Package com.ptc.core.meta.common

See:
Description

Interface Summary

AssociationIdentifier	An Association Identifier identifies both an Attribute and a Type, i.e.
AssociationTypeIdentifier	An Association Type Identifier identifies both a VIRTUAL AttributeType and a Type, i.e.
AttributeIdentifier	AttributeIdentifier identifies a particular VIRTUAL Attribute instance.
AttributeTypeIdentifier	AttributeTypeIdentifier identifies a particular VIRTUAL AttributeType instance.
DataType	Supported API: true Extendable: false
Definition	Definitions represent fundamental pieces of meta data, i.e.
DefinitionIdentifier	DefinitionIdentifier identifies a particular Definition instance.
Element	Elements represent specific instances of meta data, i.e.
ElementIdentifier	ElementIdentifier identifies a particular Element instance.
Identifier	Identifiers uniquely identify Definitions and/or Elements from the point of view of a given system.
IdentifierFactory	This factory defines the pattern for constructing Identifiers.
IdentifierTranslator	Supported API: true Extendable: false
InstanceIdentifier	InstanceIdentifier gives the identification of a particular object.
InstanceIdentifierTranslator	Supported API: true Extendable: false
OperationIdentifierConstants	Convenience constants for OperationIdentifiers.
Translator	Supported API: true Extendable: false
TypeIdentifier	TypeIdentifier identifies a particular Type instance.
TypeInstanceIdentifier	TypeInstanceIdentifier identifies a particular TypeInstance instance.

Class Summary

AnalogSet	Supported API: true Extendable: false
ChangeOperationIdentifier	Operation instance representing a change operation.
CompositeSet	Supported API: true Extendable: false
CreateOperationIdentifier	Operation instance representing a create operation.
DataTypesUtility	Supported API: true Extendable: false
DeleteOperationIdentifier	Supported API: true Extendable: false
DiscreteSet	Supported API: true Extendable: false
DisplayOperationIdentifier	Operation instance representing a VIEW operation.
EmptySet	Supported API: true Extendable: false
FloatingPoint	Attribute content wrapper for Floating Point.
Hyperlink	Attribute content wrapper for HyperLink.
OperationIdentifier	OperationIdentifier identifies a particular operation instance.
Ratio	Attribute content wrapper for Ratio.
SearchOperationIdentifier	Operation instance representing a search operation.
UpdateOperationIdentifier	Operation instance representing an update operation.
WildcardSet	Supported API: true Extendable: false

Exception Summary

ComparisonImpossibleException	Supported API: true Extendable: false
IllegalFormatException	Supported API: true Extendable: false

Package com.ptc.core.meta.common Description

Defines the interfaces and classes that are used to represent, identify, and describe types, attributes, associations, enumerations, enumeration entries, constraints, and applications.

Definitions

Definitions represent specific types, attributes, associations, enumerations, enumeration entries, constraints, or applications. Examples:

• Types: Part, Document
• Attributes: Name on Document, Length on Part, Part Number on Part
• Associations: Parts Use other Parts, Documents Describe Parts
• Enumerations: A list of Colors, A list of Priorities
• Enumeration Entries: The entries Red and Blue from a list of Colors, The entries High, Medium, and Low from a list of Priorities
• Constraints: Lengths on Parts are constrained to a Valid Range, Names on Documents are Required
• Applications:

Definitions are of a hierarchical nature, and given two Definitions, it is possible to discern whether one Definition is a sub-definition of the other, e.g. Internal Document is a sub-definition of Document; Diameter is a sub-definition of Length; Mass is not a sub-definition of Diameter.

The following names are given to the Definitions:

Concept	Definition Name
Type	Type
Attribute	AttributeType
Association	AssociationType
Enumeration	Enumeration
Enumeration Entry	EnumerationEntry
Constraint	ConstraintType
Application	ApplicationType

The following Definitions have familiar parallels:

Definition Name	Object Oriented Programming	Relational Databases
Type	Class	Table
AttributeType	Primitive field declaration on a Class	Column in a Table
AssociationType	Non-primitive field declaration on a Class	Column of foreign keys in a Table

Elements

Elements represent specific instances of types, attributes, associations, constraints, or applications. (Enumerations and Enumeration Entries do not have an Element form.) Examples:

• Types: Part 244-XGV, Document 06554
• Attributes: One valid Input Voltage on Part 244-XGV, Another valid Input Voltage on Part 244-XGV
• Associations: Part 244-XGV Uses Part 1-AR-EW, Document 06554 Describes Part 244-XGV
• Constraints: Length on Part 244-XGV is constrained to a Valid Range between 4.5 ft and 6.3 ft
• Applications:

Elements are instances of Definitions, and given a Definition and an Element, it is possible to discern whether the Element is and instance of the Definition, e.g. Part 244-XGV is an instance of Part; and Part 244-XGV is not and instance of Document.

