Systems Architects and Engineers specialising in the effective use of Systems Architecture, Methods and Tools since 1982

Complexity

The sphere review form has considerable functionality and the contents of this section should be noted carefully. The form is a means of entering data about each sphere item in the greatest level of detail and as a repository of a number of facilities not available elsewhere. As noted in the section on the sphere header form, each sphere item which is not at the lowest level is potentially the parent item of a number of child items, possibly at several different levels. Further, the item and its children may have many relations with items in this or other spheres, again at multiple levels. All comments on the functions defined here should be read with this in mind.

Hierarchic Details

The Sphere box of the form shows details about, not only the current target item, but also about its parent items.The sequence code is split into its various segments and against each is shown the name of the parent item at that level down to the name of the target item.

Function Buttons

All functions in the Sphere box operate on the basis that the item to be dealt with is identified and then the operation is defined and performed. Thus to:

Add a new item, enter its sequence code, one character pair at a time in the left hand set of entry fields and click the Add button. A prompt is displayed if the sequence code chosen already exists and facilities to abort or to change the sequence and try again are provided. Other facilities from the Sphere box are:

Alter the sequence code or name of an item at any level overwrite the old value and click the Alter button. As with add, a prompt and recovery mechanism is provided if an existing sequence is chosen. NOTE that altering a sequence or name at a level higher than that of the lowest item at the lowest level will change all other items below the level at which the change takes place.

Copy a sphere item, all its child items and its own and their relations, choose the desired item and click the Copy button. Copy means that all details of each item in the hierarchy including attribute and note data will be copied. If any copied item has a relation with another item in this or another sphere, a new relation will be created between the copied item and the "to" item of the existing relation. For each recursive relation where the copied item is at the "to" end, a new relation will be created between the "from" item of the existing relation and the copied item. If the copy to item already exists, prompt and recovery operate.

Copy Down a sphere item and all of its child items and relations choose the desired item and click the Copy Down button. This allows an item to be copied, not to its existing level but to a level one further down. For example, this allows company spheres to be repeated at divisional level. The items copied follow the same rules as for copy except that an item already at level five cannot be copied to the non-existent level 6. If you attempt to copy down a level five item you will be given the choice of skipping the item or aborting.

Delete an item and all its child items as well as any relations in which it or they participate choose the item and click the Delete button. Deletion of relations operates in both directions for recursive relationships.

Find an item from its sequence code or name enter the desired sequence code in its appropriate segments and click the Find button or enter the desired name and, with the cursor still in the name field, click the Find button. The find process is context sensitive and searches for a sequence number if any part of the sequence key is highlighted or for a name if a name is highlighted or has just been entered. A prompt is provided if no item is found. You can use a truncated name to search for a name not known exactly. If a name is found which fits the given partial name a prompt will note that it is the first such and that there may be others not identified. You may then choose to continue searching or to end the search on the current item.

Attributes and Notes

The Details box of the form displays and permits change of the attribute data (definable fields) defined in the schema.

The Note box shows any recorded note concerning the item. It is a field with a scroll bar, permitting review of notes longer than the field space. To enter or edit a note, click the Edit button to display a larger note field and enter it. Notes are in "Formatted Memo" format and may include carriage returns or tabs and changes of font, font style and font colour. While editing, the Edit button changes its appearance: a red X is shown across it. To leave note editing, click the Edit button again.

More Buttons

The Show button on the right of the form displays the set of relations in which the item participates. When you click it, a dialogue box appears showing the set of available spheres. To choose the set of relations to be displayed, click the radio button for the desired sphere. A table of relations for the current item will be displayed. Like the Edit button, the Show button changes its appearance when relations are being displayed. Click it again to remove the table. See the sphere review form with related items.