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The Metadata Dependency Manager is a graphical interface that represents the dependencies between objects. Knowing that an object has dependencies with another object helps identify potential impacts when things change.
The Metadata Dependency Manager has the following components:
Menu Bar
The Metadata Dependency Manager menu bar provides commands for performing various tasks. Some of these commands are also available on the toolbars.
Analysis
The Analysis menu contains the following commands:
Close: Closes the Dependency Manager.
Export Diagram: Exports the active diagram to the local file system as an SVG or JPEG file.
Print Options: Provides Print Setup, Preview, and Print options for printing the diagram.
Edit
The Edit menu contains the following commands:
Open Editor: Opens the Editor for the currently selected object.
Hide: Removes the selected objects from the canvas. Use the Refresh command on the View menu to restore the hidden objects.
Select All: Selects all objects displayed on the canvas.
Propagate Changes: Displays the Propagate Changes dialog box for a selected attribute. Use it to change the value of an attribute and to propagate that change to all objects downstream. For example, you can select a column in a table object and change its metadata such as its name or data type.
Group Selected Objects: Creates a group containing the selected objects on the canvas. A folder icon represents all objects in the group. Double-click the icon to display the individual objects in the group. Grouping enables you to reduce clutter on the canvas when there are many objects.
Ungroup Selected Objects: Eliminates the selected group so that all objects are represented individually.
Group By Module: Automatically groups all objects by module. A folder icon represents the module and all objects in the module. Double-click the icon to display the individual objects in the group.
Ungroup Modules: Eliminates the module groups so that all objects are represented individually.
View
The View menu contains the following commands:
Toolbars: Displays or hides the Graphic tools or the Edit tools.
Mode: Sets the pointer for one of these actions:
Select: Selects one or more objects on the canvas.
Pan: Moves the entire diagram on the canvas.
Interactive Zoom: Expands the diagram as you move the pointer down, or shrinks the diagram as you move the pointer up.
Navigate Edge: Selects the next object in the flow.
Zoom: Displays a list of percentages that expand or shrink the diagram.
Fit in Window: Automatically chooses a size for the diagram so that it fits on the canvas.
Auto Layout: Organizes the objects and displays the diagram at its default size.
Center: Centers the diagram on the canvas.
Show Full Impact: Generates the full impact diagram of the selected object.
Show Full Lineage: Generates the full lineage diagram of the selected object.
Show Lineage: Displays the next level of objects in the lineage diagram of the selected object.
Hide Lineage: Hides the lineage of the selected object.
Show Impact: Displays the next level of objects in the impact diagram of the selected object.
Hide Impact: Hides the impact of the selected object.
Expand: Expands the selected icon in the diagram. The expanded icon shows the details of the object, such as the columns in a table or the attributes in a dimension.
Expand All: Expands all the object icons in the diagram.
Collapse: Collapses the expanded icon for a selected object.
Collapse All: Collapses all the expanded icons on the canvas.
Refresh: Refreshes the Dependency Manager diagram to reflect recent changes in the workspace.
Window
The Metadata Dependency Manager Window menu contains commands for toggling between displaying and hiding the following windows:
Property Inspector
Bird's Eye View
Tree View
Toolbars
The Metadata Dependency Manager provides two toolbars as shortcuts to frequently used commands:
Graphic toolbar: Provides icons for commands on the View menu. Refer to "View" for descriptions of these commands.
Edit toolbar: Provides icons for commands on the Edit menu. Refer to "Edit" for descriptions of these commands.
Use the Bird's Eye View to quickly change the portion of the diagram currently displayed on the canvas. This view displays a miniature version of the diagram on the canvas, with a scrollable box that represents the dimensions of the canvas. Drag the box to the area of the diagram currently of interest to you.
Use the DM Tree to change the content of the canvas. The DM Tree has these tabs:
DM Context Tree: Lists objects in the current project. Right-click an object, and use the menu to generate a new diagram or to add the object to the current diagram. You can also drag-and-drop an object onto the current diagram.
DM Graph Tree: Lists the current diagrams. You can close a diagram on the canvas, then use this list to redisplay the diagram without regenerating it.
Use the Property Inspector to view an object's properties.
To change the current object in the Property Inspector, right-click the object on the canvas and select Update Property Inspector.
For a description of a property, select the property in the Inspector. The description appears at the bottom of the window.
Use the canvas to display one or more lineage and impact diagrams. Each diagram is displayed on a separate tab.
You can use these techniques to create and manipulate diagrams on the canvas:
To open a new diagram, right-click an object in the DM Context Tree and select Show Lineage or Show Impact.
To close a diagram, click the X on the tab. You can redisplay the diagram from the DM Graph Tree until you close the Metadata Management window.
To add an object to the canvas, drag-and-drop it from the DM Context Tree.
To display more of the lineage of an object, click the plus sign (+) to the left of its icon. To hide the lineage, click the minus sign (-) to the left.
To display more of the impact of an object, click the plus sign (+) to the right of its icon. To hide the impact, click the minus sign (-) to the right.
To display the details of an object, double-click it. You can then select an individual property and edit it by choosing Propagate Changes from the Edit menu.
To edit an object, right-click its icon and select Open Editor.