Given two Elements that represent the same data, it is possible to discern which of the two is the most accurate or up-to-date (i.e. ‘latest’).

The following names are given to the Elements:

Concept	Element Name
Type	TypeInstance
Attribute	Attribute
Association	Association
Constraint	Constraint
Application	Application

The following Elements have familiar parallels:

Element Name	Object Oriented Programming	Relational Databases
TypeInstance	Object	Row in a Table
Attribute	Primitive field on a Object	Cell in a Column in a Table
Association	Non-primitive field on a Object	Cell in a Column of Foreign Keys in a Table

Identifiers

Identifiers are immutable objects that uniquely identify a Definition or Element with respect to a given server.

• Definition Identifiers identify Definitions
• Element Identifiers identify Elements
• Instance Identifiers are used by Element Identifiers to uniquely identify a given instance of a Definition.

Identifiers can be converted to external string form.

Given two Definition Identifiers, it is possible to discern whether one identified is a sub-definition of the other identified Definition.

Given a Definition Identifier and an Element Identifier, it is possible to discern whether the identified Element is and instance of the identified Definition.

Given two Element Identifiers that identify the same Element, it is possible to discern which of the two is the most accurate or up-to-date (i.e. ‘latest’).

The following names are given to the Identifiers:

Definition	Element	Definition Identifier	Element Identifier
Type	TypeInstance	TypeIdentifier	TypeInstanceIdentifier
AttributeType	Attribute	AttributeTypeIdentifier	AttributeIdentifier
AssociationType	Association	AssociationTypeIdentifier	AssociationIdentifier
Enumeration	--	EnumerationIdentifier
EnumerationEntry	--	EnumerationEntryIdentifier
ConstraintType	Constraint	ConstraintTypeIdentifier	ConstraintIdentifier
ApplicationType	Application	ApplicationTypeIdentifier	ApplicationIdentifier

Identifier Factories

All Identifiers can be constructed from external string form through the use of an Identifier Factory. An Identifier Factory provides methods supporting single and bulk mode constructions both with and without context.

Identifier Relationships

Some types of Definitions are always identified in the context of another type of Definition, as indicated below.

Definition	Always defined in the context of
AttributeType	Type
EnumerationEntry	Enumeration
ConstraintType	ApplicationType

These contextual relationships are manifested as relationships between the corresponding Identifiers.

Likewise, the Elements related to these Definitions are always identified in the context of another corresponding Element, as indicated below.

Element	Always defined in the context of
Attribute	TypeInstance
Constraint	Application

These contextual relationships are also manifested as relationships between the corresponding Identifiers.

Association Identifiers simultaneously identify Attributes and Types. For example, the identifier for the association ‘Part is described by Document’ would simultaneously identify the attribute ‘described by‘ on Part and the type of the referenced Document.

Association Identifiers can be constructed with either of the two types that it links as the context. In the previous example, the Association Identifier for ‘described by’ can be in the context of the Type Identifier for Part or for Document. Thus, either of the two following instance diagrams is legitimate (‘data type’ is the Type Identifier for the referenced Type)

In order to indicate which of the two types truly has the association as an attribute, regardless of the way the context was constructed, Association Identifiers have an additional property that indicates which of the two types is the true context.

In the previous example, ‘described by’ is truly an attribute of Part; therefore, the true context of the association is always set to Part:

The following section presents some basic UML diagrams followed by one or more instance diagrams showing what the corresponding Definition Identifier relationship graph(s) would look like. The Type Identifiers with a green fill color are the primary context for the graph. (The choice of which Type Identifier to construct as the primary context will depend on the usage.)

For the following UML diagram:

The corresponding Definition Identifier relationship graph is:

For the following UML diagram:

The corresponding Definition Identifier relationship graph is either of the following, depending on whether ‘Part’ or ‘Document’ is constructed as the primary context:

For the following UML diagram:

The corresponding Definition Identifier relationship graph is one of the following, depending on whether ‘Part’, ‘Document’, or ‘PartDocLink’ is constructed as the primary context:

Type Instance

The Type Instance represents a filtered view of a business object, and provides methods to get a list of all currently contained attributes, manipulate attribute values, get attribute display information, and merge the attribute sets of two type instances that represent the same business object. See details.

Attribute Container

See com.ptc.core.meta.container.common Package Summary

Attribute Content

Immutable data wrappers are used for basic attribute and constraint content: String, Integer, Timestamp, Boolean, FloatingPoint, FloatingPointWithUnits, Ratio, Hyperlink. These data wrappers are used to represent single discrete values for attributes. Additional immutable data wrappers: AnalogSet, DiscreteSet, WildcardSet, EnumeratedSet, EmptySet, CompositeSet, are used to represent one or more valid ranges, discrete values, wildcard expressions, or any union or intersection thereof. See details.