders, Directory, Namespace, Package, Folder or Account

• Searches from the Search Tree or the Saved Searches area

• Favorite Folders (green folders). Dragging a favorite’s folder will only drop the leaf level objects in that folder. It will not drop container object in the favorite folder.

Object Rows

An Object Row represents a single report, query, analysis, etc... object that will be processed by the module. This row will provide the impact analysis and monitoring capabilities as to what this object will or has done during the update process.

Object Row Characteristics

• An object row is loaded as a result of a query row.

• Object rows can be manually added to the special Selected Reports query row.

• An object row can be deleted by hitting the delete key, right clicking and selecting remove or clicking the delete button on the rightmost column.

• An object row has 3 states.

  • Initial State

  • Previewed

  • Saved

Adding Query Rows / Object Rows to the Grid

The MetaManager^TM Portal Tree is made up of objects which can be dragged to the modules grid area. Different objects will exhibit different behaviors.

Grid Buttons

Most module grids contain a Preview button and / or an Update button.

• Clicking the Preview button will bring all of the object rows to the Previewed State. All objects will be reset to their initial state (i.e. the state stored within the Content Store) before previewing.

• Clicking the Update button will bring all of the object rows to the Saved state. Object rows will not be reset to their initial state. If an object row is in its initial state, it will be previewed (processed) then saved. If the row has already been previewed (processed) it will not be reprocessed, instead it will simply be saved.

Grid Shortcuts

The grid supports various standard Windows shortcut keys. The following keyboard shortcuts can be used within any module of MetaManager^TM:

	Reissues the query and reset the children to the full original list of objects. The refresh icon can be used if the user suspects the results of the query may have changed outside of MetaManagerTM or if the user manually deleted rows which they wish to reset.
	Removes the query row from the grid.
Delete	Users can select one or more query rows with the mouse or keyboard and use the Delete key on the keyboard to remove multiple query rows.
Ctrl + “A”	Selects all rows in the grid.
	Resets the grid (this button is located on the toolbar).   NOTE: The “New” icon may reset other UI elements as well.
Up / Down Arrow	Changes the current row.
Right Arrow	Expands a Query Row.
Left Arrow	Collapses a Query Row.
Application button	Displays the context menu. This is the “Context Menu” button available on most new keyboards.

Context Menus within Object Rows

Within the object rows, various right-click or context menus exist depending on the module and the object row selected. Below is a listing of the various context menus available.

NOTE: The various context menu items vary from module to module and within each module.